The Milkweed People -- An Unbroken Line

brianj · 2018-03-03 21:56:42

The mission of the MILKWEED PEOPLE is simple: cross-generational survival.

First and foremost, The MILKWEED PEOPLE follow thesustainability laws, also known as the FOUR LAWS. Any adherent of the LAWS are friends of the Milkweed People.

The MILKWEED PEOPLE have three central RESPONSIBILITIES.
1) Obey & teach the LAWS
2) Help Develop & Follow the TENETS
3) Survive to Next Generation & Spread East

The MILKWEED PEOPLE shall form small HAMLETS.

Each HAMLET shall consist of MOTHER DAUGHTER SON & ELDER. More than that shall surely fail.

The MILKWEED PEOPLE shall have many children, but when a hamlet is full (1 mother, 1 daughter, 1 son, 1 elder), children must spread eastward.

Children who know the LAWS may be taught the TENETS. Children who do not know the LAWS must learn them first.

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I will edit this post based on feedback. Please contribute ideas to help launch this persistent society!

Tebe · 2018-03-03 22:14:11

Okay, milkweed people. So, when you have children beyond the hamlet limit that have just learned the laws - do you keep them in the hamlet to learn the way, and send an older son east with provisions to spread root and wisdom? Children on their own may not fare long in the eastern wilds.

brianj · 2018-03-03 22:29:33

Each new generation striking out east can be supported in part by their original home; it can help them bootstrap.

But yeah-- it'll be risky to be the kid striking out east.

The alternative though is to overpopulate and wipe out the hamlet, which is what has happened within 12 gens to every village so far.

Uncle Gus · 2018-03-03 22:46:49

Perhaps the oldest child should be the one who leaves.

brianj · 2018-03-03 22:48:55

I think its actually an advantage to be nomadic young (especially if you have a basket of food), because you have more time before you need to raise a baby.

Lets all experiment! Then we can codify

Tebe · 2018-03-04 07:07:13

I keep seeing the same problem again and again - It used to be I'd be so excited to be born into a bustling village with lots of people, but the problem is of course the overpopulation creates food shortages. So i'm doing my best to set out east with a basket of good grub and a bowl.

Once you leave town, it's an interesting journey. Depending on how far out you go, it becomes much like the first round of a game of Sid Meier's Civilization. You are the lone settler and you have to find a good place to set up camp with all the appropriate resources nearby. You need to find a fertile green country with wildberries and soil, near to a rabbit-rich prairie and a marsh with lots of reeds and ponds. Sometimes it's convenient to come across a small empty camp to set up, where some of that starter work is done for you. But it's mighty tough to set up alone as a naked kid. It's been too long since I've been clothed as an infant. I think I've been setting out a bit too young - but it's sometimes necessary when the village is in the grips of a full-on food crisis and your extended family is dying all around you. It's a race to get a good basket, and just hope that you come across a pelt on a fresh fly-ridden corpse on your flight out of Dodge.

How's this going for others so far? I like the idea. I don't want to be a burden on an overloaded village, and it's too hard to wrangle all that chaos, especially as a youngster. Onward and upward...

Still, just to set up small, crucial farms of carrot and milkweed along the wilderness is a good feeling.

Uncle Gus · 2018-03-04 07:47:03

I'm always torn between leaving the village's resources unpillaged and equipping myself enough to offset the risk. I'll usually only take a basket of berries since that is all renewable. It's usually pretty easy to find a sharp stone on the way so I don't take one from the village since they are non-renewable.

Tebe · 2018-03-04 08:22:47

How tempting it is to tear off with a cart full of goods... A lone child blazing off beyond the eastern borders with a fully-stocked handcart toward bear country.

Uncle Gus · 2018-03-04 09:19:44

I think this formula will lead to our success. Humans are just not ready for large colonies. When a woman finds a place to settle, she must first establish a carrot farm before turning to childrearing. Her first daughter will stay with her to carry on the farm, all other children will be raised to age and sent East with a basket of carrots.

Tebe · 2018-03-04 09:49:10

I have to say, I just lived a lovely life until I was a grey old woman. I had two sons and a daughter, and I brought an old desolate carrot farm up to functioning, added a kiln, and started milkweed farming. The daughter ran off with a bear, or something, so the place was ultimately doomed.

But it was me and my two sons, and one worked tirelessly to trap rabbits, gather the furs, and cook the meat.
The other son was hapless, but I taught him the laws and showed him the secret milkweed plots near the swamp just before I died. He kept the carrots well and learned to start fire and use the kiln.

I told them to make clothes and pouches and to leave some carrots to flower. It will be a good place when the next souls happen upon it.

A couple of hard-working sons can really do wonders for the homestead. We were kept well in rabbit meat and furs and carrots. Not a bad lil life!

DaughterOfEve · 2018-03-04 11:49:05

Tebe wrote:

I have to say, I just lived a lovely life until I was a grey old woman. I had two sons and a daughter, and I brought an old desolate carrot farm up to functioning, added a kiln, and started milkweed farming. The daughter ran off with a bear, or something, so the place was ultimately doomed.
But it was me and my two sons, and one worked tirelessly to trap rabbits, gather the furs, and cook the meat.
The other son was hapless, but I taught him the laws and showed him the secret milkweed plots near the swamp just before I died. He kept the carrots well and learned to start fire and use the kiln.
I told them to make clothes and pouches and to leave some carrots to flower. It will be a good place when the next souls happen upon it.
A couple of hard-working sons can really do wonders for the homestead. We were kept well in rabbit meat and furs and carrots. Not a bad lil life!

Ah, glad I didn’t doom you both by running off with the water pouches!

brianj · 2018-03-04 17:36:36

I'd like some feedback from people on what actually kind of hamlet actually works in game.

I think that to support a family of four with a small carrot seed surplus, you need somewhere in the neighborhood of 10 plots of carrot, with 2-3 reserved for seed. I know that to fully support on carrots you need a little higher, but I'm assuming a supplemented diet with berries and rabbits-- could someone else who has had a successful hamlet experience confirm?

I've had the most success getting people to leave when I scout out the next location myself, and show them where to set up. This encourages lots of small communities close together, which I think is ideal. Please respond with real world results!

How much milkweed and how much wheat should be cultivated in a given hamlet? In the long run, the limiting factor is soil. Both pies and clothes are huge efficiency boots, but both require a huuuuge commitment of soil to reap any single-generational.

Uncle Gus · 2018-03-04 19:38:22

I'd say water is more limiting than soil. You can bring in more soil from afar as a one off but water is constantly demanded.

brianj · 2018-03-04 22:59:18

The soil limitation starts to comes into play when you want to make pies, though.

Uncle Gus · 2018-03-04 23:58:38

Unless you make compost pits.

brianj · 2018-03-05 00:11:09

Are you intentionally trolling me?

Yes, you can make compost, but compost is very expensive to produce (due to the berry requirement).

My question is: given a supply of water (which is more or less fixed for a location, unless you engage in long distance trade), what's an effective mix of carrots, milkweed, and wheat to plant?

Maybe wheat is only effective if you have a controlled berry supply, and can manage to produce the compost.

aeiowu · 2018-03-05 18:15:01

I feel it'd be useful to name this framework. This weekend I was talking with some friends about the Celts and how that group was was defined by their ideals/culture rather than a central geography etc. It seems we need to unify these ideals/culture with a name, such as "The Milkweed People" but also maybe go further. Along with the whole "I'm one of the Milkweed People" both piquing curiosity from outsiders and identifying yourself to fellow MW people, we could use a series of questions to make sure that we are all on the same page:

Q: "one mother..."
A: "one daughter"

Q: "one son..."
A: "one elder"

Q: "once a hamlet is full..."
A: "head east of eden"

Q: "live upon the land..."
A: "lightly"

etc. not saying those are the questions/riddles etc. but this structure would simultaneously teach and test important lessons and might be a little more memetic as the cultural rules are getting quite lengthy...

Last edited by aeiowu (2018-03-05 18:18:03)

brianj · 2018-03-05 18:34:23

I like the idea of a call and response! We're definitely seeing play patterns spread based on catchy phrases/rules, as with the infamously terrible one carrot rule.

I'm wondering though if 'one mother one daughter' is too dogmatic.

Mothers should have more than one daughter each, because the mortality rates are so high; a single unbroken mother-daughter line is very vulnerable to being disrupted by a random bear attack or just plain bad luck.

The ideal should be "one mother one daughter-- per hamlet". Surplus daughters should head east to greener pastures so they can help spread the milkweed way.

How about just "once a hamlet is full" -> "head east of eden"?

One Hour One Life Forums

#1 2018-03-03 21:56:42

The Milkweed People -- An Unbroken Line

#2 2018-03-03 22:14:11

Re: The Milkweed People -- An Unbroken Line

#3 2018-03-03 22:29:33

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