Planes

(This entry describes the location Planes, reformatted from the forum.)

By: Humi

Approval status: pending

Background and history
Planes is a settlement notable in that people live in adapted hulls of old military transport planes, namely two Soviet An-124. The planes were part of a failed Soviet troop/supply deployment. They landed and were then suprised by NATO troops who killed/routed the manpower but left the planes only lightly damaged (however not airworthy). They remained there until a group of refugees found them at the onset of winter and spent the winter there. Subsequently, the refugees found the surrounding land arable, obtained necessary farming implements and started a community.

General information and relation with neighbours
Planes was and remains a successful farming community and it is this success that gives it trouble with the neighbours.

The ongoing and escalating conflict with the Mall is due to the residents of Mall not being able to produce sufficient quantities of food for themselves and relying on trade/raiding to get the rest. An elaboration on this: as per the current (2010-10-27) proposal, the Mall's garden is small. It seems such a small parcel of land can't feed a whole community, plus, the Mall is in a paved urban area which limits plant growth and this in turn limits hunting & gathering options. (update by Humi) Although, such a garden may be just barely sufficient, should it use advanced growing techniques. For example, hydroponics. It would rely on working technology, namely a pump. It is the current scenario that residents of Planes somehow (to be elaborated later) made it malfunction and provoked the rage of Mall.

General picture of residents
They currently (currently = at the start of game) live in an egalitarian society. The proposal (2010-10-27) is 120-250 residents. (However, it is under no circumstances assumed all or even most will be rendered.) There is no top official, however, there is a "Big man" which acts as the "President of community parliament". His duties are mainly representing Planes to the outsiders and making sure democracy works in the Planes parliament. He has little real influence. This is due to the makeup of Planes society. With plenty of reasonably good land around and few neighbours, all members command parcels sufficient for themselves. All residents (families, really) are therefore mostly self-sufficient and do not rely on other residents for a living. There is (currently) no grounds for social inequality. There are no full-time craftsmen in Planes, just people "who are good at repairing". Community law is upholded by all able-bodied members, on a if-you-see-it-then-act basis. Planes is not xenophobic.

Future of Planes
The escalating conflict with Mall (and other nearby settlements) is bound to change the internal status-quo. With relative abundance of food, there is no real need to have everyone farming. Furthermore, with conflict, the emerging "warrior class" in Planes has grounds to demand submission. The player can, through (in)action, assume the role of kingmaker. In one possibility, there will be a battle between Mall and Planes. If the Mall wins the battle, victors will enserf (or enslave or something similar) Planes residents. If the Planes wins, again the victorious warriors will put Planes residents in submission. In the event there is no battle, Planes will reorganise itself in a nonegalitarian society with a fully emerged warrior class. This reorganisation can either be peaceful or violent, depending on the input from the player. However, the turmoil will not end there. With more then a decade of egalitarianism, residents of Planes will not tolerate authoritarianism and will eventually either kill, demote, or exile the ringleaders of this warrior class. This, too, will not stabilise neither Planes nor the neighbouring settlements and they will engage in tricky relations whose end is not in sight, all the while the Great Cold approaches.

As Planes has relationships (with varying degrees of peace/hostility) with other settlements, it can serve as a launchpad to other settlements and as one potential window to the rest of the game.