Profit on the fringe

[Bihlbo]

I recently started a new game, aimed at joining the Flotsam Ninjas and raiding the Holy Lands. However, most of my experience so far has been keeping good relations with the HL, mainly so I can keep trading with them. Now I'm up on the Cannibal Plains and there's one single town I've been able to find, and a trip there gets me something like 12k cats... barely a quarter of what I could get in a HL town.

I'm trying to plan out my economy. Food isn't even close to being an issue (100% green area and river raptors = endless food). Every raid on the HL gets us loot to sell, which we can turn into books, blueprints, packs, and recruits. So, that means I should be able to support and outfit a large population without resorting to making trade goods like grog. But that still requires that we have people who'll buy the stuff. I don't know of a way to get trader caravans to come to the town with any frequency, so it looks like I'll be sending out caravans of my own... to the fishing village and to the very distant hivers for little profit.

I mean, cats aren't everything, but it's looking like my 20kc/day profit in the HL is going to turn into 3kc/day. Since you can steal items but not people, every bit of that is probably going to go into buying recruits. Unless I'm wrong, and you CAN steal people and animals, in which case please learn me. Any thoughts & tips on how to improve my economic prospects would be appreciated.

Also, is there a way to integrate your town into a faction? For instance, is it possible that a big enough town will attract more FN troops and wanderers to visit my town? Or does the AI just sort of ignore you?

[Col_Jessep]

You can "steal" people. Find a slaver town or a Holy Nation mine in your area, wait till nightfall and break the chains on the slaves. Then you have to escort them to safety until they either join you or bugger off. It can be hit and miss and you might want to bring cloths, weapons and food for the slaves for a successful escape attempt.

There are 2 ways to go:

1) Violence. Expect some pretty nasty fights. Many slaver towns have decent security. Maybe hire some mercs? Keep a medic hidden and passive close by. Don't forget the splint kits! You want to draw guards out of the town. Don't give them a free for all in the town center! When they go down immediately loot their weapons, medkits and armor.
Pro: Free equipment for your exslaves. Contra: Not good for diplomacy; risky, can go sideways.

2) Stealth/running for it. Free every possible slave. Make a run for it if you can't unlock an unguarded back gate and sneak out. If you can get out the back door, you are probably fine. If not and the guards are in hot pursuit you want to keep running. High athletics and no encumbrance are key. It's likely that one or two slaves will be captured. If you can free 4-8 slaves at the same time however...
Pro: If you are careful, no hit to your diplomatic standing; fast runners will always get away. Contra: No experience or loot.

I'm using option 2 for safety reasons and with mixed results. One time I came back with 8 new recruits, another with nobody. They all decided to run off into the sunset.

As far as I'm aware you can't steal or free animals. There is no way to join a faction as far as I know. The AI seem to ignore you aside from tax demands.

[philthymcnasty]

Getting recruits in cannibal terror-tory is super easy: rescue escaped servants from the camps.

These guys have 15 in most skills, high stats, and are free if you rescue them.

Dark finger and Leviathan coast are also amazing places for a base. Dark finger has absurdly high stats in everything: the iron and copper deposits are good, and the water and fertility are good. I think stone is good as well, and it is close to UC territory.

[Col_Jessep]

I can recommend the area called "Gut" on the east coast. Fertility is through the roof (literally 115% for some crops), iron trees and workable copper resources.

Slave farm for new recruits close to the north. Wild life consists of Beak Things. A couple of nests around for training.

[Remairem]

With the new map section you can always run the all of the UC cities and some of the outposts and spend 1k per slave, I assume it's the same percentage if you rescue them. This is a more peaceful way to acquire new recruits. If you hit just the main 4 cities you can potentially come away with up to 10 people but you may have spent twice that.

I also use Worlds End and those cities as my trade route since I have allied with the Floatsom and am Hostile with Holy Nation.

My camp is just inside Cannibal territory and I have generally wiped out the cannibal towns in the NW, though random spawns continue to feed my Corpse Furnace. : )

[philthymcnasty]

With the new map section you can always run the all of the UC cities and some of the outposts and spend 1k per slave, I assume it's the same percentage if you rescue them. This is a more peaceful way to acquire new recruits. If you hit just the main 4 cities you can potentially come away with up to 10 people but you may have spent twice that.

I also use Worlds End and those cities as my trade route since I have allied with the Floatsom and am Hostile with Holy Nation.

My camp is just inside Cannibal territory and I have generally wiped out the cannibal towns in the NW, though random spawns continue to feed my Corpse Furnace. : )

There is also a cheaper option.

Get a skeleton to hang around towns with a slaver presence, and when someone gets knocked out and enslaved, kidnap them.

Carry them very far away, for a few days, maybe even imprison them, and wait for the escaped slave status to hit. then break the shackles.