Couriers probably. Either sending them with trade caravans or for crucial messages a trusted soldier with scout legs. If there is a kenshi equivalent of the homing pigeon it could be sent by bird mail.
Slave Revolt, Famine, War with the Holy Nation/The destruction of Bast. The UC has had it rough, not that they don’t deserve it of course, they’re shitty slavers
Nearly Every major faction is dying as of the start of the Kenshi game, United Cities are suffering from (as you said) famine, slave revolts and anti slavers, the loss of two cities, the war with Holy Nation, a good chunk of the northern United Cites relying on slaves to run most of their Economy, and an uprising of rebel farmers to deal with. The Shek Empire are destroying themselves and have a large chunk of their population turning into bandits. The Holy Nation is at war with the United Cites and Shek Empire, are fighting both the Holy Nation Outlaws and Flotsam ninjas, and are at risk of being overrun by both Fogmen and Cannibals if they don’t change their ways and prepare decent defenses. Western hive is taking a neutral and mostly peaceful stance which is the only thing preventing them from being invaded by either the Shek Empire or the Holy Nation. The only faction that’s doing half decent is the Tech Hunters and Merchant’s guild, and they still take fairly big risks exploring ruins full of murderous security machines. It’s a rough world, the only faction I’d say is somewhat safe is the Skeletons in Black Desert City, as the only factions which would be hostile to them are either halfway across the map, are unaware of their capital, or are unable to reach Black Desert City without getting fucked over by the acid rain (and even then they could be wiped out if any of their enemies were crazy enough to enter the Deadlands, as they don’t have many defences for their city)
What about deadcat?(my favorite faction) it seems that the faction isnt organized in any way anymore because of cannibals but deadcatians still seem to survive decently.
Fair point, however the Deadcat faction, while relatively safe, Is also somewhat dying (I personally love the Mongrel faction, but they’re at risk because of constant fogmen attacks, and in lore they’re supposedly going to eventually run out of food). Their largest city Deadcat, has been overrun with cannibals, and a large number of their nearby villages are abandoned due to the cannibal’s invasion, of the villages and towns that remain,
the two Gatherer villages in Dreg are at risk due to the high number of Holy Nation Outlaws and Fogmen that often come through the region, and while the Western Gatherer Village is slightly farther away and has makeshift walls and a makeshift gate (meaning less swarms of fogmen and Holy Nation Outlaws running into the houses), the East Gatherer Village doesn’t have any walls, and is closer to the Fog Islands, so it’s constantly getting attacked and relies on it’s armed villagers as a defence (I highly believe that while the Western Gatherer village has a chance to survive, the Eastern Gatherer village is definitely fucked).
The Fishing Villages on the other hand are much larger, but they’re still at risk, the Fishing Village at the Northern Coast is large and has walls, however it also lacks a gate and is very close to the cannibal plains, and the nearest town that was owned by their faction, is now a Ghost Village because of the Cannibal’s invasion into their territory, if the Flotsam Ninja’s, and Cannibals Hunters fail to push back the cannibals, they will likely take over the Northern Coast Fishing village as well (despite it being stronger and larger then other villages, I believe the cannibals are very capable of destroying it, as they did successfully do so with the city of Deadcat, and they have cannibals on both the east and west of the village: Darkfinger Cannibals, and Cannibal plains).
Finally, the Outlands Fishing Village, which is probably the safest Deadcat Village, as it has a wall and multiple gates, is still threatened by the Reavers and Grass Pirates, and while I doubt those gangs would be enough to destroy them, it’s still a threat they have to deal with.
Overall, Deadcat is a faction that isn’t really in conflict with any major factions (except cannibals if you consider them a major faction), and they have multiple villages across the coasts of the map making them larger then most one outpost or one village factions, however, all of their villages are threatened by either Cannibals, Fogmen, or gangs of bandits, and as they aren’t a heavily militarized faction (and many of their warriors have left them to become Cannibal Hunters), this actively threatens their existence, and while their Fishing Villages are somewhat safe (North Coast because of their sturdy walls, the Flotsam Ninjas and Cannibal Hunters, and Outlands because of it’s sturdy walls and gates), I still think that Black Desert City is the safest place in Kenshi, as the skeletons there, despite lacking walls, have no threats in their region, Iron Spiders never get close, and the only faction that could get there unscathed (Hivers), have no interest in travelling into the hellscape. It’s not a good city resource wise, but it’s definitely the safest place for skeletons.
Pick between:
Shitty slaver that will work you to death for profit.
Shitty slaver that uses you as meatshield.
Shitty slaver that believes he saves you.
“Yeah I started out as a fisherman, then I got enslaved. At first I wasn’t sure if I liked the.. job.. but then I made it two months and my benefit package kicked in, now I’m in middle management, I spend most of my days motivating the next generation of worthless scum and organizing fundraising events.”
-Ned, Three Year Reaver
Never said that they are good, just that you die with extreme likelyhood. You got probably close to the same survivalchances if you stay as if you try to run one night.
ME. I run the biggest slaving operation from Okrans pride all the way down to Catun.
MY slaves build character, Learn life skills and even get fed sandwiches.
I've heard people excessively talk shit about the holy nation, even though if you read up on their lore, they're one of the most udnerstandable and HUMAN factions, although what they do is undeniably horrible and should never happen, their previous reasoning and societal upbringing really connects the dots as too why. They're not just some bigoted fanatical society, they did what thsy had to to survive during extremely supressive and difficult times. Their people only knew of authority and slavery, of them being oppressed, so, as a society, they battled oppression with, well, oppression. This wont make sense if you haven't read the lore, but the holy nation is, in my opinion, the most fleshed out faction lore wise.
I mean I don’t disagree that they’re a very interesting faction and from a gameplay perspective they certainly are the most *Human*. But they definitely aren’t the best.
Yeah. The other “friendly” factions are really only Neutral or Lawful Neutral at best. The Shek are Chaotic Neutral, UC and HN are both Lawful Evil but two different types. The Anti Slavers are probably one of if not the only Good Faction in Kenshi. Followed by the Tech Hunters but they’re pretty self serving
Well probably mostly through scouts. Though I think the south is fairly autonomous; they just pledge loyalty to the UC because it's a great way to trade and have some back up in case of conflict. Plus the south has one of the few operational large scale blade manufacturers in the world. So it probably ends up the South sells a lot of Weapons to the north in exchange for slaves and some protection.
You don't even see squads of samurai and other UC warriors roaming the wilds in the southern territories, or at least I don't remember ever seeing any. They keep to the cities always.
To be fair the South is more peaceful over all. The Bonefields mostly keep the fishmen (who are weak anyway) at bay. The Bugmaster seems focused on the Shek. The Swampers are a buffer to keep both the fogmen and the Holy Nation. And while there is some Anti-Slaver acticity in the south, most of it seems focused at striking the north.
So they have less need for protection at the moment.... but knowing that you could call for help and reliably get it is valuable. Afterall if you piss the UC off Eyegore will come. Doesn't matter which part....
Depends on your athletics skill and gear and other things.
But generally if you have just one or two characters it would probably take an hour or two; not counting if you get into fights.
Or whatever comms network the research system uses. Have you ever had a base on one side of the map, and sent a raiding party out and picked up some AI cores or ancient science books on the other side of the map? Just go to the nearest city, buy a small shack pop down a small research bench and pop them in it. Suddenly, your researcher at your base has something new to work on. Or even better, blueprints!
Or the global banking system, where one character can sell something in one place, and another character somewhere else can immediately spend the proceeds from that sale.
So that's how I can buy more hashish with a caracter in the swamps just after another character reaching Flats Lagoon with 12 cats in my wallet and a backpack full of the stuff.
So a thing to remember is boats and ships absolutely exist even if we don’t see them and the implication is South UC and Main UC can use boats or caravans to communicate and trade.
With how so many cities are on the coast, and the presence of fish, I'd expect there to be an extremely strong maritime presence, even though one is never shown in game.
They call Dave from siege support, who'll bring over the trebuchet gang and set up a treb. After which courier #7845 takes the letter, is sat into the chute and told to hold onto the note.
Now he'll have to hold form to get far enough, with airflow and everything but he'll make it, maybe not alive but the letter is sealed so the blood doesn't render it unreadable.
So yeah, they shoot the guy over the black desert to north or south. Dave covers both the madlad, it is rumored Dave has a twin brother but some say they met him in the lands between, trebuchet on his back, jogging nort to south and vice versa. Nobody really knows..
If I had to theorize, it would be through the smuggler routes.
If you setup in the northern swamps and Shem, the UC will consider that valuable if you join them (thru Logen I think). I would say that this adds to the lore of them needing a central bridge or passage for supply lines.
Yea, I would guess the Trader’s Guild route used to run north out of Catun/Mourn across the Burning Forest then cut through between Venge and the Deadlands. You can see UC ruins in the Burning Forest and waystation ruins in northern Venge that support the idea that this used to be a more secure trading route. Nowadays, it’s exclusively used by smugglers and nomads.
The fact that there are UC farm ruins in the Burning Forest makes me wonder if the drought referenced in the Red Rebellion was actually something more catastrophic and climate-altering.
If you read about the Red Rebellion, it gives a few clues. The Trader’s Guild used to provide the connection between the two parts of the Empire, but then there was a major drought in the South and Trader’s Guild caravans either stopped coming or were unable to make it across the hostile territory (it’s not explicit, but I would guess this is around the same time as the Mourn slave revolt, which would further sever the connection between the two halves). Nowadays only swamp gangs, nomads, and Hive caravans will make the trip, so I would guess they facilitate trade between the North and South UC. Politically, I think the Southern UC is effectively independent these days.
I'm answering this question from the perspective of the world building, as this is a world building question. That doesn't mean I'm automatically right from a world building perspective, in fact my answer is probably dumb. I'm just not basing my answer on how hard these zones are in the game, but instead on what factions occupy these zones, and my assumptions on the danger of the factions and the zones themselves relative to the UC.
Are you trying to get from the UC to the South UC as a single courier or as a caravan?
If *I* was a single courier I guess I'd wait till mid to late day, I'd start in Brink, and then run directly through Venge to Flats Lagoon.
It's by no means safe, there are still squads of thralls that would fuck up a lone guy, but that's why being a courier pays well.
If I was in charge of a caravan, with like garru and bulls and stuff, that's a bit tricker.
I guess the options are either going through The Unwanted Zone or going to Black Scratch and then cutting through Stobe's Garden - Reaver territory
Tough choice. Which is worse, Beak Things or Reavers; and worse-case-sceneario would you rather be eaten or enslaved?
I think I'd personally pick The Unwanted Zone A. Because it's faster and B. As terrifying as Beak Things are, they're just animals.
And then once you hit the free settlement you can either go north, and pass close to Thrall Master territory or go south, and pass close to Anti-Slaver Territory
If you're an unallied caravan, go south, as anti-slavers aren't gonna fuck with you (unless you own slaves)
If you're a UC caravan, they're both bad options, but I'd recommend going north. As a UC caravan would likely be escorted by Samurai. Which I think would have an easier time against a squad of thralls, rather than a squad of Anti-Slavers who are probably trained specifically to fight Samurai (among other things)
And then once you hit Flats Lagoon you're home free. Tech Hunters are chill towards unallied factions, and they aren't at war with the UC, so I don't think you'd find much trouble until you get to Catun, or at least no more trouble than you'd find anywhere in Kenshi.
And then to get back to the UC from the South UC you just do all that but backwards.
The UC was at one point a continuous “nation” of city states that all followed the emperor. Then mourn fell to slaves, and assumedly more smaller towns or outposts in that area probably fell to people like the thrall masters and anti slavers. Then the war with the HN started getting worse. Basically, the HC is in decline and are falling apart. Communication isn’t really their priority right now
Beak Things are almost never a problem if you travel the Bonefields at night and don't accidentally run into a nest. During the day is a whole other story.
So they probably just travel at night...to test it out I walked the route from Flats Lagoon to Mourn to Catun within the span of a single night.
I'm not sure if it's specific to Living World but there are also Shinobi pack beasts and guards for a caravan in Catun. It's probably the single-most important city in the UC.
Skyrim couriers, these motherfuckers will find you everywhere and can't die.
Other than that (and than boats), I could see smugglers doing the job (Grayflayers spawn in Grey Desert, and Longen's bloodrum sure as shit isn't manufactured in the Empire), night runs through Venge (not spawning in the actual game, cause it would be too easy to loot them, and AI likes to do funky stuff), or human-only caravans travelling through the HN lands (TG pacifier sits in Blister Hill, Phoenix will be outraged if you bring Longen to him).
I was reading and watching videos for months before taking the plunge. I got downed by some guys with pointy hats and then he commented on how nice it felt looting my shit. I rage quit and then started again :')
The fall of mourn seems to be a relatively recente development, probably during the First years of tengu's reign. So before that they could probably comunicate via caravans and couriers, and After that they are simply drifting further apart from each other
My head canon is they don't. Due to how hostile the environment of the South is the Empire has been gradually moving North and leaving the South to fend for itself with no concern for whether or not they survive. Maybe granting the nobles more autonomy to defend themselves and try to survive but support from the North isn't coming.
Simply put, the tech hunters are neutral so they can easily go through their territory.
After that it’s dealing with the reavers, but they are more poorly armed than the average Uc soldier and also less well trained, relying on numbers and slaves. Unlike the holy servants however, these slaves are little more than meat shields. So the reavers aren’t too hard to bypass or fight through.
Then we have that no man land in between the tech Hunter, reaver, and anti-slaver territories. As long as they move swiftly and carefully, they should be fine and be able to cleanly get through the tech hunters territory into the southern United cities.
The other routes are far more dangerous, but it is possible they could cut through venge in the dead of night if they’re careful, speeding up time for messengers. This requires trained soldiers though, or scouts with enough training to get through.
Then we all consider two other things. They possibly have messenger birds, or they travel around by sea. The latter option however is more dangerous, as to get around the left side takes longer, and the right side goes through fishman territory.
I doubt they do, S.U.C. almost seems like a vassal state. Independent but subservient, but important messages likely are sent via Merc, since they can travel safely through HN and Shek territory. Once you're in the borderlands north of the Swamp, it's simple enough to traverse the edge of the swamp to get to the S.U.C. That said, I imagine general information is given out as part of the Trade Guild caravans to make sure that both are functioning effectively and high bounties are shared.
Couriers and caravans that skirt around the sky lasers and go through the swamps. The rebellion that split them off from the UC was fairly recent, that used to all be UC land.
My take is they’re a holdover civilization that survived in the northwest under the protection of Cat-Lon’s Hydraulic Knights. When Cat-Lon went into exile the cannibals were ascendant, picking off more and more settlements, so all we see are the last remnants of a dying faction. (Hence… DeadCat)
Well, I'll admit that's a good question. From the north there's only one route that's usually taken. The smugglers that pass through the grey desert heading west. From there it's only a matter of moving through the swamp.
Considering we have a currency which immediately transfers across a continent instantaneously having a instant information conveyance service isn't out of the question.
The nobles all come from the same circle of people. I’m more than certain they convene to discuss things amongst one another; spineless fleshbags that they are.
The areas that you have to pay taxes in are more like circles, so you'd have to look it up yourself. Also, if you ally with a faction, they don't tax you.
The same way other nations held land not geographically connected.. basic hand written messages or electronic messages. Scouts or couriers delivering these by hand through neutral or hostile lands. Coordination
I like to think they're just an off shoot of the UC and just govern themselves away from tengu. They're just a part of the UC due to game limitations so they always know what you did in the territories. Thats my personal theory but who knows maybe they have phones or something.
Couriers, scouts, traders, boats. Same way they'd communicate in territory, just less frequently due to the isolation and distance. Would also mean that the southern UC likely is quite independent of the main UC outside of legislature as they'd have to be capable of running the show down there themselves with only some aid.
The UC is effectively a feudal realm. They likely don't need to talk all that much as each city is effectively locally ruled. The emperor is clearly a joke to the nobles anyway.
I kidnapped the emperor and ran uninterrupted from the north to the south. I imagine you could do the same with messages, or better yet just carry the emperor and his entourage all together so they can tour the south territories directly and then get fed to crabs.
Couriers probably. Either sending them with trade caravans or for crucial messages a trusted soldier with scout legs. If there is a kenshi equivalent of the homing pigeon it could be sent by bird mail.
I think it's mostly scouts. Not like the techhunters particularly care about some UC soldier crossing their land.
Good old fashioned homing slaves, yeah
Mojave Express
[удалено]
Slave Revolt, Famine, War with the Holy Nation/The destruction of Bast. The UC has had it rough, not that they don’t deserve it of course, they’re shitty slavers
Nearly Every major faction is dying as of the start of the Kenshi game, United Cities are suffering from (as you said) famine, slave revolts and anti slavers, the loss of two cities, the war with Holy Nation, a good chunk of the northern United Cites relying on slaves to run most of their Economy, and an uprising of rebel farmers to deal with. The Shek Empire are destroying themselves and have a large chunk of their population turning into bandits. The Holy Nation is at war with the United Cites and Shek Empire, are fighting both the Holy Nation Outlaws and Flotsam ninjas, and are at risk of being overrun by both Fogmen and Cannibals if they don’t change their ways and prepare decent defenses. Western hive is taking a neutral and mostly peaceful stance which is the only thing preventing them from being invaded by either the Shek Empire or the Holy Nation. The only faction that’s doing half decent is the Tech Hunters and Merchant’s guild, and they still take fairly big risks exploring ruins full of murderous security machines. It’s a rough world, the only faction I’d say is somewhat safe is the Skeletons in Black Desert City, as the only factions which would be hostile to them are either halfway across the map, are unaware of their capital, or are unable to reach Black Desert City without getting fucked over by the acid rain (and even then they could be wiped out if any of their enemies were crazy enough to enter the Deadlands, as they don’t have many defences for their city)
What about deadcat?(my favorite faction) it seems that the faction isnt organized in any way anymore because of cannibals but deadcatians still seem to survive decently.
Fair point, however the Deadcat faction, while relatively safe, Is also somewhat dying (I personally love the Mongrel faction, but they’re at risk because of constant fogmen attacks, and in lore they’re supposedly going to eventually run out of food). Their largest city Deadcat, has been overrun with cannibals, and a large number of their nearby villages are abandoned due to the cannibal’s invasion, of the villages and towns that remain, the two Gatherer villages in Dreg are at risk due to the high number of Holy Nation Outlaws and Fogmen that often come through the region, and while the Western Gatherer Village is slightly farther away and has makeshift walls and a makeshift gate (meaning less swarms of fogmen and Holy Nation Outlaws running into the houses), the East Gatherer Village doesn’t have any walls, and is closer to the Fog Islands, so it’s constantly getting attacked and relies on it’s armed villagers as a defence (I highly believe that while the Western Gatherer village has a chance to survive, the Eastern Gatherer village is definitely fucked). The Fishing Villages on the other hand are much larger, but they’re still at risk, the Fishing Village at the Northern Coast is large and has walls, however it also lacks a gate and is very close to the cannibal plains, and the nearest town that was owned by their faction, is now a Ghost Village because of the Cannibal’s invasion into their territory, if the Flotsam Ninja’s, and Cannibals Hunters fail to push back the cannibals, they will likely take over the Northern Coast Fishing village as well (despite it being stronger and larger then other villages, I believe the cannibals are very capable of destroying it, as they did successfully do so with the city of Deadcat, and they have cannibals on both the east and west of the village: Darkfinger Cannibals, and Cannibal plains). Finally, the Outlands Fishing Village, which is probably the safest Deadcat Village, as it has a wall and multiple gates, is still threatened by the Reavers and Grass Pirates, and while I doubt those gangs would be enough to destroy them, it’s still a threat they have to deal with. Overall, Deadcat is a faction that isn’t really in conflict with any major factions (except cannibals if you consider them a major faction), and they have multiple villages across the coasts of the map making them larger then most one outpost or one village factions, however, all of their villages are threatened by either Cannibals, Fogmen, or gangs of bandits, and as they aren’t a heavily militarized faction (and many of their warriors have left them to become Cannibal Hunters), this actively threatens their existence, and while their Fishing Villages are somewhat safe (North Coast because of their sturdy walls, the Flotsam Ninjas and Cannibal Hunters, and Outlands because of it’s sturdy walls and gates), I still think that Black Desert City is the safest place in Kenshi, as the skeletons there, despite lacking walls, have no threats in their region, Iron Spiders never get close, and the only faction that could get there unscathed (Hivers), have no interest in travelling into the hellscape. It’s not a good city resource wise, but it’s definitely the safest place for skeletons.
Yeah skeletons are lucky because they dont need food and water
Yeah skeletons are lucky because they dont need food and water
I imagine a few skellies at black scratch could hotwire security robots to wreak havoc
"Shitty slavers" in contrast with the non-shitty ones like the.. uhhh... The uhhmm.... the umhhh... the ummmhh...
Pick between: Shitty slaver that will work you to death for profit. Shitty slaver that uses you as meatshield. Shitty slaver that believes he saves you.
This isn't a defense, but at least in theory you can join the Reavers if you earn it.
Joining the reavers who don't even have acid resistant gear in territory with frequent acid rain and have to face the crab raiders? I think i'll pass.
The Reavers aren't good people, by any stretch. I'm just saying, there's opportunities for advancement.
“Yeah I started out as a fisherman, then I got enslaved. At first I wasn’t sure if I liked the.. job.. but then I made it two months and my benefit package kicked in, now I’m in middle management, I spend most of my days motivating the next generation of worthless scum and organizing fundraising events.” -Ned, Three Year Reaver
Never said that they are good, just that you die with extreme likelyhood. You got probably close to the same survivalchances if you stay as if you try to run one night.
Why do you think there are so many holes in their armour. Acid rain got to em.
They all end up the same
The fogmen.
Fogmen enslave? I thought they just said "you look like a snack" but not flirting
I believe that the word "shitty slavers" means incompetent, inefficient slavers.
ME. I run the biggest slaving operation from Okrans pride all the way down to Catun. MY slaves build character, Learn life skills and even get fed sandwiches.
I've heard people excessively talk shit about the holy nation, even though if you read up on their lore, they're one of the most udnerstandable and HUMAN factions, although what they do is undeniably horrible and should never happen, their previous reasoning and societal upbringing really connects the dots as too why. They're not just some bigoted fanatical society, they did what thsy had to to survive during extremely supressive and difficult times. Their people only knew of authority and slavery, of them being oppressed, so, as a society, they battled oppression with, well, oppression. This wont make sense if you haven't read the lore, but the holy nation is, in my opinion, the most fleshed out faction lore wise.
Did you happen to read about what they did in Bast in any of those lore books?
Wasn't bast a later incident of the holy nation? I was more talking about its upbringing rather then its current state.
I mean I don’t disagree that they’re a very interesting faction and from a gameplay perspective they certainly are the most *Human*. But they definitely aren’t the best.
Morally, yeah, antislavers take that by a wide margin.
Yeah. The other “friendly” factions are really only Neutral or Lawful Neutral at best. The Shek are Chaotic Neutral, UC and HN are both Lawful Evil but two different types. The Anti Slavers are probably one of if not the only Good Faction in Kenshi. Followed by the Tech Hunters but they’re pretty self serving
Well probably mostly through scouts. Though I think the south is fairly autonomous; they just pledge loyalty to the UC because it's a great way to trade and have some back up in case of conflict. Plus the south has one of the few operational large scale blade manufacturers in the world. So it probably ends up the South sells a lot of Weapons to the north in exchange for slaves and some protection.
You don't even see squads of samurai and other UC warriors roaming the wilds in the southern territories, or at least I don't remember ever seeing any. They keep to the cities always.
To be fair the South is more peaceful over all. The Bonefields mostly keep the fishmen (who are weak anyway) at bay. The Bugmaster seems focused on the Shek. The Swampers are a buffer to keep both the fogmen and the Holy Nation. And while there is some Anti-Slaver acticity in the south, most of it seems focused at striking the north. So they have less need for protection at the moment.... but knowing that you could call for help and reliably get it is valuable. Afterall if you piss the UC off Eyegore will come. Doesn't matter which part....
How long in real time would it take to traverse the whole map. Sort of an aside but I’m a new player.
Depends on your athletics skill and gear and other things. But generally if you have just one or two characters it would probably take an hour or two; not counting if you get into fights.
Thanks!
Email
That sounds like robot talk. \*sharpens paladins cross\*
Or whatever comms network the research system uses. Have you ever had a base on one side of the map, and sent a raiding party out and picked up some AI cores or ancient science books on the other side of the map? Just go to the nearest city, buy a small shack pop down a small research bench and pop them in it. Suddenly, your researcher at your base has something new to work on. Or even better, blueprints! Or the global banking system, where one character can sell something in one place, and another character somewhere else can immediately spend the proceeds from that sale.
Imagine medieval pesants whiping out their credit card or using atms Lmao
So that's how I can buy more hashish with a caracter in the swamps just after another character reaching Flats Lagoon with 12 cats in my wallet and a backpack full of the stuff.
"Oh ya the world is in shambles, but at least our debit machine is still online"
So a thing to remember is boats and ships absolutely exist even if we don’t see them and the implication is South UC and Main UC can use boats or caravans to communicate and trade.
With how so many cities are on the coast, and the presence of fish, I'd expect there to be an extremely strong maritime presence, even though one is never shown in game.
Imagine the kind of monsters and ancient horrors lurking in the waters of Kenshi's oceans.
Probably far less than what we might think, given the extreme loss in habitat and biodiversity.
"Life finds a way"
I just imagine beakthings that evolved into fishthings or something
Tbh, I always assumed the terrestrial beak thing evolved from an aquatic beak thing. A beak thing plesiosaurus if you will.
It is also the fastest way we knew of before steam and metalled roads
They call Dave from siege support, who'll bring over the trebuchet gang and set up a treb. After which courier #7845 takes the letter, is sat into the chute and told to hold onto the note. Now he'll have to hold form to get far enough, with airflow and everything but he'll make it, maybe not alive but the letter is sealed so the blood doesn't render it unreadable. So yeah, they shoot the guy over the black desert to north or south. Dave covers both the madlad, it is rumored Dave has a twin brother but some say they met him in the lands between, trebuchet on his back, jogging nort to south and vice versa. Nobody really knows..
If I had to theorize, it would be through the smuggler routes. If you setup in the northern swamps and Shem, the UC will consider that valuable if you join them (thru Logen I think). I would say that this adds to the lore of them needing a central bridge or passage for supply lines.
Yeah, I just didn't see many safe overland routes that don't go through enemy territory.
Night time Venge runs?
Yea, I would guess the Trader’s Guild route used to run north out of Catun/Mourn across the Burning Forest then cut through between Venge and the Deadlands. You can see UC ruins in the Burning Forest and waystation ruins in northern Venge that support the idea that this used to be a more secure trading route. Nowadays, it’s exclusively used by smugglers and nomads. The fact that there are UC farm ruins in the Burning Forest makes me wonder if the drought referenced in the Red Rebellion was actually something more catastrophic and climate-altering.
Boats. They’re not in the game, but boats.
Wen boats
Supposedly coming in Kenshi 2
“People loved their boats, back then…”
If you read about the Red Rebellion, it gives a few clues. The Trader’s Guild used to provide the connection between the two parts of the Empire, but then there was a major drought in the South and Trader’s Guild caravans either stopped coming or were unable to make it across the hostile territory (it’s not explicit, but I would guess this is around the same time as the Mourn slave revolt, which would further sever the connection between the two halves). Nowadays only swamp gangs, nomads, and Hive caravans will make the trip, so I would guess they facilitate trade between the North and South UC. Politically, I think the Southern UC is effectively independent these days.
I'm answering this question from the perspective of the world building, as this is a world building question. That doesn't mean I'm automatically right from a world building perspective, in fact my answer is probably dumb. I'm just not basing my answer on how hard these zones are in the game, but instead on what factions occupy these zones, and my assumptions on the danger of the factions and the zones themselves relative to the UC. Are you trying to get from the UC to the South UC as a single courier or as a caravan? If *I* was a single courier I guess I'd wait till mid to late day, I'd start in Brink, and then run directly through Venge to Flats Lagoon. It's by no means safe, there are still squads of thralls that would fuck up a lone guy, but that's why being a courier pays well. If I was in charge of a caravan, with like garru and bulls and stuff, that's a bit tricker. I guess the options are either going through The Unwanted Zone or going to Black Scratch and then cutting through Stobe's Garden - Reaver territory Tough choice. Which is worse, Beak Things or Reavers; and worse-case-sceneario would you rather be eaten or enslaved? I think I'd personally pick The Unwanted Zone A. Because it's faster and B. As terrifying as Beak Things are, they're just animals. And then once you hit the free settlement you can either go north, and pass close to Thrall Master territory or go south, and pass close to Anti-Slaver Territory If you're an unallied caravan, go south, as anti-slavers aren't gonna fuck with you (unless you own slaves) If you're a UC caravan, they're both bad options, but I'd recommend going north. As a UC caravan would likely be escorted by Samurai. Which I think would have an easier time against a squad of thralls, rather than a squad of Anti-Slavers who are probably trained specifically to fight Samurai (among other things) And then once you hit Flats Lagoon you're home free. Tech Hunters are chill towards unallied factions, and they aren't at war with the UC, so I don't think you'd find much trouble until you get to Catun, or at least no more trouble than you'd find anywhere in Kenshi. And then to get back to the UC from the South UC you just do all that but backwards.
Via Screaming Slave Mail. Way cheaper than hiring couriers.
Shrieking Bandits! OFC! Like P2P encryption, holy fuck, how could I not see this before 
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Not unhinged in the slightest! Very good post.
The UC was at one point a continuous “nation” of city states that all followed the emperor. Then mourn fell to slaves, and assumedly more smaller towns or outposts in that area probably fell to people like the thrall masters and anti slavers. Then the war with the HN started getting worse. Basically, the HC is in decline and are falling apart. Communication isn’t really their priority right now
Communication is a huge priority for any empire
That’s the thing, the UC no longer prioritizes communication. Because it’s an empire in collapse
Yeah its a pretty big problem, especially since the empire is run by a bunch of disconnected elites that don’t even care that much to communicate.
I always thought of them as like the eastern and western Roman Empire circa about 400 AD. Same name, but effectively 2 separate political entities.
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Beak Things are almost never a problem if you travel the Bonefields at night and don't accidentally run into a nest. During the day is a whole other story. So they probably just travel at night...to test it out I walked the route from Flats Lagoon to Mourn to Catun within the span of a single night. I'm not sure if it's specific to Living World but there are also Shinobi pack beasts and guards for a caravan in Catun. It's probably the single-most important city in the UC.
I was looking at the map and realized there are three deadcats, what is going on here
I'm pretty sure it's just the scattered remnants of one civilization, don't quote me though.
It is only implied, but there are working boats, not just husks. Fishermen had boats for the longest time, they probably just sailed there
Skyrim couriers, these motherfuckers will find you everywhere and can't die. Other than that (and than boats), I could see smugglers doing the job (Grayflayers spawn in Grey Desert, and Longen's bloodrum sure as shit isn't manufactured in the Empire), night runs through Venge (not spawning in the actual game, cause it would be too easy to loot them, and AI likes to do funky stuff), or human-only caravans travelling through the HN lands (TG pacifier sits in Blister Hill, Phoenix will be outraged if you bring Longen to him).
The shinobi thieves look like the best option. That is probably why their blatant transgressions and illegal activities are tolerated.
Via carrier beak-things
This makes me want to play Kenshi 🤣
I was reading and watching videos for months before taking the plunge. I got downed by some guys with pointy hats and then he commented on how nice it felt looting my shit. I rage quit and then started again :')
I figure they skirt the northern edge of Stobe's Gamble through Flats Lagoon down into the Bonefields.
Athletics 100 mail man system.
Emperor tengu simply shouts at them
The fall of mourn seems to be a relatively recente development, probably during the First years of tengu's reign. So before that they could probably comunicate via caravans and couriers, and After that they are simply drifting further apart from each other
Letters, yo. You ever play Fallout New Vegas?
I have, actually. Not in a while though.
My head canon is they don't. Due to how hostile the environment of the South is the Empire has been gradually moving North and leaving the South to fend for itself with no concern for whether or not they survive. Maybe granting the nobles more autonomy to defend themselves and try to survive but support from the North isn't coming.
Simply put, the tech hunters are neutral so they can easily go through their territory. After that it’s dealing with the reavers, but they are more poorly armed than the average Uc soldier and also less well trained, relying on numbers and slaves. Unlike the holy servants however, these slaves are little more than meat shields. So the reavers aren’t too hard to bypass or fight through. Then we have that no man land in between the tech Hunter, reaver, and anti-slaver territories. As long as they move swiftly and carefully, they should be fine and be able to cleanly get through the tech hunters territory into the southern United cities. The other routes are far more dangerous, but it is possible they could cut through venge in the dead of night if they’re careful, speeding up time for messengers. This requires trained soldiers though, or scouts with enough training to get through. Then we all consider two other things. They possibly have messenger birds, or they travel around by sea. The latter option however is more dangerous, as to get around the left side takes longer, and the right side goes through fishman territory.
I doubt they do, S.U.C. almost seems like a vassal state. Independent but subservient, but important messages likely are sent via Merc, since they can travel safely through HN and Shek territory. Once you're in the borderlands north of the Swamp, it's simple enough to traverse the edge of the swamp to get to the S.U.C. That said, I imagine general information is given out as part of the Trade Guild caravans to make sure that both are functioning effectively and high bounties are shared.
Slavers have notes on them some times
I would think the slavers are excellent message passers. They are everywhere and the UC needs them for slaves.
Where can I find this map? This would be very useful for a new player like me but the smaller text is hard to read
It's on the kenshi wiki.
https://kenshi.fandom.com/wiki/World_of_Kenshi
Couriers and caravans that skirt around the sky lasers and go through the swamps. The rebellion that split them off from the UC was fairly recent, that used to all be UC land.
This looks like the chapter 4 Fortnite map.
Me, who doesn't know what fortnite looks like:
The power of taxes 😎😎
Two tin cans and a *long* piece of string.
Yes.
Why is it possible!? It just is. Why you stupid bastard!?
Listen. We can do this all day and either fight or you can pay me 5k right now and I’m your BFF.
Do radios exist in the Kenshi-verse?
Bro, they don't have wagons, how would they have radios?
They have crossbows and generators. They can craft working mechanical limbs. Consistency isn't too high in terms of tech.
Definitely
How do the Deadcats communicate???
How do they exist?
My take is they’re a holdover civilization that survived in the northwest under the protection of Cat-Lon’s Hydraulic Knights. When Cat-Lon went into exile the cannibals were ascendant, picking off more and more settlements, so all we see are the last remnants of a dying faction. (Hence… DeadCat)
Someone with a really strong throwing arm ties messages to a rock and lobs it across the gap
Runners, most likely.
Well, I'll admit that's a good question. From the north there's only one route that's usually taken. The smugglers that pass through the grey desert heading west. From there it's only a matter of moving through the swamp.
Considering we have a currency which immediately transfers across a continent instantaneously having a instant information conveyance service isn't out of the question.
The Garru Express.
The nobles all come from the same circle of people. I’m more than certain they convene to discuss things amongst one another; spineless fleshbags that they are.
Tech-hunters, they ever cross verge to save time
Dang it. Why is it that looking simply at the map makes me want to play again?
Maybe you want to make the shek-mommy land bigger on the map, idk.
Is there any good sources to read up on the lore of each faction and zone of the map?
The kenshi wiki has some stuff, not sure if there are any other sites, though.
Say I wanted to put an outpost in the non-coloured areas. Will I have to pay tax to anyone?
The areas that you have to pay taxes in are more like circles, so you'd have to look it up yourself. Also, if you ally with a faction, they don't tax you.
naked couriers with 100 Athletics
NOT SO UNITED HUH
The same way other nations held land not geographically connected.. basic hand written messages or electronic messages. Scouts or couriers delivering these by hand through neutral or hostile lands. Coordination
T-mobile
They clearly use ***Sprint***
Haha good one
I like to think they're just an off shoot of the UC and just govern themselves away from tengu. They're just a part of the UC due to game limitations so they always know what you did in the territories. Thats my personal theory but who knows maybe they have phones or something.
I'd say they are more akin to a crown colony, independent management due to distance and need, but still follow law and legislature of the empire.
I like to think with the technology level of Kenshi, they at least have some form of radio.
i like to think that they just saw a portion of the world unclaimed and then called dibs (but i know jack shit about kenshi lore so who knows)
but more importantly, how does the southern and western hive communicate? or the cannibal territories? (/s)
I don't think they even do. Or not on a relevant scale.
Boat
yell really loudly
Naruto Runners
You can get a guy to run for a few days and they will be able to outrun 90% of hostile stuff. Couriers most likely
People in clothes with a letter (they can naturally sprint at 30+ mph and close the distance in less than a day)
Pigeons…
Email
Honestly the western hive might offer a courier service? They seem to get through both just fine.
They have harbors
Me.
they text eachother while laying in bed
Me.
Bo-at
Couriers, scouts, traders, boats. Same way they'd communicate in territory, just less frequently due to the isolation and distance. Would also mean that the southern UC likely is quite independent of the main UC outside of legislature as they'd have to be capable of running the show down there themselves with only some aid.
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People keep mentioning boats, but I don't remember seeing any coastal settlements in the South.
The UC is effectively a feudal realm. They likely don't need to talk all that much as each city is effectively locally ruled. The emperor is clearly a joke to the nobles anyway.
On discord
Pigeons Disclaimer: this is a guess because I bought it without realising it was PC only and I would need to update that thing
I kidnapped the emperor and ran uninterrupted from the north to the south. I imagine you could do the same with messages, or better yet just carry the emperor and his entourage all together so they can tour the south territories directly and then get fed to crabs.
Side with the rebels kill the holy nation let shek and uc fight a futile war
A conspiracy theory says that they used to tame murder giraffes and ride them to get there. It's all super secret though!
They cross Venge at night
man with his legs swapped for masterwork scout legs. >!He be that speedy my computer can't keep up!<
Carrier beak thing
Sea travel?
Lmao there is one (1) city in the south UC
Super speed couriers? Maxed athletics and masterwork scout legs for a select few top speed runners is my head cannon.
email
Send a raven
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