New commodity idea: Blue Jillies

[farmerman]

There has been some discussions amongst various people which has resulted in this idea for a new commodity. Why a new commodity? Because more options - especially those with potentially intriguing RP - are awesome. Plus, putting ideas out there for discussion often result in even better ideas.

Blue Jillies

What are blue jillies? Why, they are a wonderful flower that once thrived on Planet Stuttgart until Synth Foods'€™ environmental modifications kicked in. They have had many poor growing seasons in a row in recent years.

Here are some rumors and inforcards that speak of them:

• The planet Stuttgart has been the breadbasket of Rheinland since its settlement in 94 A.S. Over time, its farmers formed a powerful union, named the WVS. The organization managed to successfully lobby the Rheinland government to subsidize Stuttgart agriculture for hundreds of years, generating a huge amount of wealth amongst the farming dynasties and increasing the planet's food output considerably, especially in the growing of Blue Jillies. But with the end of the Eighty Years War in 669 A.S. and the government completely bankrupted, the subsidies were no longer tenable and were cut almost overnight.
  
  In a secret deal during the war, the Rheinland government desperately borrowed huge sums from Liberty. Facing default on their loans at the end of the war, they were forced to offer something to House Liberty. Synth Foods wanted complete access to planet Stuttgart, which the Rheinland government granted in exchange for renegotiated debt repayment terms. The Liberty food giant moved in immediately, buying out huge numbers of nearly bankrupt Stuttgart farmers and proceeded to crush entire farming dynasties over the following decades. Some collapsed in suspicious circumstances, such as the Erlichmann family whose farms and plantations suffered a number of sabotages shortly before their buyout by Synth Foods. Much of Stuttgart was subsequently converted into vast expanses of the bio-engineered mono-crops of Synth Foods.
  
  The government backed the foreign company wholeheartedly and looked the other way as Synth Foods used unscrupulous business practices to further consolidate its control over Stuttgart. The remaining independent farmers were ultimately forced to buy all of their fertilizers and seeds from Synth Foods and sell all of their production to them at low fixed rates -- prices that were designed to squeeze the maximum out of the farmer and shift all risk away from Synth Foods.
  
  The once proud Stuttgart farmers were reduced to indentured servants. Inexorably, Synth Foods assimilated the bulk of the planet's arable land, dutifully paying its Rheinland federal taxes and feeding the bribe machine in New Berlin. The WVS tried to fight back legally in the courts but soon discovered that their influence had been sold to a higher bidder. This sparked a number of sabotage incidents at Synth Food owned factories and it lead to Synth Foods forcing the Rheinland government to replace virtually all of the original WVS board members with their lackeys in 775 A.S., destroying the farming union's voice in New Berlin. It was this final act that lead radicals from the WVS, including the former head of the Erlichmann family, to found the Landwirtrechtbewegung -- farmers rights movement -- simply referred to as the LWB, later the same year.
  
  The LWB built a small depot called Darmstadt within the Ostnebel. This serves as a base for operations targeted at Synth Foods convoys within Rheinland space. The Red Hessians also use it as way station along one of their routes to Omega-11. The "war" has been going on for over forty years now, and both sides claim to be winning -- although Synth Foods now controls 90 percent of the planet's agriculture vs. 55 percent just four decades ago.
  
  
  
• I wish we had some blue jillies to liven up the bar here. They're having another horrible growing season though.
  
  
  
• Much of the money that we earn from selling Terraforming Gases to Synth Foods will be secretly funneled to the LWB. ALG's chairman is a large supporter of the displaced farmers of Stuttgart. Her own plantation has been growing blue jillies for centuries.
  
  
  
• [[ NEWS ARCHIVE - 801 A.S. ]]
  
  STUTTGART -- Independent farmers on Stuttgart have been sending complaints to New Berlin again. This time it's not about swine or squeloms, but blue jillies. The native Stuttgart flower has had yet another bad growing season. The farmers contend that the culprit is the Synth Foods sponsored CO2 enhancement project that began three decades ago. Synth Foods was not available for comment.
  

As a trade good

Why should blue jillies be a trade commodity? Beyond the great RP potential (with connections to ALG, LWB, and Rheinland overall), it also fits with the recent increase in luxury commodities. Rheinland could use something to compete against Junyo's fire pearls.

Where would it come from?

As they are native to Planet Stuttgart, it would be one of the main producers. The LWB, with their connection to the plant'€™s past, would also be producing them. Rumors establish that Kaiserslautern Depot in New Berlin tries to keep its atmospheric connections closer to the original Stuttgart composition. Bonn Station may also be a good place for WVS farmers to sell their products to foreign investors.

Planet Stuttgart - production
Kaiserslautern Depot, New Berlin - production and distribution
Bonn Station, New Berlin - distribution

Stuttgart makes the most sense as a sell point, though it also has some other stuff being sold. Kaiserslautern already has the established lore as well as not having anything special for sale. Bonn also just seems to be a connecting point in the trade system and thus a new commodity would fit in.

Who would purchase such things?

OSC is one group that always buys fancy things, so they'€™d be in. Some of the ALG higher-ups may want to brighten up their stations with some (it's also got to help cover the smell). The GC are also supposed to be quite into fancy foreign goods (much to the chagrin of their conservative enemies). Zoners may also want to bring in something nice to liven up their lonely freeports. The Bundschuh and/or Hessians may also want them to show support for Rheinland

Or perhaps Tulipmania in Space will erupt (jilliesmania!) and populated planets will purchase them. Gallia could have potential, but I'€™ll admit I am not an expert by any means as to their economy.

Another thought is that at least during the current war that blue jillies would be illegal in Liberty, though that would be for the Libertonians to decide (but it makes sense).

Specific buyers would be logical (in our opinions), though not fully exhaustive, at the following:

Rheinland:
Cruiser Schwarzwald
Rugen Station
Briesen Mining Facility
Elbrich Mining Facility

Kusari and Sigmas:
Luxury Liner Mackinac
Battleship Matsuda
Ainu Depot
Planet Kurile

Bretonia and Taus:
Luxury Liner Shetland
Freeport 10
Holmfirth Depot

Liberty and independent:
Planet Curacao
Planet Manhattan

Gallia
Luxury Liner Antibes
Planet New Paris
Luxury Liner Belleville
Planet Marseille
Freeport Monte Carlo

Out there:
Planet Gran Canaria
Freeport 9
Freeport 5
Freeport 11
<strike>an Order place (This would be Planet Toledo but, well, you know; I haven't gotten back up to speed on Order things yet).</strike>
Meskhenet Station

Conclusion

So there you have it. Please discuss amongst yourselves or add thoughts and suggestions and stuff like that. Meanwhile, I will go frolic in my flower garden.

Edit: Additional stations added based on clarification from Jeremy_Hunter and Card Captor.

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Faction info links: Samura Heavy Industries : LWB : Watchers

[kikatsu]

Big thumbs up from me, kudos to anything that would help the LWB game/lore wise is greatly appreciated by me and many others I am sure... not to mention bringing the lore of Rheinland more into the mainstream.

Major kudos

[JayDee Kasane]

funny idea) +1

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[Jessitrescott]

I support this idea but i think the admin team already has lot of work

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[DarthBindo]

I support this idea but i think the admin team already has lot of work

Adding a commodity is not exactly a hard thing to do. Most of the dev work right now is in de-bugging.
Actually, as any coder would tell you, what you write once, you de-bug ten times.
Then you de-bug again, and it still won't work quite right.

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gone four years, first day back: Zoners still getting shot in Theta :|

[Jeremy Hunter]

For an Order Place, I'd stick Akbat or Meskenent.

Actually, Meskenent.

Less of a chance of catastrophic decompression by mechanized Osiris swarms.

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May you ever walk in the Light, Shizune.

[Zynth]

Blue Jillies. *Giggles*

It has a funny name, Blue Jillies *Giggles*

As part of OSC. We approve!

Now give us our funnily named flowers so I can brighten up my office.

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[Jansen]

I want some for the LWB.

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[Friday]

I am not against such a concept - but we need to more clearly define what this flower is, and what properties it may have beyond being a pretty blue colour.

Is there a reason that it would be an export item - as opposed to simply exporting the seeds and having them grown in greenhouses all over Sirius?

Fresh-cut flowers tend to be.....freshly cut.

If this flower were shown to have some kind of medicinal property, would we then see a commodity such as "Blue Jillie Seed", or "Blue Jillie Extract" being shipped to Cryer bases? Or other locations involved with research?

Might Blue Jillies be desired as an ingredient for the pseudo-medical commodity "Elixirs"?

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[Lobster]

Treat them as a rare luxury item. Also, another idea for a sell-point, and one that would work with the trading system would be Augsburg. I bet those rich snobs living there would LOVE some rare and endangered flowers.

PS, this idea gets my thumbs up.