New Cast and Story So Far

Hey everyone, Kulo Seeri is ten years old tomorrow and officially in a bloggable state again! Wooo!

I have to admit there won't be pics of the early rotations (no screenshots while I got everything established) or of the bachelorette challenge (so long ago I forgot what happened, even with screenshots) - thanks to some advice from a couple of my tumblr followers, I've decided to write about what's getting me excited in my game right now. :)

So, I think a catch-up post is in order:
The Story So Far
Triple Bachelorette Challenge: The mi-Avira sisters' search for suitable partners, in a nutshell, involved several favourites to win getting the boot because they were no good with kids and/or fishing, a rivalry forming between the Nuidya and the Blue Forest tribe, and a finale where Kitira's choice of mate was made based on not wanting to spend her life with a grumpy plantsim who wouldn't accept any flirting when it was dark. She ended up choosing Trevor Gorski over Rock Greenman for that reason.

The Stone brothers, Sophos and Melchol, turned out to be the surprise tag-team of the challenge. Both came close to being sent home several times, but their strategy seemed to be staying in the middle of the pack and not drawing too much attention. It paid off - both were still there at the end! Sophos ended up with Kenda, and Melchol with Abina - I've actually got really attached to them. FlyingRaccoon, I hope you're proud of these two :)

The Following Season: The challenge attracted a little too much outside attention to Kulo Seeri, and Kitira let it go to her head somewhat. Long story short, it ended up with an influx of tourists and immigrants, and a clash between them and the natives. Most of the "old guard" decided to just up and leave before Kitira - who was already a pretty controversial headwoman, having studied technology at Sims University - turned the old village into a resort. The "new" Kulo Seeri - the group that left, that is - is the focus of my blog now (mainly because its population is more manageable now than it would have been if I'd kept everyone - I was NOT recreating over 100 Sims when the last hood glitched up) and only has seven households, which made my rebuilding efforts a lot easier.

The First Summer in New KS: This is where I switched calendar systems again. Each season is now 9 days long - or two and a quarter moons, with each moon being equivalent to a year of our time (although the calendar works on seasons, not years). The defining features of that first season were lots of resource gathering, the fact that it was the hottest summer in memory, and a chaotic ACR love dodecahedron. The last two are probably linked to Hanis, the shaman's younger brother, botching an attempt to cast a love charm on his childhood sweetheart Renee. Things have calmed down a lot now - I didn't want KS turning into a soap opera where everyone loves each other and hates each other at the same time, not at the start of my new "series" anyway. Ironically, I had to use a lot of cheaty objects to stop everyone cheating.

Now, Autumn 142: After all that, here are my sims:

Left to right: Melchol with son Sholovu; older twins, daughter Molris and son Shalniani; Abina with son Lledienyu.
After leaving the original Kulo Seeri to Kitira and the kooky SimNation tourists, Abina, as next oldest mi-Avira sister, became headwoman of the new village. So far, she's been busy keeping the peace, wrangling her two younger sons and attempting to set down the first semi-formal code of law for the Nuidya, all without being able to see. Melchol has started managing resources and food supplies as that's something he can do from home while helping Abina with all of the above. I have to say the pair of them make a great team.
Also, early on in the settlement of the new territory, toddler Molris was lost for a while and Melchol found her cuddling a wolf. The wolf is a symbol of the headwoman's authority, so it was taken as a positive omen - Molris is also believed to be the fifth incarnation of Sena Yuleng.

Back row: Sophos and Kenda. Front row: twins, son Keto and daughter Delyana.
Sophos and Kenda were a bit of a shock result in the bachelorette challenge - both being the type to take no nonsense from anyone, I gave them five minutes. However, they turned out to be the type of couple that thrives on arguing and making up. When they're not driving each other crazy in multiple senses, Sophos is a hunter and stone carver, while Kenda is a potter. Delyana and Keto are used to their parents constantly snarking at each other, so they mostly mind their own business and sort of raise themselves (with help from the other adults of the village) and both have inherited Sophos' pointed ears. There may be another pair of twins on the way.

Back row: Ganyalis and Vedrafe. Front row: Hanis.
The three zan-Ave siblings - former shaman Ganyalis, current shaman Vedrafe, and kid brother Hanis (who is way too interested in shamanism, despite not being risfe, and won't leave his older sister's stuff alone) - get on surprisingly well, for now. Vedrafe is constantly busy, being in charge of leading rituals, working metal and hunting parties, leaving Hanis plenty of time to snoop around her workspace. Ganyalis is still recovering from a knock to the head that cost him most of his memories and skills, which is why his sister ended up taking over, and has gained a surprising amount of weight lately...

Back row: Moli. Front row: Kirateli, Endashenyani and Sholushra.
Young mother and seamstress Moli zan-Ace has never particularly liked kids or wanted a long-term relationship. She's always had a rebellious streak - maybe because she's the daughter of a plantsim, maybe because she's the headwoman's half-sister, maybe both - and no one's really sure why she's still living in Kulo Seeri. Her daughters are the result of a "gap year" in Windenburg, SimNation, which was an emotional Epic Fail, but it was seen as a good omen that she survived the birth and delivered three healthy babies at fourteen moons (KS "years" are based on the lunar cycle, as seasons are 9 days and months are 4 days) so she couldn't very well give them up. She's kind of got used to them now anyway. :)

Only row: Anan and Prisa.
The twins Anan and Prisa zan-Li, offspring of the half-alien Zareb zan-Ace and grandchildren of the late Li Yoo, share a tent next to the Heart of the Village (the common gathering area). Prisa is a hunter, and Anan is the village's carpenter. While Prisa is in a semi-casual relationship with Ganyalis zan-Ave, Anan is single by order of the tribal council - a few years ago he got in trouble for lighting a basket full of butterflies on fire, and is forbidden to marry until he proves he can show kindness and respect to all forms of life. Still, his bad-boy ways seem to be appealing to Katari zan-Ace...

Back row: Otolo. Front row: Katari, Keru and Tania with son Kaptumo.
Despite being one of the tribe's best hunters in his youth, Otolo zan-Ave has been unlucky in love for most of his life. An injury he suffered on the trail to the new village helped apprentice herbalist Tania Ursine to see him in a new light, and the pair were married soon after arriving. Their foster children, Katari zan-Ace and her brother Keru, have been living with them since parents Asken and Tia (who are still in the old village) divorced. Otolo is now the closest thing KS has to a schoolteacher, which means his home is usually swarming with kids... I'm working on setting up a community lot for him and Markal Go to teach at.

Back row: Serendipity, Markal and Arafa. Front row: Pel, Renee and Ensu.
Finally, we come to the largest family in Kulo Seeri (not counting pets as family members, otherwise Otolo & Tania's household would win on that score). Serendipity Herendez, Apple Valley expat and herbalist, lives here with her daughter Arafa the basket weaver, son-in-law Markal and three grandchildren. Only Ensu is the biological child of both Arafa and Markal - apprentice shaman Pel zan-Nate, only true risfe in the new KS, is her half-brother, and Renee Ursine - the first lizardsim born into the tribe in a very long time - is their cousin and Tania's half-sister. Arafa and Markal are expecting another baby, although Markal has noticed Arafa spending a lot of time with Ganyalis lately...

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So, here we are at the opening of the new series (well... slightly earlier, Renee and Hanis are teens now, but I took these pics before they aged up) and very nearly at the tenth birthday of the hood (at least in my time zone). I'm back to blogging semi-regularly now - and I want to thank all my readers for sticking with me through a lot of long absences. I love you all! Here's to many more years!