Jim Carol's Village

[dljrfn2000]

Hello!

This will be my first MD but by no means my first city. After years of playing the game I've decided to write a story about the political complexities of, well of the world, using a region on Sim City 4 as my vehicle to tell my story. The story takes place in a currently un-named region which I will show more of as the story goes on. Right now the total population of the region.....


is 16  .

The town is a small farming village along a river which lets out into an ocean. It is in no specific place on earth so any other mentions from out of town are an unnamed place, for arguments sake think a New York City like home town for one of our characters you'll meat, you'll know which one. The 16 men, women and children that live in the town all were born there and it is unclear as to how sims inhabited the region.

The town is run by 4 men who are not farmers in the town and the only 4 with educations of any sort.

Jim Carol
Jim Carol is the mayor of this town, although he really has no power outside of a glorified banker, which is a good thing because that's what his education is in. He takes tax money from the residents and uses it to repair any public buildings.

He has a wife Lauren and a 14 year old son James. They live together in the largest house on main street in town.

He's in his late 40's and his black hair is thinning a bit, he's got a thick beard that stays tight to his face. His body is average in size and he's about 5'7.

Father Thomas
Father Thomas is the pastor at the local church, he lives in the residence of the church and out of duty to the church remains alone.

Father Thomas has gray hair and is in his mid 50's, he's got a rather scrawny build and a bony face. He's short at 5'2.

Mike Goldstien
Mike is the only one of the 4 who is a farmer, he also runs the hardware store in town and has a degree in business. Mike's wife Nicole and his 13 year old daughter Natalie run the family's corn farm. He has a 5 year old sun Mike Jr who also does a little but due to his young age he isn't a big part of the farm.

Mike is also in his mid 40's and has light brown hair. He's heavier set and has a little bit of a belly over his waist. He is the tallest of the 4 at almost 6 feet tall.

Brian Anderloski
Brian is the town attorney, he doesn't really have much of a job in the small town but he enjoys the relatively relaxing life he has, and even more so the monopoly on the town as it's only lawyer. He's the youngest of the 4 in his mid 30's and is still single. He has a great respect for the other 3 town leaders and respects the fact he's the 'kid' in the group. He lives and works out of a shop on Jim Carol's land in front of the Carol house.

He's got short red hair and a goatee which he keeps neatly trimmed on his bony face. He's more average built like Jim and is about the same height.

The 4 men agree to play Poker, no betting of course....  , every Friday... in the Church's residents.

Our story starts on a Sunday morning just after church in late spring.



"Jimmy! my boy" Thomas called out to Jim as he was preparing to walk back to his house a few hundred feet down the road.

Jim laughed at the old man walking up to him. "My boy? I'm barely 10 years younger than you."

Thomas laughed, "but I'm still older."

"What can I do you for?" Jim asked.

"Well you see my boy, its getting awfully warm out side and it'd be nice to have air conditioning in the Church there." he explained wiping his brown.

Jim nodded "that would be nice," he admitted. "You talked to Mike and see how much it'll cost him to get one down here?"

Thomas nodded, "yep, he said it'll cost 75 hundred to get it done by the end of the month."

Jim rubbed the back of his neck, "That's pretty much everything we've saved up there Thomas, if I give you that money we've saved up we'll be really in a predicament." Thomas nodded in agreement. "I'll talk to Mike to see if he can bring that price down a bit or if I can work out some sort of tax credit in return for him." Jim replied.

No sooner had he finished Mike walked up to the two. "Gentlemen" 

The two nodded in response, "I didn't see Natalie today Mike" Thomas pointed out.

Mike nodded, "she came down with something, she's home resting in bed."

"Aw, that's too bad, I wish her a quick recovery. I'm sure James will be happy to see her back, eh Jimmy?"

Jim shot them a dirty look. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"Oh Jimmy chill, everyone knows the two kids of yours got a thing for each other." Thomas said laughing.

Jim grumbled something in-audible.

"So have you talked to Jim about the AC Tom?" Mike asked, Thomas nodded. "So how 'bout it Jimmy?"

Jim shrugged a little bit "It's pretty much our whole budget mike, you gotta go down on that price."

"How much?"

"5 grand"

"5 grand for the price or go down 5 grand?"

"As the price"

"I could do that, let me talk to a dealer in the city and see if I can get it down to around 5 grand for ya."

The three shook hands and went there separate ways for the evening.   

[dljrfn2000]

Friday-

The 4 men are meeting in the evening to play poker in the church. Jim, Thomas, and Brian are setting up when Mike arrives late, exhausted and unshaved.

"Jesus Mike! What's up with you?" Brian asked to disapproving looks from Thomas. 

He looked at Brian sternly, "It's Natalie, she's getting worse." He paused looking at Jim, "We need to hire a doctor or something and build a clinic or something!" he demanded.

Jim sat down silently. "Sorry Mike... no money." he said looking down grabbing poker chips from a small container.

"Bull! You have almost 75 hundred in the bank!" Mike shot back.

"No..." Jim sighed, "we have nothing in the bank until you lessen the price on the Air Conditioners for Thomas."

"I'll raise the f'in price!" he threatened, snarling.

"You can't do that... legally." Brian said joining Jim at the table.

"What?! Why not!?"

"We've already signed the money over to the church to be used as AC's for the church and nothing else." he explained. "Once its signed over there is nothing we can legally do."

"Have Thomas sign it back!" Mike ordered.

"It's sent to be used as AC's they're as good as owned, there is nothing we can do."

Mike stormed out in anger, breaking the front door to the church in the process. "Price is 8 Thousand, and good luck buying a new door!"

"well that was pleasant." Thomas said sitting down grabbing his chips. "We still gonna play?" The other two men nodded.

[Skimbo]

Lol, Poker in the church, good idea

I cinda like your story, continue it

And I also cant wait to see more things than the church.

God 

[dljrfn2000]

Lol, Poker in the church, good idea

I cinda like your story, continue it

And I also cant wait to see more things than the church.

God 

Thank you for your kind words, new update coming later today

[RickD]

Great story. Looking forward to more pics.

[dljrfn2000]

Thank you Rick D, more pics to come as the story progresses, sorry about the delay guys and gal's but some RL jumped up and I was unable to get onto the game and take some of the new pics I needed. So without further delay I present Chapter 3



"Jimmy I'm fully willing to end this now and just sign the money over to be made into a clinic of some sort."

"I can't let you do that Thomas..."

"Do you honestly think Mike will budge now?"

"What is there left for him to save? You put her in the ground Thomas, he has nothing to protect by building a hospital."

"But he'll fight it now harder than ever, use Natalie's death as a ploy, as if the town owe's him something in remorse for his loss." 

There was a knock at the door.

"Excuse me gentlemen, I couldn't help overhearing your delema, are you gents short a few simoleans?" A strange man asked entering the room from the church.

Thomas and Jim looked at each-other then back to the strange man. "Not exactly..." Jim responded "We have the money just.... a disagreement on what it should be used for."

"What if you could buy both?"

"I'd call who ever was telling me I could a lier."

"Oh.... I'm no lier, where are my manors though?" The man laughed. "The name is Patrick Campos, I'm the founder and owner of Campos mills, and I was out surveying the area with a group of investors... we never thought we'd stumble upon a town, we thought this area was un-inhabited you don't show up on our maps."

"A fact I've worked very hard to maintain Mr. Campos." Jim responded. "My name is Jim Carol, this is my town, I'm the mayor. This is our pastor Father Thomas."

"It's a pleasure to meet you gentlemen."

"Thank you, but what interest is this area to you? and how does that build a health clinic and buy this church air conditioning?" Jim asked.

"Well that's very simple gentlemen, I'd like to build a mill here your river and some land in the area provide excellent sources for me to produce and ship textiles. I will pay top dollar for any land and will bring unknown riches to this area." Patrick responded.

"What's the catch?"

"No Catch, we all get rich."   

[dljrfn2000]

sorry for the double post here, no new update today as I work on

1. Mr. Campos's proposal
2. Updating the photo's to .jpg format

thanks for reading and I'll post the next chapter tomorrow

[Skimbo]

This few words will be the start of an economic boom. Nice to read them.

[dljrfn2000]

This few words will be the start of an economic boom. Nice to read them.

Thank you, yes an economic boom is about right, it would appear that I am a lier and I was able to get the chapter ready faster than I previously thought I would be so with out further delay




"That's hardly a catch Mr. Campos, getting rich is one thing, but not at the expense of the area I've worked hard to keep in good order, and free of the hassles of inner city life." Jim responded.

"Oh not at all Mr. Carol; let me explain,"


Part 1:

"To the north of here there is a large open area around a delta that is perfect for growing the cotton I use in my mills. From there I'll build a railroad and use barges to ship the cotton to this area here."

Part 2:

"I'll build my mill here, it will have about 150 jobs. These jobs will require support services and such, but the population shouldn't increase by more than 200 total. This is 200 more mouths to feed, 200 more people to sell your product to. This is where you get rich."

Part 3:

"I'll continue my railroad to the bay at the end of the river here and ship the finished textiles to a port where I can then send them all over the world... this is where I get rich gentlemen. We'll make around 500 Jobs total in the area, 500 people that will have good jobs, good homes." He paused, "Good health-care, good education."

Jim looked at him uneasily, "but at what expense? this area has stayed pristine, free of major pollutants, and the stress of life in a major industrial center. We are simple people, and we live a simple life style."

There was a silence, "But, I'd like to speak with the town lawyer if that is ok with you Mr. Campos, if you'd like you may stay in my guest room, its not made up but I'm sure Diana would be happy to fix it up for you."

Mr. Campos smiled, "Why that's a fine offer Mr. Carol, but I'll have to turn down that offer. If it's ok with you I'll stay with my surveying crew on our barges this evening." He explained. "But I will have no problem allowing you to speak with, the town attorney. I'll be back tomorrow around the same time."

[Skimbo]

It's the chanche of the century for this village. And the story is well witten again, good job.

[dljrfn2000]

"So Brian what do you think?"

"I would tell you but we're sitting in a house of god."

".... that bad?"

"Mr. Campos is off on his estimates, sure we'll have about 500 working class residents, but another 100 or so children, and senior citizens." Brian explained. "The small plot of land that the village is on now will be completely over run, our plots of land will be reduced to our houses, we'll have to move to the outskirts for farm land. With the people moving in we'll be on the map, more farmers will come in with more resources, it will be a matter of time before those who are here will loose there farms and be forced into the factory. Jimmy, I wouldn't be surprised if James ends up working in the factory." He paused, "If Natalie hadn't passed she would've spent a significant amount of time in that factory... it wouldn't have been a good life for her."

There was a long silence in the room

"So how do we fight this?"

Brian laughed, "We don't. When a man like Patrick Campos wants to drop several million to make tens of millions, it happens. A man like him doesn't take a drink unless he's thirsty, he doesn't go to the toilet unless he has to go, he doesn't make a proposal that won't happen for him."

"We have to fight this..."

"Jim, we can't! Our best bet is to get involved, play his game and try to go as far as we can with it. If we can get involved in his system we can try to benefit ourselves as best we can."

"How do we do that?"

"Well..." Brian paused. "We get lucky I guess." 

[Skimbo]

Damn, now I can't wait for the next entries

Good job

[RickD]

I can understand the concerns but who doesn't want to make money?   

[Battlecat]

Fascinating story, I'm looking forward to seeing more!

[dljrfn2000]

Skimbo- Thanks for your continued support

RickD- If you are familiar with the movie "Tall Tale" its the same concept. A lot of people around the time of the industrial revolution resisted the change that the industry's came with.

Battlecat- Thank you for your kind words

and now you will get more




"Gentlemen, good morning."

"Good morning Mr. Campos"

"So I see you have thought over my proposal last night?"

Jim nodded, "We have, we request a counter proposal if that is ok with you."

Patrick shrugged his shoulders, "alright by me"

"Our worry is about your request to build a mill on the land currently within our villages border, we feel that this may cause some changes to our immediate area." Brian explained.


"Well what do you suggest I do?"

"We suggest that you build your plant closer to the planned port, the area is uninhabited so adding the mill to that area would not change much of anything especially since you plan to build the port there as it is."


"I'm afraid that won't do gentlemen, adding that many people into that small of an area will create problems, if we build the mill further up river it keeps the area spread out... plus if I put the mill down there how will you get your goods to the mill and port workers? It will cost too much money to try to ship it in by train or barge, especially if new farmers take land just north of the area and can bring it in to the city directly."

Jim and Brian exchanged looks, this was going to be more difficult than they thought.

"Prove to us that adding a Mill here will keep our land in-tact and our way of life relatively unchanged and you can build your mill here."

[dljrfn2000]

considering I'll be on vacation for the weekend I'll post my next update now.



"Simple gentlemen my plan is very simple."






"I'll build 4 farms on the southern bank of the river about 2 miles up-river from here. I'll build a paved road running the length of the 4 farms to a Rail Depot. On the far side of the road closer to the river I'll build housing for the workers that will work the plantations. Furthermore I'll build a port next to the rail depot so that I can send the cotton down river if need be."


In town here I'll pave the existing roads (green) and then build new streets and houses for people to live at, which shouldn't take up more than just a little bit of space, the houses won't be large. (blue) Along the main street, which the church is on, we'll open up room for support services, like shops and a post office. Then next to the train station (red) we'll add a Fire station (purple), just in case, and on the top corner by the dairy farm we'll add a school(purple). None of the currently existing farms (white) will be changed at all.


The port will be built on the eastern shore of the peninsula with the train station. There will be houses for those who work the docks and a school (purple), and some room for shops and a larger post office. I will set up my HQ for construction, and my eventual residence on the west side of the peninsula.

"Your residence?"

"Yes, I wish to set up residence next to what will be my largest production center."

"I assume you will be paying us taxes?"

"Of course."

"Ok, then I want Brian running this project."

There was a silence as they thought it over for a moment.

"As what?"

"The building planner, he'll make sure that the plan is followed and that the construction is beneficial for both sides."

"You don't trust me"

"I trust him more than you."

"Fair..."

"Then do we have a deal?"

The two men shook hands, "We have a deal Mr. Carol"

"So explain to me how this will go?"

"What's the date?"

"May 25th"

"Ok well I guess, step 1 is Mr. Anderloski and I will go up to the land plot for the plantations and survey the land, get a price. Then we'll go down the train route to get a price on the land that I intend to buy for the rail road, we'll continue down there until we get here and price the land that I intend to buy around here for the houses and the mill. Finally we'll go down and price the land for the peninsula. That will take us about 3 weeks

Step 2, starting in about June, I'll boat in workers and set up my HQ on the west side of the peninsula and start construction on the Port. The port should be up and running by the end of the summer.

Step 3, In July I'll boat loggers up here and they'll start to clear the forests around the town. They should be out about the same time that the port is finished. We'll sell and ship the lumber from the town.

Step 4, While working on the port we'll build houses for the port workers and set up that town, if all goes to plan school should be in session on time in September.

Step 5, Once the land is cleared we'll start building houses and the mill.

Step 6, while this is going on a separate team will start working on the rail network. If all goes to plan the houses and mill should be up and running in time for the first cotton crop in July."

[Blakeway]

Great planning! looking forward to it

[Battlecat]

Nice job on the planning.  I like that you've actually planned to preserve some of the local forest around the farms. 

Enjoy your vacation this weekend!

[Skimbo]

Very well written, I absolutely like this story. *wants to read more as soon as posible*

[Tomas Neto]

Nice start and story too!!!