@Kambeii @icedquinn @moth_ball @s8n Purchased the Shadow class for our tomboy. It turns out it's a hybrid magic/combat class, but more importantly it has the utility functions that I really liked on Arcane mage, and they came to use right away as a giant murder spider first attacked niggy then our alpacas. Although niggy was able to get indoors, the two alapas were both attacked by the murder spider, but Tomboy was able to summon them away before they died.
While I was out, Quinn decided to take a break from research and wander about outside where there was a mad muffalo. She got bruised up pretty bad, and with all the murder spider excitement we haven't had a chance to rescue her, so she's just lying there on the ground for now. Luckily, she fell indoors and the muffalo ran into one of our traps. When we got back, we saved the muffalo. Having it nearby means Tomboy will be able to tame it without spending half of her day traveling.
Winter came rather uneventfully. The murder spider, frustrated with magical disappearing alpacas, moved across the river and preyed on muffalos. Because niggy is fast and slick, she would slide in and grab the muffalo just as soon as it backed off, leaving the spider to always be needing to attack new muffalos. Eventually, frustrated, it left. A quick venture out saw niggy get rid of the only other predator on the map. With winter here, there's not much to do with crops. But it's the perfect time to plan a new base. Although we have the largest patch of fertile soil on the east side, there is no access to steam geysers.
A slaver arrives, and we pick up a new colonist: Gamercat. A good candidate for a sniper, and a skilled builder to boot. The extra help cooking will be welcome to tomboy. We've stocked up on enough pemmican to feed four people for fifty days, so we're ready to go to the landed ship anytime. However, although I feel confident with these four colonists, I think we are under-geared. I might hold out another season to get a magic class for Quinn (arcane? druid? necro? enchanter seems strong but I've never had one).
I send niggy off for a quick run to the nearby settlement, where I remember seeing a close combat helmet which would be perfect for tomboy. As soon as niggy comes home, tomboy throws a party. It looks like Gamercat has an eye for Niggy. At day 100, we are a good ways to making progress on our base. There is a particularly nasty bug lurking not far off, but with Tomboy's Summon ability, I'm not too worried about anyone getting caught off-guard. I've decided we'll hunker down for another harvest, and then head out after outfitting everyone in devilstrand. Gamercat turns 73 a few days after joining and suffers from hearing loss.