In search of new friends
A call for spiritual advice from... Sulka himself!
10 members have voted
Welcome again. I hope you are having a nice weekend and are someplace cozy and warm. Some of you may remember that we are still in the middle of adjusting textures for New Udanani. As far as the rock texture goes, two options have again received the same number of votes and I have to determine a winner myself again. 
Apart from that, a water texture has to be chosen yet. By the end of today's episode, you will find options to choose from and I encourage you to cast your votes in the pool poll in order to resolve this question. 
The Altruists have set off on a mission to make contact with other tribes who live in New Udanani - an eventful adventure to say the least. As it is hard to focus on all details of this grand voyage, it is probably best to simply show some key excerpts from the captain's log of "ATS Ibis" - the yacht that the Altruist delegation uses for their travel...
30th April
Mission day 5 - We have arrived to the areas occupied by the Smileyface tribe though not without "adventures".
When we arrived in the vicinity of Laughterdale, it turned out that our ship trespassed into some top-secret military area that the locals call "Emo-G Site". As we entered the NEZ (naval exclusion zone) around it we were intercepted by an armed, modern-looking frigate, instructed to dock with the site, disembark and give our ship up!
As we got off we were greeted by a group of well-built soldiers with typical dark-complexion specific to New Udananian Southerners. Their leader, a sergeant by the looks of it, informed us that we are under arrest and that our ship will be impounded.
Our tribal leader (who is a part of our cruise) pleaded with the sergeant that this is just a misunderstanding and explained that we are members of a diplomatic mission. He then showed his ID card along with "The letter of intent" signed by our Tribal Council.
The guards became visibly confused upon learning this and the sergeant, told us that he needs to consult with his command. After about two hours, he returned to us, smiling politely, and said that everything is in order adding "If you wanted to make contact, you couldn't have picked the worst place to land!" and chuckled. He then ordered two of his men to board our ship and pilot us out of the NEZ. We departed hastily, so that he doesn't change his mind...
One hour later, we arrived to the capital city of Laughterdale and dispatched a delegation to the Smileyface Tribal Council. As I learned, it was actually difficult to get there as many parts of the city are in the middle of a significant redevelopment.
The contact with Smileyfaces was made and our tribes seem to be on good terms with each other. Our new partners were delighted to learn about our tribe's care for the people's fulfilment. The fact that we keep our citizens and environment healthy at all costs impressed them as well. It turns out that the Smileyface priorities are very similar to our own, though some differences exist.
For example, our new friends were visibly upset that we prefer concentric city models to irregular and "creatively whimsical" (actual wording) patterns that they use. They also suggested that truly happy and vibrant cities include balanced, diverse population with different wealth and knowledge levels interacting with each other. Equally smart and wealthy society is, as they said, quite boring...
2nd May
Mission day 7 - We have departed Laughterdale. The Businesspeople town of Cashflow is our next stop. As part of a diplomatic agreement, we took two Smileyface representatives aboard. They offered to help us and introduce us to the next tribe as they already have diplomatic contacts there. Although I am not a politician, this might indeed be a good opportunity to hold a tri-party meeting and talks!
5th May
Mission day 10 - From time to time I get really annoyed with my crew... It's true - us Altruists are not very proficient at sailing and navigation. But some of my men don't even know the basic seamanship concepts and jargon. Yesterday, I rounded them up for a mandatory course on marine terminology and navigation, much to their chagrin...
The next day, I found this stupid joke-plaque adhered to my captain's chair!
13th May
Mission day 18 - We have arrived to Cashflow and, by the help of Smileyface officials, we were introduced to some of the Businesspeople tribal leaders.
The Businesspeople are a very resourceful tribe which likes to discuss trade, economy and the wellbeing of their already powerful commercial sector. In their society, everything happens as a result of a well-informed decision which relies on thorough cost-benefit analysis.
It seems that they don't care about a peaceful life in the same sense as we do... They do care about their society like us but in a more calculated fashion - they are interested in maintaining a capable workforce and a healthy customer base and this is the main driving force behind their public services and social budget. Purely ethical reasons come second to these considerations.
The Businesspeople architecture is also far more "ambitious" than ours... Skyscrapers and busy office spaces are a staple element of this tribe's cities and for us it is as interesting to watch as it is alien...
15th May
Mission day 20 - Despite certain differences, after two days of talks our tribal leader opined that the Businesspeople might be good partners to stay in contact with. The reasoning is that this tribe can help ours balance the budget better because, in all honesty, we indeed spend a lot of money to maintain good condition of our population. Additional profits, or at least more accurate spending, might be a game changer for us.
We now approach the beautiful Lagmi Shi Island, occupied by another tribe - the Slackers. Neither us nor our Smileyface companions have any contact with them, so it might be an interesting visit.
25th May
Mission day 30 - It's been more than a week since we have arrived to the Slacker capital of Cape Careless and none of us wants to leave this place. The Slackers are a very receptive and friendly tribe and there is a lot of rapport between us and them. What worries us deeply, however, is that Slackers generally live in poor conditions - police coverage is spotty, as is healthcare. Most of the residents are uneducated and around half of the city is covered with dirty industrial zones which, sadly, continue to develop even in these modern times...
Our Smileyface colleagues were completely distraught with the latter fact and left four days ago. They got on R1 and departed East in the direction of the Businesspeople's Cashflow - our previous stop.
We are, unfortunately, not aware of how their negotiations with the Slackers went but it looks like they have ambivalent feelings towards this tribe. Despite certain shortcomings and careless approach towards future, the Slackers are actually really great people in our own opinion and, as far as we are concerned, we will try to help them as much as we can and "civilize" them a little bit.
Tomorrow, we set off towards our last goal so far - the Resident town of Bedroom. But this is a story for another time!
Before you go, here are the water texture options for New Udanani... Pick your preferred one!
Thank you for your continued interest, likes and support! Appreciate it! 
Comment replies:
@TogaMasterJohn - Just make sure to watch the pictures from four to five meters away like one should do with art. 
I hope you liked the next diplomacy-oriented episode.
@kschmidt - I'm glad you like the storyline and I appreciate your input. These days I browse through all possible BATs, so you should see more variety when it comes to buildings and planning. Actually, if you take a look at the second picture of Profit Hill, you will already notice two custom-made CO gems that grew there.
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