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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Remathilis" data-source="post: 8104988" data-attributes="member: 7635">While I don't require strict adherence to reality and economic and agricultural models, whenever the fundamental point of a story seems to rely on "don't think about it" I'm reminded of my favorite exchange from Pirates of the Caribbean.Will : How did Jack get off the island?Gibbs : Well, I'll tell ye. He waded out into the shallows and there he waited three days and three nights till all manner of sea creature came and acclimated to his presence. And on the fourth morning, he roped himself a couple of sea turtles, lashed 'em together and made a raft. Will : He roped a couple of sea turtles?Gibbs : Aye, sea turtles.Will : What did he use for rope?Will doesn't question how Jack was able stand in the ocean still for 72 hours straight and then use living turtles to sail the ocean. That's the fantastical part. Will wants to know what he used for rope. The mundane detail. Gibbs has no answer, and Jack pulls one out of his rear (literally). But for Will, the part that the story hinges on is the mundane detail of rope.WotC is telling a Gibb's story. It's a good story when you hear it, but if that one mundane detail snags the story. In this case, what these people would eat when the things needed for regular crop growth (sunlight and warmth) had been missing for two years. I don't need a detailed breakdown of farmland to person ratio, but it struck me as my first concern when reading the setup. Caravans and magic really only go so far (just like there is only so much back hair you can make rope from). Like the op, I'd probably move the timeframe up a bit: it's coming on late fall and conditions never fully improved. They could weather the spring and summer with stored supplies supplementing what they could get though the meager summer, but another winter will wipe them all out.</blockquote>

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