The Darktides are the second family on the rotation. Another poor working-class household in a rather unattractive brick building just across from the tavern.
They're not off to as good a start as the Coldwaters. Bonnie married Will for love, but sometimes love dwindles in the face of hardship.
Will is a good-natured and carefree 0-8-7-8-5 Libra--perhaps a bit too carefree for his wife. He's a popularity/knowledge sim who takes work on fishing boats and does various dock work wherever he can find it. But now it's time to find something more permanent if he wants to support his wife and hopefully, a family.
His traits are slob, schmoozer, angler, sailor, and good sense of humour
Bonnie is a 7-0-5-6-7 Cancer--very kind and shy. She's also a family/fortune sim and I gave her the fertility perk. The idea is that I'd like the poor families to have more children than the higher class ones, but I'm sure I'll come to regret it.
Her traits are mooch, shy, heavy sleeper, handy, and friendly
The welcome wagon is way above their paygrade so they can't greet them. I was hoping to get the Coldwaters, but this is the lady of the profession household and the gentleman farmer.
With no class-appropriate jobs available in the paper, Will heads down to the docks to catch some fish. The plan was to make him a fisherman on the side, but he isn't too good at this. He only caught a single fish.
He did take a job as a newspaper distributor, but of course he happens to have a day off. His LTW is actually to become a journalist, which is a little sad since that dream will always be denied him.
Since they can't afford a tub, Will visits the local bathhouse almost daily. I really need to make a separate one for women since this one is male-only. It didn't feel right to have them parading around in their towels together, and at the end of the day it's the men who need to keep their motives up for work.
So Bonnie isn't doing too well. She's pregnant and I'm surprised I haven't gotten any warning messages that she's about to miscarry.
It's a big difference from the Coldwaters who started making money and upgrading their living conditions right away. The 2 energy bed does nothing to help with her pregnancy motive drain. She doesn't even have the energy to take a sponge bath and her fun is tanked since she can't leave the lot because she's near death all the time.
After only one day at work, I realize Will can't keep it because journalism isn't allowed at all, so he quits his job. It's back to the docks to keep fishing, and he keeps being bad at it.
I decided to bend the rules a little and make Oceanography and Natural Science available under the same rules as Science. IE, that the poor can work in them up to level two and they're available to Professional and Noble sims. They live in a port town after all and I want more nautical jobs available. After that I'm hoping he'll find an opening in Adventure.
With his first baby about to arrive, the reality of the situation starts to set in. Right now they can't even afford a crib.
"How am I supposed to support my family like this?"
There's still no job the next day, so Will heads over to the park, hoping he'll have more luck with fish in the lake. His social is also tanked (Bonnie is too busy sleeping to pay attention to him) and there he has the opportunity to meet some other people.
He still can't catch any fish, but he makes enough from boots and digging up rocks to be able to afford a better bed. That should help Bonnie out some.
So far the §500 cap on earning things off community lots works really well. He hasn't gotten even close to the cap yet, but in a day he can earn about as much as he would for an entry-level job.
On day four two things happen: Oceanography is finally available in the paper so Will has his first day at work, and Bonnie goes into labour in the afternoon.
It's a little girl! She has he father's skin and grey eyes, and her mother's red hair. They name her Bree for Brianna.
Perhaps the family's luck is finally turning around. At last there's an opening in the Adventure career. Will quits his job as as a Fish Chummer and sets off to sail the seas in search of treasure!
Before that he has to knock up his wife again, though. This 'continuous pregnancy' stuff is killer.
By a miraculous turn of events Will is able to go to work three times in a row in just a day and a half. He's promoted to level three just like that, thanks to a chance card and some spelunking. He's now a Multiregional Sim of Some Question and is starting to make a name for himself as part of a crew of lucky adventuring sailors. The family can finally afford a tub!
And that's where we leave the Darktides this time. Hopefully their luck will hold next turn.
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