TreeQuest: Magitech (Riot Quest)

Turn 20 Results

You owe it all to the Deer and Bees.

Well, more accurately, everything finished this turn - barring the Weather Tree - was finished by the Deer and/or Bees chipping in a minor bit of assistance.

The Forest has experimented with moving, practiced Movement in their day-to-day lives, and contemplated their experiences deeply. Bees shared their experiences with Movement, and it's just enough to get you over the threshold. It's now possible for the Trees to easily move - though this intrinsically uses Magic, as none of you have yet achieved innately-moving bodies, like the Two-Legs or Creatures have. You have reached the point where Movement is reflexive, usable without thought or concentration. It's a bit slow and expensive, compared to other uses of your Energy, so you won't be walking around as often as the Two-Legs yet, but you're definitely getting there. A typical Tree would only safely be able to safely and reliably move a few miles every hour, though perhaps that might be worked around with some trick in an emergency - if nothing else, wheels are fascinating things that deserve more investigation. At this point the entire Forest could, given sufficient need, simply walk away in any direction. Further, you can reuse some stretches of extra-fertile soil (such as the Creek-Banks) to a point, slightly assisting your Special Tree growth (cap increased from 25 to 30). Finally, the Forest can now physically attack opponents - usually not the most efficient option, but who knows what foes you may someday encounter!

On the note of "Creek-Banks," the Forest has finished shoring up the banks of the creek that runs through your lowest stretch, dividing most of your lands from the region of Newton Village. You shouldn't need to fear Drought this summer, not when growing any Special Trees at least, and especially not with the ability to simply swap mature and still-growing Trees to optimize soil and water usage! A lone Deer helped roll a few stones into place, which was very final bit of work needed to finish this project. (+25% bonus AND half any Drought penalties, when Growing any Special Trees, until we have 30 Special Trees total (includes Speaker and Mining Trees).)

The Beavers - with a more sizable investment of volunteer Deer labor and a bit of Tree assistance - finished damming the Creek, and just in time to catch the last strong rains of spring! The Beavers were going to be cheerfully content with three of the four proposed dams, but the Deer pitching in to complete the fourth have them quite pleased indeed. They're continuing to tinker with the pools to fit their preferences, and of course their Lodge is still a bit cramped, but that's something they can and will easily improve a bit here and a bit there, in more than enough time for winter. From the Trees' perspective, it's very nice to know that even the worst of droughts will be much ameliorated, and lesser droughts defeated altogether. (+20% Growth to offset drought penalties for the first turn of any drought; we expect this to become less effective as the Magnitude of the Forest grows (Magnitude 4 will reduce the effectiveness somewhat; further Magnitudes unknown).)

You've grown your first Weather Tree! This Tree has a multitude of fine Leaves to feel the slightest breeze. Its boughs slowly change, and Two-Legs - upon seeing it - immediately start to compare its grey-green leaves and branches to shapes in the clouds. Its bark looks perpetually damp, regardless of the weather and season.

Perhaps in celebration of your Weather Tree, the weather has been gorgeous, with a beautiful mix of rain and shine nearly perfect for Growth. (+10% to Growth for this turn.)

With some significant effort, and a bit of help from the Bees, the Forest has fully learned Metal Forging! The Squirrels are now all equipped with tiny enchanted metal swords. At this point, equipped with Magic Metal Swords and led by Arthur Scrat, your Squirrels could probably brave the southern road - coyotes or no coyotes. Your Spikes are definitely also more dangerous. And some people might just want to trade metalwork with you, as well as wood…

---

Your Communication-focused Trees were working on Reaching Out to any non-Newton-Village Minds, and noticed a half-dozen people coming down the road from the North. A squirrel, rapidly running to within line-of-sight saw a small caravan, with a large horse-drawn cart (six horses) carrying barely a fraction of its rather impressive potential load.

Hours later, they arrived at Newton Village, and asked if anyone had any of that amazing wood to sell. They'd been commissioned to get some of it - as much of it as possible, given reasonable prices - for the Guild of Enchanters in Andrewsburg. They especially wanted any wood grown with any sort of Elemental affinity, since that was particularly useful for making Magic Items. They also were more than happy to buy any that was visually appealing, unusually tough, or unusually light, since all of those had uses as well. Their only real limit was how much the cart would hold (30 successes if filled to overflowing). They can stay around through the summer, probably - Newton Village can certainly find work for them (and pay them, in some mix of goods and money, to do said work) if need be.

With the traders came an Herbalist. She was relatively young - she had only just finished her apprenticeship - but she knew her stuff. Her name was Marta Yarrow. She'd come seeking the source of the Unusual Lumber, figuring that it might come from equally Unusual Trees, and might allow for the creation of better - or at least different - Potions and Herbal Remedies.

Granny Miller notes to you, when nobody else is paying attention, that most small villages have an Herbalist and a few skilled Warriors. Newton Village is unusual in that it has two Mages (one unusually skilled) instead. Essentially, she explains, a Village wants a local Healer, a local who can deal with any hostile Magic, and enough people skilled in Combat to protect the place. Newton has no resident Herbalist, because they can get away without one - not that they'd say no to one seeking to immigrate, of course!

There are, therefore, three choices before the Forest. First, how do you respond to this group of traders:
[ ][Traders] Pretend you don't exist
-Pros: Secrecy! No further effort needed.
-Cons: No potential gains.
[ ][Traders] Sell them Lumber
-Pros: Can buy stuff from Andrewsburg or Talanburg in return. You'll get a choice of what you want to buy. Some interesting options: tutoring in Advanced Magic, plant-Growth potions, exotic plant samples.
-Cons: Not as much secrecy. Takes effort (Growth and/or Survival).
[ ][Traders] Talk with them and let them Harvest Lumber
-Pros: Can buy stuff from Andrewsburg or Talanburg in return. You'll get a choice of what you want to buy. Some interesting options: tutoring in Advanced Magic, plant-Growth potions, exotic plant samples. Might gain some interesting contacts.
-Cons: No secrecy. Takes effort (Growth and/or Survival), though only half as much. Requires 5 Communication Successes to Connect with the Traders.

Second, do you want to attempt to automate the whole Lumber process?
[ ][Lumber] Grow a Lumber Tree to automate the Lumber-Generation process
-Pros: Once it's done, you get a renewable stream of Unusual Lumber, which grows with the Active Survival Dice of the playerbase. Also gives a x1.5 successes (multiplying with other modifiers) to all player Lumber-Generation.
-Cons: Initially costs 15 Research and 15 Growth, plus takes up a Special Tree slot.
[ ][Lumber] Research Efficient Lumber Growth
-Pros: Gives just the x1.5 successes (multiplying with other modifiers) to all player Lumber-Generation.
-Cons: Costs 15 Research.
[ ][Lumber] Manual Lumber Only
-Pros: No upfront cost.
-Cons: No benefits.

Third, how do you want to interact with the Herbalist?
[ ][Herbalist] Friendship
-Pros: Gain a new Ally Character. New potential options for modifying the Trees of the Forest. Herb-lore and Potion-lore.
-Cons: Do you want to trust someone you just met?
[ ][Herbalist] Caution
-Pros: Gain a new Ally Character, but gain associated options more slowly.
-Cons: Still requires some trust, just much less. Much slower gains.
[ ][Herbalist] Nope
-Pros: Security! Safety! Paranoia!
-Cons: As a living Forest, do you really want to throw away the option at a local plant-expert?

---

The Forest is getting closer to achieving a fully stable Ice/Fire Negacion. You've found ways to use this Negacion together with Shaping the Fire Within, which will increase that bonus from +15% to +25% (to all Survival successes). Bees and Deer, having run out of projects which they could help the Forest complete, both contributed in their own ways - Bees by carefully watching your attempts with their strange-but-excellent eyes; Deer by sharing their experiences and memories of Fire and Ice.

The turn was bounteous to more than just you Trees; your Deer, recovering from the Vine battle, have reached the point of providing greater Growth to the Forest. (+4 -> +5)

The Forest is getting close to growing again, thanks to steady effort by several Trees plus the whole of the Forest. The Collector Trees, and the many factors enhancing the Forest's Growth, have been quite helpful.

Research into Vine Growth is nearly a quarter of the way done. One Tree made some specific suggestions for how exactly to analyze the Vines, and those suggestions were implemented, but no major breakthroughs were noted as a result - not more than the progress we'd already expected to make. Research into the Vine Shield-Piercing started, and made similar progress, though the Forest has no idea how much effort is left in this project.

Additional Resources were stored, further trade goods and insurance against any harm. Also, you've nearly hit the 2/3rds mark for your stockpile of Thorns, giving the Forest a comfortable stockpile of damage against any intruders.

The Forest is getting quite close to Connecting to Corvids (with the assistance of our Wolves and Squirrels, that made a point between them of always keeping track of nearby Corvids for us), and has made a good start on Connecting to Bears. Two new initiatives were started - attempts to connect to any local Monster, and any local Birds of Prey. Both of these new initiatives are eventually going to resolve to something simpler - for example, Birds of Prey may lock on to Owls or Vultures, or even the odd Falcon depending on your luck.

The Shield was again raised, though again nothing attacked. You felt far safer having it up, of course - if nothing else, Fire is a devastating weapon without it. (11*1.3=14.3 successes)

One Tree continued to practice burning rocks. More scorch-marks were generated.

Minor efforts into upgrading a Collector Tree and Feeding the Swarm bore no fruit, in either case, alas.

One Tree learned the absolute basics of Earth Magic, from a - partially successful - attempt to grow a pseudo-skeleton. It grew something like the right mixture of minerals, and found some connecting whatsits to keep it all together, though it's too brittle and not strong enough for true bones. On the other hand, taking an existing bone and very slowly deforming it, while only slightly reducing the strength, is now feasible. (Earth Magic to Dabbling.)

Practicing Telekinesis increased the range by a tiny but noticeable margin.

The Unpredictable Tree looked up, studied the stars… and, after some thought, also asked Newton Village for any astronomical knowledge. You'd already known at some level - the people of Newton Village had implied it while you were listening at some point, maybe - that your world orbits around the local sun, which is really the closest star. Obviously, your world has one moon - though apparently the spiderweb-like pattern on it is a relatively recent thing, caused by the Cataclysm. People used to live there, once, and the remains of their dwellings - combined with shallow holes blasted in its surface - make up the pattern.

There are eight total planets orbiting the sun, and a roughly equal number of dwarf planets or other major orbital bodies. Yours is the fourth from the sun, and apparently the only inhabitable - barring possibly a self-sustaining habitat on the third. Your planet has a radius of roughly four thousand miles. There is - theoretically - a self-sustaining space-station exactly opposite the sun from your planet, rendering it functionally impossible to detect via most senses, though odds are it wasn't self-sustaining enough for eight-hundred years even assuming it wasn't destroyed in the Cataclysm.

You can now semi-reliably pick out the planets from the background stars, and recognize common constellations. You also know the Last Star by feel, from the Magic (and Ancient-Tech energy) it emits, even through cloud-cover or similar. Additionally, you know that it orbits the planet slightly less than once every two hours.

Steam Research was surprisingly easy - though the Weather Tree seemed to help noticeably. You now have a very basic sense for Steam, and a very minimal ability to manipulate (and create or destroy) it. (Steam Magic to Dabbling.)

One Tree made an effort to connect - or perhaps Connect? - with symbiotic fungi. It made only a little progress, but its little progress did result in a bit more Resources for the Forest. (+1 Resources, bonuses apply)

One attempt to Grow prosthetic limbs for our Creatures, and one attempt to understand our Creatures' Pattern for Growth, both failed to achieve their stated aims. That said, they both brought the Trees a bit closer to the Wolves, furthering the Trees' total Connection with Creatures. (+3 successes to Connect to Local Wildlife (Unspecified); bonuses apply; this will almost certainly be used to complete Corvids next turn.)

An attempt to Heal your Creatures, figuring out how via their Pattern… Went poorly. The Squirrels were very glad that the Ants volunteered to be the first test-subjects, and made sure to drop plenty of food by anthills for some weeks thereafter. Unsurprisingly, the Ant population finished the Turn larger than it started. (-1 Resources)

Finally, an attempt to sense Creatures and Humans - particularly any gestating - was cheerfully agreed to by all your Creatures and Newton Village. Indeed, not merely cheerfully - Mrs. Yuadore was delighted to hear that she is, indeed, carrying her third child! She declined to know the baby's gender (male), but was extremely happy to brainstorm names for either a boy or a girl with her husband. (As a side-note, you are now fairly certain that it's possible to have a Soul before you have a Mind, based on your scans.) You don't walk away with anything earth-shattering for yourselves as-such, but between this and other attempts, you think you have the ability to further enhance your Creatures' abilities in combat, by steadily stoking their Fire Within. A bit of practice will be necessary, however. (Research unlocked.)

---

Actions, Turn 21:

Communication:
Note: A fantastic insight grants you +5% on all Communication actions. The Speaking Tree in Newton Village grants you +10% on all Communication actions, and an additional +10% when interacting with Minds. The Sensing Trees grant +5% each on all Communication actions, and reduce range penalties when present.

[ ][Action] Reach Out to Minds (Psychic)
-Successes sort-of stack. You're not sure how difficult this will be. Better results if more successful. Possibility of finding "there's nothing within X miles" - but even something like that will be good to know.
-This ignores Newton Village and the people thereof.
-4.05 successes banked.

[ ][Action] Connect to Local Wildlife (Psychic)
-Bears - heavy combat? Birds - scouts? Worms - growth bonus? You know you've seen all these; you have only vague ideas on what to do with them.
-Feel free to write in a specific request. The Forest can easily target specific classes of animals.
-Anything that Newton Village is familiar with is discounted 50% in difficulty due to them helping you understand the creatures.
-Monsters are harder to reach than normal animals. If you want to grab a specific monster, have your animals locate it first.
-8.7 unspecified successes banked.
-21.2 of 30 successes towards Corvids.
-6.4 of 20 successes towards Bears.
-2.5 of ??? successes towards Monsters (will resolve to something more specific).
-1.25 of ??? successes towards Birds of Prey (will resolve to something more specific).

Research:
Note: Your Clever Trees grant you +20% on Research actions.
Focus: Any Focus action directed towards Research gains +2 auto-successes from Wise Trees.
(Destructive Testing: If you have access to an enemy and wish to perform destructive testing, vote for the Research action as usual but put in a subvote on the next line like "-[X] Destructive Testing on <Enemy>". This will neither help nor hinder the Research, but may cause a bit of bonus damage to the enemy. This will be limited to combinations that make sense.)

[][Action] Research Elder Weather Trees
Currently locked: Research Elder Sensing Trees. The Forest will need to - at minimum - spend a year or so using the current Sensing Trees OR invent multiple interesting new methods of sensing, before making significant upgrades.
-0 of 5 successes per category; enables upgrading one type of Special Tree to Elder Special Tree

[ ][Action] Ice/Fire Negacion (Magic Research)
-You understand Ice. You understand Fire. Getting them to work together, by contrast, is difficult. On the other hand, this would be a tremendously powerful magic if you could get it working…
-Specific known benefits: Passive Fire Resistance (divide damage by 4). Passive Ice Resistance (divide damage by 4; this includes Hail and Ice-Storms). "Fuego! Pyrofuego! Burn!" gains x2 damage multiplier (before target-flammability modifiers), and resists fire suppression (x4). "Shaping the Fire Within" bonus increases to +25% (from +15%).
-73.35 of 100 successes

Currently locked: [Action] Light/Darkness Negacion. Will have -10% difficulty from Tree Research on Light/Darkness (and Light: Journeyman) and -10% difficulty from finishing Ice/Fire Negacion. Estimated Difficulty before modifiers: about 100? To Unlock: finish Ice/Fire Negacion.

[ ][Action] Research Vine Growth
-The Vines were incredibly good at drinking in Sunlight and water, and growing and growing… And now we have some captured seedings! Let's see if we can learn anything from these!
-Might grant a Growth or Resource bonus?
-4.8 of 20 successes

[ ][Action] Research Vine Shield-Piercing
-The Vines were able to pierce through our best Shields. It was a lot of work for them, yes, but they still could. See if we can recreate this effect - possibly with the captured Vine seedlings - and see if we can learn anything from it.
-Might grant Shield piercing, or allow us to make our Shields harder to pierce?
-We might spend some time on this, and walk away with little - or a marginal Shield increase - to show for it.
-4.8 of ??? successes

[ ][Action] Creatures - Fire Within
-With detailed scans from the Sensing Trees, you think you can use the Fire Within to enhance your Creatures somewhat. This seems to largely prevent them from ever getting tired.
-Should grant a permanent +15% to all Creature combat successes. Might slightly improve their disease resistance?
-0 of 15 successes

Survival:
Note: Manipulating the tiny bits of Fire Within every living thing grants +15% to all Survival successes.

[ ][Action] Store Resources Against Future Need
-This has a +20% bonus from Technology: Farming.
-69.85 stored; this will function as a spare HP pool against anything that gets through your Defense, and may be useful for other things.
-Limit of 50*(Magnitude^2). Currently 450. You may never reach the limit, but it does exist.

[ ][Action] Improve Dangerous Terrain
-It's always possible to make the Forest more dangerous to invaders, especially after we had an actual invader!
-Might also be worth making it difficult for hostile species? Plants and such?
-7 of 25 successes banked.

[ ][Action] Mining
-Dig up some Linestone for Newton Village. They owe us a Favor for every 5 successes.
-Metalworking grants +15% to all successes.
-0 of 5 successes and 1 Favor banked.

[ ][Action] Feed the Swarm
-Every success will permanently add 1 to the maximum number of Bee Attack Successes per turn. I'm not sure why you would want more than 20 or 30 total, but there aren't any currently-known limits on how many times you can succeed at this action.

[ ][Action] Rain and Shine
-Each time completed, grants a 1-turn +10% bonus to all Growth Successes for that turn. Costs 3 Successes (one per Magnitude of the Forest); these successes can be saved from turn to turn. Every Weather Tree (currently 1) grants +1 to this each turn.
-1 of 3 successes

Defense:
[ ][Action] Raise the Shield
-Use magic to defend the Forest. Effectiveness is generally fairly high, but depends on the exact nature of the threat. (Not effective against a plague of locusts or similar - that's a Survival roll.) Like most defenses, this does little to nothing if you are not attacked.
-Gains 3 automatic successes from Shield Trees, if at least 1 Player-Tree votes for this action. Gains +30% to all successes (+10% per Shield Tree).

[ ][Action] Stockpile Thorns
-Successes stockpile up to 10 times the Magnitude of the Forest. These will automatically damage hostile intruders that enter the Forest.
-19 of 30 stockpiled.

Growth:
Note: Your Lens Trees grant you +45% to Growth. The Strong Sunlight of summer grants +50% to Growth. A mild Drought will reduce Growth by 0% (10% penalty fully offset by Dams).
(Dam: +20% Growth to offset drought penalties for the first turn of any drought; we expect this to become less effective as the Magnitude of the Forest grows (Magnitude 4 will reduce the effectiveness somewhat; further Magnitudes unknown).)
Focus: Any Focus action directed towards Growth gains +3 auto-successes from Collector Trees.

[ ][Action] Grow the Forest
-The opportunity to grow into the charred clearing, where once the Evil Vines ruled, grants +25% to Grow the Forest until Magnitude 6.
-64.5 of 85 successes to Magnitude 4

[ ][Action] Grow <Treename>
-Replace <Treename> with the name of a Special Tree from the Front Page. Variable cost. You can have up to 10 Special Trees per Magnitude of the Forest.
-Shore Up Creek Banks: Grants a +25% bonus AND halves any Drought penalties, when Growing any Special Trees, until we have 30 Special Trees total (includes Speaker and Mining Trees).
-1 of 10 successes banked on Collector Tree.
-6.15 of 15 successes banked on Empty Tree (Void).

[ ][Action] Upgrade <Treename>
-Replace <Treename> with the name of a Special Tree from the Front Page. Variable cost.
-This will upgrade a normal Special Tree to an Elder of its same type.

[ ][Action] Widen the Cave Entrance
-Grow Roots to widen and shore up the Cave Entrance, so you can get more than just Squirrels and Moles down there.
-Maybe you'll even figure out what's up with the fading connection as your creatures delve downwards.
-Taking place underground, this ignores light bonuses and malluses.
-9.8 of 15 successes

Offense:
Note: Study of Death Magic grants +10% to all Offense successes.

[ ][Action] Release Annoying Pollen
-Any particular target? It's fairly indiscriminate, but between moving the wind yourself and targeting the Intent at one target, you could probably make it semi-selective.
-Not a very powerful attack against most foes. Unlikely to do more than annoy Humans/Elves, for example.
-Like most attacks, this does little to nothing if you have no nearby enemies.

[ ][Action] Shoot Spikes
-At what?
-This is limited to roughly 35 yards of range, at the absolute max. It can also be fired, fairly safely, inside the Forest itself.
-A decent attack; 50/50 shot of damaging a target typically. Designed for taking down animals, two-legs, monsters, and the like. Less effective against plants, but still works to a point.
-The ability to add metal-tips allows you to deal +50% damage to all targets.
-Like most attacks, this does little to nothing if you have no nearby enemies.

[ ][Action] Laser Beam
-At what?
-This is limited to roughly 1000 yards of range (125 * (4 + count(Lens Trees) + count(Clever Trees)), but can manage a bit further with steadily worsening effectiveness. Anything close to the Speaking Tree (or another outlier Tree) is counted as somewhat closer range than it actually is.
-This attack functions with a base +50% damage, multiplicative to other effects. This attack has +1 accuracy within basic range, and an additional +1 accuracy within 1/4th of basic range.
-Any sun or light bonus or mallus will apply to this Attack. Collector Trees will also apply, if a Focus of the Forest action is used. This attack does not normally work at night.
-You can choose to convert Stored Resources to Laser Beam Dice at a 1:2 ratio. You may convert as many as desired, though a Forest Consensus will be required. This works at night, and ignores any Light bonuses or malluses.
-Like most attacks, this does little to nothing if you have no nearby enemies.

[ ][Action] Fuego! Pyrofuego! Burn!
-What?
-Set the vicinity on fire, and know that it is entirely your fault. Of course, this is also a highly-effective form of attack, despite being one of your personal nightmares. Extra-effective in times of drought - possibly horrifically so. Most effective vs plants, generally speaking.

[ ][Action] Icy Blast
-What?
-Freeze something. You have Ice Magic, after all! More effective when it's cold. Generally deals less damage than Light or Fire, but some enemies slow down when frozen.

[ ][Action] Blot Out The Sun
-What foe?
-This allows you to shroud any nearby enemies in partial - or complete, with enough successes - darkness. It probably won't damage a human army, though it will likely discomfit them. It will considerably slow the Growth of a plant-like enemy.

[ ][Action] Rip and Tear
-What foe?
-This allows you to physically attack a foe. Ineffective against very fast enemies, but generally effective against Humans or anything slower. Very accurate against slower enemies. Ineffective against intangible or amorphous enemies.

Focus

Choose any three actions from the above for the Forest to focus on. These are voted upon by the entire group, and are in addition to the individual actions taken by each member.

[ ][Focus] Action Name
[ ][Focus] Action Name x2
[ ][Focus] Action Name x3

These Actions will receive a number of automatic successes equal to the Magnitude of the Forest (currently 3) and any bonuses from other sources.

Choices this turn - Traders, Lumber, and Herbalist

First, how do you respond to this group of traders:
[ ][Traders] Pretend you don't exist
-Pros: Secrecy! No further effort needed.
-Cons: No potential gains.
[ ][Traders] Sell them Lumber
-Pros: Can buy stuff from Andrewsburg or Talanburg in return. You'll get a choice of what you want to buy. Some interesting options: tutoring in Advanced Magic, plant-Growth potions, exotic plant samples.
-Cons: Not as much secrecy. Takes effort (Growth and/or Survival).
[ ][Traders] Talk with them and let them Harvest Lumber
-Pros: Can buy stuff from Andrewsburg or Talanburg in return. You'll get a choice of what you want to buy. Some interesting options: tutoring in Advanced Magic, plant-Growth potions, exotic plant samples. Might gain some interesting contacts.
-Cons: No secrecy. Takes effort (Growth and/or Survival), though only half as much. Requires 5 Communication Successes to Connect with the Traders.

Second, do you want to attempt to automate the whole Lumber process?
[ ][Lumber] Grow a Lumber Tree to automate the Lumber-Generation process
-Pros: Once it's done, you get a renewable stream of Unusual Lumber, which grows with the Active Survival Dice of the playerbase. Also gives a x1.5 successes (multiplying with other modifiers) to all player Lumber-Generation.
-Cons: Initially costs 15 Research and 15 Growth, plus takes up a Special Tree slot.
[ ][Lumber] Research Efficient Lumber Growth
-Pros: Gives just the x1.5 successes (multiplying with other modifiers) to all player Lumber-Generation.
-Cons: Costs 15 Research.
[ ][Lumber] Manual Lumber Only
-Pros: No upfront cost.
-Cons: No benefits.

Third, how do you want to interact with the Herbalist?
[ ][Herbalist] Friendship
-Pros: Gain a new Ally Character. New potential options for modifying the Trees of the Forest. Herb-lore and Potion-lore.
-Cons: Do you want to trust someone you just met?
[ ][Herbalist] Caution
-Pros: Gain a new Ally Character, but gain associated options more slowly.
-Cons: Still requires some trust, just much less. Much slower gains.
[ ][Herbalist] Nope
-Pros: Security! Safety! Paranoia!
-Cons: As a living Forest, do you really want to throw away the option at a local plant-expert?

Squirrel Actions

Choose what to ask Arthur Scrat to do.
[ ][Squirrel] Explore your Forest
[ ][Squirrel] Lead the squirrel watch over your Forest
[ ][Squirrel] Lead a search-party in (write-in Direction)
[ ][Squirrel] Lead a search-party along the (east OR north OR south) path
[ ][Squirrel] Focus Tree efforts on (write-in Wildlife Type)
[ ][Squirrel] Write-in

Deer Actions

This vote will be IGNORED, and the GM will add 4 successes to categories of his choice (typically Growth, but others may apply; things that are about to finish will be prioritized), UNLESS at least ¼ of the voters place a vote in this category. That said, if you have a special mission for the Deer, by all means:
[ ][Deer] Explore the Plains
[ ][Deer] Explore the Path further South
[ ][Deer] Assist with <Action Name>
[ ][Deer] Lead a search-party in (write-in Direction)
[ ][Deer] Fight <Enemy>
[ ][Deer] Write-in

Mole Actions

This vote will be IGNORED, and the GM will add +25% bonus to whichever of Growth or Survival will better benefit, UNLESS at least ¼ of the voters place a vote in this category. That said, if you have a special mission for the Moles, by all means:
[ ][Moles] Build Tunnels (from where? To where?)
[ ][Moles] Widen the Cave Entrance (8 dice)
[ ][Moles] Mining for Linestone (8 dice)
[ ][Moles] Undermine Hostile Roots (which?)
[ ][Moles] Write-in

Beaver Actions

This vote will be IGNORED, and the GM will add +6 automatic successes to Dam the Creek, UNLESS at least ¼ of the voters place a vote in this category. That said, if you have a special mission for the Beavers, by all means:
[ ][Beavers] Chew Hostile Plants (which?)
[ ][Beavers] Explore Downstream
[ ][Beavers] Flood the Valley (why?)
[ ][Beavers] Write-in

Bee Actions

This vote will be IGNORED, and the GM will add +4 automatic successes across any combination of Research and Growth actions, UNLESS at least ¼ of the voters place a vote in this category. That said, if you have a special mission for the Bees, by all means:
[ ][Bees] Attack Enemy (which?)
-You lack sufficient bees to have more than 5+7=12 successes/turn (before multipliers).
-By using your superior intellect to carefully target weak points and time your attacks, this action gains bonuses from Wise and/or Clever Trees as if it were a Research action.
[ ][Bees] Search the Skies
-Bees see the world oddly, but reasonably well in their own way. You could search a great deal of your surroundings rapidly.
-The downside is that you would take some Bee losses to birds and such, unless you Trees put significant effort into defending them, that turn.
[ ][Bees] Search the Ground
-Bees' eyes are a masterpiece, capable of seeing effectively while moving faster than any other creature that you've encountered. They could search a good deal of terrain in fairly little time. While this wouldn't be as effective as asking them to search the skies, it would be considerably safer for them.
[ ][Bees] Write-in

Ant Actions

This vote will be IGNORED, and the GM will reroll (keeping the best total result) your two most underperforming actions (that is, expected-successes minus actual-successes; this is targeting "the actions where Ants are most likely to make the biggest difference"), UNLESS at least ¼ of the voters place a vote in this category. That said, if you have a special mission for the Ants, by all means:
[ ][Ants] Attack Enemy (which?)
[ ][Ants] Assist two specific Projects (which?)
-Grants rerolls to those specific projects; will grant extra rerolls and/or automatic successes if applied to a project with relatively few dice.
[ ][Ants] Keep our Creatures Clean
-Kills off pests (like ticks) that try to live on your Creatures. Unknown effects, but it would probably be appreciated at some point.
[ ][Ants] Keep our Village Clean
-Kills off pests that live in Newton Village. You should probably clear it with them first… Unknown effects, but it would maybe be appreciated at some point?
[ ][Ants] Death to Pests
-Applies a +25% Growth bonus for one turn.
[ ][Ants] Write-in

Wolf Actions

This vote will be IGNORED, and the GM will have the Wolves add 4 successes across Communications projects, UNLESS at least ¼ of the voters place a vote in this category. That said, if you have a special mission for the Wolves, by all means:
[ ][Wolves] Attack Enemy (which?)
[ ][Wolves] Tracking
-Wolf noses are nothing to sneeze at. They can track a squirrel over bare rock for hours without issue. Anything that leaves scents can be hunted down and located, or even dragged back to the Forest, by the Wolves.
[ ][Wolves] Exploration <which direction?>
[ ][Wolves] Hunting Alone
[ ][Wolves] Hunting with Newton Village
[ ][Wolves] Write-in

Summary

Your Votes should look like the following:

[ ][Action] Action
[ ][Focus] Action
[ ][Focus] Action x2
[ ][Focus] Action x3
[ ][Traders] Option
[ ][Lumber] Option
[ ][Herbalist] Option
[ ][Squirrel] Squirrel action
[ ][Deer] Deer action (very optional)
[ ][Moles] Mole action (very optional)
[ ][Beavers] Beaver action (very optional)
[ ][Bees] Bee action (very optional)
[ ][Ants] Ant action (very optional)
[ ][Wolves] Wolf action (very optional)

Newcomers should add one of the following:

[ ][Tree] Heart Tree
[ ][Tree] Mind Tree
[ ][Tree] Root Tree

This vote will always be open.