From Stone to the Stars
- Thread starter Redium
- Start date
- Original Alt. History
The bronze age transition is...spiky. The ones who figure out true bronze first will explosively expand until they start infighting with themselves or the tech leaks. The gap is just that huge.
Obsidian does not dull. Used correctly it lasts a long time, but if it strikes bone or it chips or shatters like glass. Minor chips just get flaked done to a smaller edge and reused. Bigger cracks usually get broken up for use in smaller blades, then tools and arrowheads.
People liked their stuff. People get concerned about the dead wanting their stuff back.
maximillian
Civilised Sheep
- Location
- Ranch
[X] [Death] Ascended to the spirits!
[X] [Spirit] Found a grand shrine at the Cave of Stars.
[X] [Spirit] Found a grand shrine at the Cave of Stars.
GildedSergeant
Tarnished Gold and Rattling Bones
- Location
- Over There
- Pronouns
- They/Them
[X][Death] Ascended to the spirits!
[X][Spirit] Found a grand shrine at the Cave of Stars
All hail God King Kaspar!
[X][Spirit] Found a grand shrine at the Cave of Stars
All hail God King Kaspar!
Sol Zagato
senseless brute
Micronesia / Aboriginal blonde hair is a dominant gene. So its very different.
[X] [Death] Joined the spirits in union.
[X] [Spirit] Found a grand shrine at the Cave of Stars.
[X] [Spirit] Found a grand shrine at the Cave of Stars.
avatar11792
Et Sic Incipit
- Location
- Planet Earth, North America
[X] [Death] Ascended to the spirits!
[x] [Spirit] Begin Megaproject: The Hunt!
[x] [Spirit] Begin Megaproject: The Hunt!
Cybandeath
Lord Darkness, and Representative of Mad Science
- Location
- The United States of America
[X] [Death] Ascended to the spirits!
only bit I care about.
only bit I care about.
ThatGazzer
Minds Eye Bind
- Location
- PNW
- Pronouns
- They/Them
[X] [Death] Ascended to the spirits!
[X] [Spirit] Found a grand shrine at the Cave of Stars.
[X] [Spirit] Found a grand shrine at the Cave of Stars.
I'd describe the People's skin tone as close to Obama's, I think? It's definitely darker than the average east Asian individual's, but not as dark as Africans can be. The reason I make that comparison is because Native American's are actually a rough mix of about 2/3 East Asian DNA and 1/3 Siberian. Their genetic combination is really unique compared to the rest of the world. Google some pictures to get a good idea.
I was thinking of Melanesian blondes when I rolled that combination so that's what I was going for. The difference would be Melanesian blondes tend to be dark skinned as opposed to medium.
Aeva's dark haired like her father and dark eyed. Her facial features tend to be more reminiscent of Kaspar's than her mother's, but she's still obviously her mother's daughter.
You don't need to take any more actions until you hit ~Turn 25. Then you need to take the hunt or herd action.
Hunting big game isn't likely to give you more technology, but it's likely to have narrative implications. If you're hunting orkers for food, it makes your hunters a lot more intimidating than if they were hunting deer or elk.
Herding action would be just like the farming actions, it produces more food.
They suffered a lot less under the weather than you did due to different climate. If they were in the same climate as you, they would have simply left until they found somewhere better. Being nomadic gives you a lot of options. If they had to hunker down, they would've suffered. The land that they've secured is too harsh to be effective farm land.
Yes, but it's not different enough to matter in most cases. Most of the current factions are on the same level. They're not equal, but there's also not any Goliath's on the field to stomp on any Davids.
Yes.
No. The Island Makers dragged their boats across the ice until they got to the open lake.
Common sense. That sounds a bit facetious, but it's obvious that the spirit of a mountain is greater than the spirit of a pebble. A great, old tree is also more spiritually powerful than a sapling, but the People would struggle weather to answer whether a brisk wind was greater than that tree.
Being on land gives you a massive advantage. You're more free to move around and shoot, you're more likely to have cover, and your party is likely going to out shoot the enemy because everyone can use bows. On boats, some have to paddle.
Below average. They haven't really had need to develop martial capabilities.
Population, settlements, all of that. They likely have the Pioneer value and the Fruitful value (as in 'be fruitful and multiply').
Mica's extremely useful in cosmetics. Once it's ground up, it can be mixed with dyes to form eye shadow and foundation.
Other than the Peace Builders, you're the most advanced culturally. Of course, of all of the agriculturalists, you tend to be furthest behind.
Yes.
No prizes unfortunately.
I thought that you would figure it out a little bit earlier, probably shortly after you guys discovered maple sugar. After you decided to move the east, I knew that it would delay things.
That wasn't what I was getting at. For some reason, some graves contained immense amounts of grave goods, while others only had a small amount. Even tens of thousands of years ago, some graves were 'rich' while others were 'poor'. This isn't acknowledged by anthropologists. It's just... not remarked on.
Archaeologists have been uncovering a mix of extremely rich and extremely poor grades from tens of thousands of year ago for decades. Anthropologists have done nothing with his information. Instead, what they do is insist in old notions that wouldn't be out of Rousseau and the concept of the Noble Savage. People clearly weren't buried equally, some were rich and others not, but that's a point that's basically ignored until well into the Bronze Age.
He was the one that master minded The Hill megaproject.
Taking in outsiders hasn't really changed the people's appearance so far. It's not likely to do so until you start taking in outsiders for centuries. Most of the tribes around you tend to look a lot like the People except for blue eyes and blonde hair. Native Americans tend to look quite similar since they're descended from a very small initial population. The number of people who came across the Bearing Strait was actually very small. Geneticists suspect that it could've been as low as eventhan 100 people.
Hmm... that's a screw up on my part then. I was thinking of Melanesian blonde hair for the People so blonde hair is more common ~45% instead of what I originally suggested.
Vote Closed!
[X] [Death] Ascended to the spirits!
[X] [Spirit] Found a grand shrine at the Cave of Stars.
Professor Vesca
Good News Everyone!
How closely are you sticking to OTL? Are we going to run into the ancestors of the iroqois?
- Location
- USA
So I'm guessing then that considering the fact that we can perform a herd action with them, that we already have a stable breeding population of tamed Orkers then?
Will that change one of our traits or values or is it just a narrative application to our diplomacy? In that other tribes will see us as being fierce for hunting such creatures.
Ah, ok then. Are we the only ones with a herd action currently due to our domestication prowess?
Considering how different the climate likely is for them that far northwards, do they have any values or traits that account for their hardiness?
Oh ok, I was mostly curious to see if the current economy tiers for each faction would affect their marital score. Such as if a faction was on the edge of hunger or was starving would have a lower base or have lower modifiers than say a faction who had ample food.
I'm curious then, on how Kaspar or humans who ascended into spirits will be seen then. Any hints or will that likely be addressed as this is likely a new development?
So I'm guessing then, that when it comes to raids made using canoes, the raiders will likely disembark well before they get in range of the settlement, and then make their way their on foot?
Just out of curiosity, how have the other factions viewed our relationship and domestication of dogs?
Is that due to their relative isolation geographically or their relationship with us? I'm surprised the Mountain Clans, as aggressive as they were, didn't force Arrow Lake ot get more martial.
Yeah...they seem like a problem we might have to deal with later if their population and expansion continues unchecked, considering where they likely are. Are they being affected by the disease and the weather?
Also, considering that the Island Makers have control of the mouth of the White River (St. Lawrence River) leading into the South Lake (Lake Ontario), does that mean we cannot trade with the Tribe of the West or the Bond Breakers?
So another luxury item then? Where exactly did the find mica anyways?
That seems rather ironic considering before we fretted about being culturally backwards compared to the Peace Builders, especially now that we know we're actually rather far ahead in that department.
As for agriculture. I guess we are farthest behind, but that's been more of a blessing than a curse for us considering how shafted the rest of the agriculturalists have been as of late due to the horrible weather.
To be fair, once maple sugar was revealed I think everyone knew we were in North America, it was just that the native range for Sugar Maple trees was so wide in North America.
Is there any reason for the inertia in anthropology?
Ahhh...gotcha, I was just thinking that considering the amount of building we have done under him, such as the Hill and the Relay, he would also be attributed as a legendary builder too.
Considering the climate we live in and the rather far northern latitudes we are in, is there a possibility that the appearance of the people could change based on mutations within their genetics, or natural selection selecting for a gene that would favor the climate we are in?
Based on this article, it seems like even Europeans around this time were rather dark skinned as well:
http://www.sciencemag.org/news/2015/04/how-europeans-evolved-white-skin
Sol Zagato
senseless brute
As far as current evolutionary pressures; as long as we don't have an indoor-dwelling dominant upper class and we get plenty of fish, there should be little pressure to get lighter, even with low-UV conditions. Just look at Siberians, and Alaskan/Canadian natives.
-Western European hunter-gatherers were dark skinned light haired/eyed (like the Spanish described the pagan, stone age natives of the Canary islands).
-Eastern Europeans were light skinned (the Scandinavians of your article- implying they went through a low-seafood bottleneck).
-Middle eastern farmers evolved lighter skin very quickly after becoming sedentary agriculturalists (as well as losing 6" of average height and suffering from horrible malnutrition). I think this happened to pretty much every Eurasian early agricultural population. Dunno about the Americas; did the Mesoamericans et al. get lighter as they went full agriculture?
IIRC;
-Western European hunter-gatherers were dark skinned light haired/eyed (like the Spanish described the pagan, stone age natives of the Canary islands).
-Eastern Europeans were light skinned (the Scandinavians of your article- implying they went through a low-seafood bottleneck).
-Middle eastern farmers evolved lighter skin very quickly after becoming sedentary agriculturalists (as well as losing 6" of average height and suffering from horrible malnutrition). I think this happened to pretty much every Eurasian early agricultural population. Dunno about the Americas; did the Mesoamericans et al. get lighter as they went full agriculture?
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- Location
- Southampton, Great Britain
- Pronouns
- He/Him
Himmelhand
Giant Sinkhole 2020
- Location
- Midwestern US
How will the People retain their ancient ties with our doggo friends as time progresses?
Will we see greater application of working dogs?
Will we see greater application of working dogs?
- Location
- Europa, Jupiter Orbit
@Redium I am curious how outsiders that are close to us, like frequent traders that regularly visit us from other tribes (Arrowmaker and Peacemaker comes to mind) or recent immigrants into the people, view our six Values and our various social traits. I assume that there's a difference between the two because traders can just see it as a curiosity while being vary of our readiness to violence while immigrants are expected to adopt our potentially weird seeming values.
Also, what do we know about the values, beliefs and peculiarities of the Arrow-Makers? We've been pretty close to them lately and some of ours have intermarried with some of theirs, so I expect that we have a pretty accurate picture by now. And it may matter for the players that are musing on integration as well.
You've said that they don't have war focused Holy Orders, but do they have any other kind of (semi-)formal organization, religious or otherwise?
On a different note, what needs to happen before we get options to split up the types of domesticated orkers we have through breeding? Like, instead of making all our orkers into a food source or a war animal or a mix of the two, we specialize them into several distinct breeds.
We never got that option with dogs, but maybe it is just too early yet, and it is pretty recent that we even got different potential jobs for our dogs since a few turns ago hunters and warriors (the primary dog users if I understood correctly) were one and the same.
Also, what do we know about the values, beliefs and peculiarities of the Arrow-Makers? We've been pretty close to them lately and some of ours have intermarried with some of theirs, so I expect that we have a pretty accurate picture by now. And it may matter for the players that are musing on integration as well.
You've said that they don't have war focused Holy Orders, but do they have any other kind of (semi-)formal organization, religious or otherwise?
On a different note, what needs to happen before we get options to split up the types of domesticated orkers we have through breeding? Like, instead of making all our orkers into a food source or a war animal or a mix of the two, we specialize them into several distinct breeds.
We never got that option with dogs, but maybe it is just too early yet, and it is pretty recent that we even got different potential jobs for our dogs since a few turns ago hunters and warriors (the primary dog users if I understood correctly) were one and the same.
16.0 Straining Stone
[X] [Death] Ascended to the spirits!
[X] [Spirit] Found a grand shrine at the Cave of Stars.
Taavi slowly leveraged the final stone of the day into place. Mixing up a slurry of lime and water, he slowly painted over the cracks between the blocks so that they effectively disappeared. It was tedious work, especially once he considered he would have to come back on the morrow and clean the surface with a grindstone. Aeva had been clear in her vision, a great white limestone building that dominated the skyline and sealed in the Cave of Stars. She wanted the temple that the People built to be a grand thing of beauty.
The world temple was strange in Taavi's mind. He wasn't sure what made it different from a regular shrine, the word supposedly meant 'ritual place', but didn't the wise Ember-Eyes, brave Fangs, and creepy Frost-Scarred practice their rituals in shrines already? He'd asked one of the shaman assigned to the project once what the difference was, but he'd just gotten a lecture ten minutes long on spiritual matters that made his head spin. It was just like the pandemonium that had broken out among the Ember-Eyes when one of the acolytes-in-training was found to have been adding limestone to their sacred lime kilns instead of seashells. Whatever the acolyte was doing, it hadn't changed the end result.
The debate that spawned had been quiet, but intense. Virtually every Ember-Eye from across the People had returned to the Fingers in order to discuss the revelation. Taavi offered the spirits the appropriate thanks and sacrifices, but always felt that he was intruding on that realm. The spirit-touched and the shaman were the ones the interpreted the portents and signs, that was their duty. He gathered food, stacked brick, and cut stone. He was a simple man, the spirit-touched and mystery-trained could deal with those difficulties.
As he wiped the last remains of lime dust from his heads and returning his pouch of lime to his gimlet Ember-Eye supervisor, Taavi ducked side ways to allow a train of men to pass. They dragged a large block of limestone slowly up the hill, rolling it along on cut tree trunks. Each block was carried from a quarry near the Fingers back to the Cave of Stars and required ten men to move. Massive ropes were attached, wrapping around the block like the embrace of a woman. At least, that was how tight they were told to wrap them. Taavi had heard of some set ups that weren't tight enough; people had been injured when the blocks slipped, sliding off their transport logs. More than a few had their feet crushed or legs broken that way.
Still, despite those crippling injuries, there was something going on. Something big, something that someone as spiritually deft as Taavi could feel. Placing it was impossible. It was a feeling somewhere between the guy and the lung, something that radiates up the long bones from fist and foot, until it settled in as a building pressure, right behind the eyes. When the People came to start the temple and first put axes to the Twisted Forest around the Cave of Stars, they'd screamed. The trees had screamed. The sound of the twisted trees dying had been nothing like any tree that Taavi had ever heard of before.
By the time he'd cut down the first tree, he'd broken three axes. Tears had fallen from his eyes thickly enough that he could no longer see by the time he was done. He had never been party to murder like some of his brothers and cousins had, but seeing the broken trees around the mouth of the Cave of Stars had changed that impression. They had taken something beautiful, and then killed it.
There was a curse laid over their work after that, he knew. A curse that had already claimed its fair share of lives.
"Age," greeted the camp cook as he sat down for the evening meal. The middle-aged matron had settled in well among the workers at the Cave of Stars. Heavily scarred and weathered, she reminded many of the young workers of coming to sit at the feet of their grandmother. Although, based on the reams of quartz and seashell jewelry she wore around her arms and neck, she was no ordinary grandmother.
"Taavi," the woman acknowledged, spooning out a bowlful of stew. "Caribou and wild rice today."
The stonecutter was wise enough not to ask if a single scoop of stew would be all. Food was stretched and had been for many years. Everyone knew the pangs of hunger, even the people like he; shaman, warriors, and other professions who were deemed worthy of receiving tribute from the Big Man instead of having to give it.
A single look at the faintly yellow soup was enough to let Taavi know what else was in the stew: corn and squash. Both vegetables had been adopted by the People. They were sweet and grew quickly; a good compliment to the vegetable flavoured wild rice that made up the majority of their food. Personally, he preferred quinoa, but it was always rare to see that. The People had simply never cultivated it in large amounts. It grew extremely well in the cold, especially compared to several other cultivates, but it was a recent capture from their warriors.
His portion of food was quickly, mechanically, eaten. Taavi was surrounded by other workers; stonecutters, woodsmen, porters, shaman, even a few warriors, but everyone sat alone. It hadn't been like that in the past, but no one was quite willing to talk any more. Those that spoke had a tendency to be Next.
Personally, Taavi had put down half a dozen shells on Viil being Next. The bastard was young, head-strong. He had a scar from his right check that curled across his nose and departed his face just under the corner of his left eye. A legacy of misspent youth; a fight over a girl that had gotten a little too heated. When Aeva put out a third round call for additional workers, he'd leaped at the call. The stories, warnings really, that Taavi knew filtered back to the settlements hadn't bothered him a wit. Undaunted, would be the best word to describe him. He'd come in full of vinegar, edging everyone towards a fight. Even after he'd been beaten once by men far his senior, he'd simply taken it as motivation to do better and be more aggressive.
Then he'd had his first shift shoring up the mouth of the Cave of Stars.
The boy, and he was, despite the fact he'd bee recognized as a Man, had come back shaken. He hadn't slept for nearly three days after setting foot in the Cave's mouth. It took something out of you, stepping inside there, and Viil had proven particularly sensitive. Hopefully the shaman would catch him, before he journeyed too far within. Many decided to do that, especially stupid, young men. Taavi wasn't sure whether it was bravado that drove them on, or the Black Heart at the center of the Cave the pulled them in. They entered all the same, disappearing into the dark hole without a sound. Others simply laid down and died. They went to sleep one night and then simply never woke up.
It wasn't Taavi's role to deal with such matters. He was a stonecutter, not someone who was spiritually-touched. Viil would either reach out for help if he needed it, or not.
Curled up in his blankets inside one of the People's moose-skin tents, Taavi balled himself tight. There was a chill in the air that night, one sharp enough to cut through to your core like an obsidian knife; despite the fact that it was the height of summer.
When dawn broke the next day, Taavi paused in his work on the temple. A caravan of canoes were slowly making their way upriver towards them. A over-the-shoulder glance of his supervisor's birch bark scroll revealed that it wasn't a scheduled canoe either. The scribbled tally marks set in bark showed that they should have enough supplies for at least another quarter moon. Even then, that was food that could be easily supplemented locally if they had to. They wouldn't run out of limestone blocks or lime for three quarters.
"Bandits?" Taavi eventually asked his supervisor out loud. His grip tightened on the haft of a stone adze laying nearby. He'd prefer to have his spear, but those were no longer permitted at camp after that incident two years ago.
"No," Taarmo responded. "We have warriors here. There's little of value as well - we're not ready to start inlaying decorations yet. Rogues strike lone individuals, they wouldn't attack a a project like this. There's too many people, too many witnesses. All it would take is for one survivor to make it back to Crystal Lake to have the Fangs unleashed and the robbers scoured from the world."
Taavi turned back to his work, having heard the subtle dismissal. He did, however, notice his supervisor quietly grab his fire satchel before walking down to greet the newcomers. Based on how Tarmo relaxed on seeing them up close, Taavi returned to his work. You could never be too careful when it came to protecting yourself from violence, which was why he still kept one eye turned towards them. Especially since it looked like many of them carried weapons.
As the company milled through the work site, Taavi recognized Aeva, Big Man of the Lake. He'd seen her once before, at her father's funeral, years ago. He was a resident of Hill Guard, one of the earth-tenders, before her call went out to begin working on the temple. It felt strange, seeing her ago. The woman was matronly, hair beginning to grow grey at the temples with streaks peppering her hair. There was always something that seemed to wander behind her gaze.
He wondered if that was because she was half spirit. Kaspar had been a spirit. A great spirit if he remembered the shaman's lessons right, like the forest, sky, and mountains. That have to leave its mark, somewhere in blood and bone.
The others that followed alongside her were unknown to him. Vaguely, he recognized their dress from old memories, growing up at Hill Guard. They were Skalds, the warrior-singers that the Peace Builders often used as traders; the woven band of seashells hanging from a staff and flutes and drums hanging from their belts finally clued him in. They were a frequent sight in his earliest memories, but they'd been called away when he became a youth. The war the Peace Builders had been ensnared in down in the south had gone well and they'd needed warriors to keep control of the situation and consolidate their gains.
Likely the other strangers among the group were Medicine Men, the Peace Builder's elite shaman. They were quiet, silently categorizing everything they could see at the work site. Taavi suspected that the Skalds were doing it too, but they were circumspect enough that it wasn't obvious. When Aeva went and lead the party through the Doorway, down into the Cave of Stars, Taavi had to suppress a gleam of spite. Someone else would find out what it was like, to see the Cave and the Black Heart. The entire party returned, but to a man they had looked like Death had calmly greeted them.
Even setting aside the good food, the only reason that Taavi remained was that Aeva seemed to recognize the Weight of this place. She would come by once every few moons to visit the grave of her father. The corpse was eerie, immaculately preserved without rot, and it made Taavi's skin crawl to think of the Great Spirit resting there. If he worked within the cave to shore things up, he knew that eyes were upon his back. One day, Kaspar would wake and stand from his bier.
The party of Skalds and Medicine Men quickly left, before the sun had even reached noon. Taavi wondered if they would be back.
[ ] [Party] Yes, Aeva ended up encouraging Peace Builder shaman to come.
[ ] [Party] Yes, Aeva permitted the Peace Builder shaman to visit.
[ ] [Party] No, Aeva forbid outsiders from coming. (+1 Stability)
[ ] [Party] No, Aeva forbid the place to all but the spiritually aware. (+1 Legitimacy)
Actions (Pick 2 and a Tribute Focus + 1 Admin and 1 Art)
Actions that could be locked in this turn: Trade (Pearl Divers), Expand Aquaculture (Fishing)
Automatic Actions: Trade (Arrow Lake, Northlands), Expand Aquaculture (Rice), Prepare for Ordeal
AN: This was supposed to go up two days ago, but everything seemed to go wrong. Vote is currently in Moratorium until I post the next thread mark. Votes before that will not be counted. Tag me for questions.
[X] [Spirit] Found a grand shrine at the Cave of Stars.
Taavi slowly leveraged the final stone of the day into place. Mixing up a slurry of lime and water, he slowly painted over the cracks between the blocks so that they effectively disappeared. It was tedious work, especially once he considered he would have to come back on the morrow and clean the surface with a grindstone. Aeva had been clear in her vision, a great white limestone building that dominated the skyline and sealed in the Cave of Stars. She wanted the temple that the People built to be a grand thing of beauty.
The world temple was strange in Taavi's mind. He wasn't sure what made it different from a regular shrine, the word supposedly meant 'ritual place', but didn't the wise Ember-Eyes, brave Fangs, and creepy Frost-Scarred practice their rituals in shrines already? He'd asked one of the shaman assigned to the project once what the difference was, but he'd just gotten a lecture ten minutes long on spiritual matters that made his head spin. It was just like the pandemonium that had broken out among the Ember-Eyes when one of the acolytes-in-training was found to have been adding limestone to their sacred lime kilns instead of seashells. Whatever the acolyte was doing, it hadn't changed the end result.
The debate that spawned had been quiet, but intense. Virtually every Ember-Eye from across the People had returned to the Fingers in order to discuss the revelation. Taavi offered the spirits the appropriate thanks and sacrifices, but always felt that he was intruding on that realm. The spirit-touched and the shaman were the ones the interpreted the portents and signs, that was their duty. He gathered food, stacked brick, and cut stone. He was a simple man, the spirit-touched and mystery-trained could deal with those difficulties.
As he wiped the last remains of lime dust from his heads and returning his pouch of lime to his gimlet Ember-Eye supervisor, Taavi ducked side ways to allow a train of men to pass. They dragged a large block of limestone slowly up the hill, rolling it along on cut tree trunks. Each block was carried from a quarry near the Fingers back to the Cave of Stars and required ten men to move. Massive ropes were attached, wrapping around the block like the embrace of a woman. At least, that was how tight they were told to wrap them. Taavi had heard of some set ups that weren't tight enough; people had been injured when the blocks slipped, sliding off their transport logs. More than a few had their feet crushed or legs broken that way.
Still, despite those crippling injuries, there was something going on. Something big, something that someone as spiritually deft as Taavi could feel. Placing it was impossible. It was a feeling somewhere between the guy and the lung, something that radiates up the long bones from fist and foot, until it settled in as a building pressure, right behind the eyes. When the People came to start the temple and first put axes to the Twisted Forest around the Cave of Stars, they'd screamed. The trees had screamed. The sound of the twisted trees dying had been nothing like any tree that Taavi had ever heard of before.
By the time he'd cut down the first tree, he'd broken three axes. Tears had fallen from his eyes thickly enough that he could no longer see by the time he was done. He had never been party to murder like some of his brothers and cousins had, but seeing the broken trees around the mouth of the Cave of Stars had changed that impression. They had taken something beautiful, and then killed it.
There was a curse laid over their work after that, he knew. A curse that had already claimed its fair share of lives.
"Age," greeted the camp cook as he sat down for the evening meal. The middle-aged matron had settled in well among the workers at the Cave of Stars. Heavily scarred and weathered, she reminded many of the young workers of coming to sit at the feet of their grandmother. Although, based on the reams of quartz and seashell jewelry she wore around her arms and neck, she was no ordinary grandmother.
"Taavi," the woman acknowledged, spooning out a bowlful of stew. "Caribou and wild rice today."
The stonecutter was wise enough not to ask if a single scoop of stew would be all. Food was stretched and had been for many years. Everyone knew the pangs of hunger, even the people like he; shaman, warriors, and other professions who were deemed worthy of receiving tribute from the Big Man instead of having to give it.
A single look at the faintly yellow soup was enough to let Taavi know what else was in the stew: corn and squash. Both vegetables had been adopted by the People. They were sweet and grew quickly; a good compliment to the vegetable flavoured wild rice that made up the majority of their food. Personally, he preferred quinoa, but it was always rare to see that. The People had simply never cultivated it in large amounts. It grew extremely well in the cold, especially compared to several other cultivates, but it was a recent capture from their warriors.
His portion of food was quickly, mechanically, eaten. Taavi was surrounded by other workers; stonecutters, woodsmen, porters, shaman, even a few warriors, but everyone sat alone. It hadn't been like that in the past, but no one was quite willing to talk any more. Those that spoke had a tendency to be Next.
Personally, Taavi had put down half a dozen shells on Viil being Next. The bastard was young, head-strong. He had a scar from his right check that curled across his nose and departed his face just under the corner of his left eye. A legacy of misspent youth; a fight over a girl that had gotten a little too heated. When Aeva put out a third round call for additional workers, he'd leaped at the call. The stories, warnings really, that Taavi knew filtered back to the settlements hadn't bothered him a wit. Undaunted, would be the best word to describe him. He'd come in full of vinegar, edging everyone towards a fight. Even after he'd been beaten once by men far his senior, he'd simply taken it as motivation to do better and be more aggressive.
Then he'd had his first shift shoring up the mouth of the Cave of Stars.
The boy, and he was, despite the fact he'd bee recognized as a Man, had come back shaken. He hadn't slept for nearly three days after setting foot in the Cave's mouth. It took something out of you, stepping inside there, and Viil had proven particularly sensitive. Hopefully the shaman would catch him, before he journeyed too far within. Many decided to do that, especially stupid, young men. Taavi wasn't sure whether it was bravado that drove them on, or the Black Heart at the center of the Cave the pulled them in. They entered all the same, disappearing into the dark hole without a sound. Others simply laid down and died. They went to sleep one night and then simply never woke up.
It wasn't Taavi's role to deal with such matters. He was a stonecutter, not someone who was spiritually-touched. Viil would either reach out for help if he needed it, or not.
Curled up in his blankets inside one of the People's moose-skin tents, Taavi balled himself tight. There was a chill in the air that night, one sharp enough to cut through to your core like an obsidian knife; despite the fact that it was the height of summer.
When dawn broke the next day, Taavi paused in his work on the temple. A caravan of canoes were slowly making their way upriver towards them. A over-the-shoulder glance of his supervisor's birch bark scroll revealed that it wasn't a scheduled canoe either. The scribbled tally marks set in bark showed that they should have enough supplies for at least another quarter moon. Even then, that was food that could be easily supplemented locally if they had to. They wouldn't run out of limestone blocks or lime for three quarters.
"Bandits?" Taavi eventually asked his supervisor out loud. His grip tightened on the haft of a stone adze laying nearby. He'd prefer to have his spear, but those were no longer permitted at camp after that incident two years ago.
"No," Taarmo responded. "We have warriors here. There's little of value as well - we're not ready to start inlaying decorations yet. Rogues strike lone individuals, they wouldn't attack a a project like this. There's too many people, too many witnesses. All it would take is for one survivor to make it back to Crystal Lake to have the Fangs unleashed and the robbers scoured from the world."
Taavi turned back to his work, having heard the subtle dismissal. He did, however, notice his supervisor quietly grab his fire satchel before walking down to greet the newcomers. Based on how Tarmo relaxed on seeing them up close, Taavi returned to his work. You could never be too careful when it came to protecting yourself from violence, which was why he still kept one eye turned towards them. Especially since it looked like many of them carried weapons.
As the company milled through the work site, Taavi recognized Aeva, Big Man of the Lake. He'd seen her once before, at her father's funeral, years ago. He was a resident of Hill Guard, one of the earth-tenders, before her call went out to begin working on the temple. It felt strange, seeing her ago. The woman was matronly, hair beginning to grow grey at the temples with streaks peppering her hair. There was always something that seemed to wander behind her gaze.
He wondered if that was because she was half spirit. Kaspar had been a spirit. A great spirit if he remembered the shaman's lessons right, like the forest, sky, and mountains. That have to leave its mark, somewhere in blood and bone.
The others that followed alongside her were unknown to him. Vaguely, he recognized their dress from old memories, growing up at Hill Guard. They were Skalds, the warrior-singers that the Peace Builders often used as traders; the woven band of seashells hanging from a staff and flutes and drums hanging from their belts finally clued him in. They were a frequent sight in his earliest memories, but they'd been called away when he became a youth. The war the Peace Builders had been ensnared in down in the south had gone well and they'd needed warriors to keep control of the situation and consolidate their gains.
Likely the other strangers among the group were Medicine Men, the Peace Builder's elite shaman. They were quiet, silently categorizing everything they could see at the work site. Taavi suspected that the Skalds were doing it too, but they were circumspect enough that it wasn't obvious. When Aeva went and lead the party through the Doorway, down into the Cave of Stars, Taavi had to suppress a gleam of spite. Someone else would find out what it was like, to see the Cave and the Black Heart. The entire party returned, but to a man they had looked like Death had calmly greeted them.
Even setting aside the good food, the only reason that Taavi remained was that Aeva seemed to recognize the Weight of this place. She would come by once every few moons to visit the grave of her father. The corpse was eerie, immaculately preserved without rot, and it made Taavi's skin crawl to think of the Great Spirit resting there. If he worked within the cave to shore things up, he knew that eyes were upon his back. One day, Kaspar would wake and stand from his bier.
The party of Skalds and Medicine Men quickly left, before the sun had even reached noon. Taavi wondered if they would be back.
[ ] [Party] Yes, Aeva ended up encouraging Peace Builder shaman to come.
[ ] [Party] Yes, Aeva permitted the Peace Builder shaman to visit.
[ ] [Party] No, Aeva forbid outsiders from coming. (+1 Stability)
[ ] [Party] No, Aeva forbid the place to all but the spiritually aware. (+1 Legitimacy)
Actions (Pick 2 and a Tribute Focus + 1 Admin and 1 Art)
Annual Festival [Art] - The People deserve to party! Build morale by opening up the stockpiles and having a night of feasts, dancing, music and fun.
Expand Hunting (Dogs, Orkers, Traps, Herd Animals, Prize Animals) [Martial] - Improve upon the hunting techniques of the People. Work to increase the amount of meat that is available to consume and empower the People. A risky activity and one that requires a great investment of skill and energy, this provides the largest gains of food.
Expand Agriculture (Quinoa, Gourds, Corn) [Admin] - The People have come to realize the bounty of the world is often not enough. They need to tame it and carefully manage the foods that are so important in sating their appetites.
Expand Aquaculture (Wild Rice, Mussels, Fishing) [Admin] - Most of the People live close to a river and are able to gather one of numerous sources of food. Often much easier to obtain than food from hunting and much less risky, these sources of food are much more vulnerable to shifts of the seasons and that of the weather.
Explore (Specify?) [Wonderful World] [Martial] [Diplomacy] - There is much to be found in the world. Countless things, often placed by the hand of the spirits themselves. It is up to the People to find them.
Found Settlement (includes: Brick Wall, Shrine, Sugar Shack) [Admin] - While the People build homes where they will, often where food or resources can easily be found, these places are settled without organization or care. By founding a formal settlement, it becomes possible for central authority to exert itself before the People become too fracas. (Requires: 2 tiers of Econ and excess population. Available locations: North Bay, River Fork, River Bend, Wide River. 1 settlement possible to found.)
Manage Forests (Sugar, Timber, Medicine, Gathering) [Wondrous World] [Admin] - While the forests provide the least of the People's food, they have provided that which is most useful. Sugar is wonderous in taste and highly sought after as a trade goods. Evergreen tea soothes aching bodies and quiets headaches. There is much to be found in the unknown, perhaps rare, but of significant value.
Promote Folk Wrestling [Bellicose Bearing] [Martial] - The People are fracas and have a tendency towards physical confrontations and violence. By carefully channeling this tendency, it's possible to develop further skill at war and turn hunters into skilled and deadly raiders.
Raid (Target?) [Bellicose Bearing] [Retributive Justice] [Martial] - The hunting of beasts turns now into the hunting of men. Strike down those who oppose the People so that we may be kept safe.
Study Travel [Wonderful Word] [Art] - Invest time in learning how most effectively to travel. The world is harsh and strange, learning how to traverse it will save the People much in effort and food.
Study Fire [Art] - The greatest and most capricious of spirits, fire is of immense use to the People. The recent discovery of lime and the founding of the Ember-Eyed has spurred substantial interest in developing understanding of this forceful spirit further.
Study Stone [Stone-Skinned] [Art] - A solid and stable spirit, the People have found numerous type of stone with different properties. How these properties can be best served to support the People is unknown. Learning to work the material will likely pay enormous dividends in the future.
Trade (Arrow Lake, Peace Builders, Pearl Divers, Island Makers, Northlands) [Wondrous World] [Diplomacy] [Martial] - It is clear that the People do not hold all that is significant within the world. There are other tribes that hold interesting, useful or beautiful objects. By offering up some as gifts, things that the People do not have will be provided in return.
Train Warriors (Warriors, Holy Order) [Bellicose Behaviour] [Martial] [Admin] - The People have warriors well trained in the art of killing. By diverting more young people into these professions, preparations for war can be established. In a way, it is like knapping obsidian into a knife. An action that takes deliberation and planning, forethought, to be useful.
Prepare for Ordeal [Trial By Fire] [Admin] - The spirits test the People, always. These tests are ones that require careful preparation and forethought. The People will be prepared. A crisis well managed is a sign of spiritual favour, one that's botched causes the People to further suffer.
Tribute Foci
Defense - Walls, Defensive Structures, Trails, Folk Wrestling
Food - Agriculture, Aquaculture, Herding, Hunting
Magic - Study Fire, Study Stone, Study Travel
Megaprojects - Current Megaproject
Rural Infrastructure - Settlements, New Trails, Manage Forests
Spirits - Temples, Ordeals, Festivals
Urban Infrastructure - Temples, Walls, Festivals, Trade
War - Raids, Train Warriors, Folk Wrestling
World - New Trails, Exploring, Trade, Hunting
Megaprojects:
The Hunt [Wonderful World] [Trial By Fire] [Flat Arrow Outlook] [Martial] [Admin] (5 Actions) - The call of the hunt is a grand and beastly instinct. Long have the People felt the thrill of the chase. It is a solitary thing, one known only by hunter and the hunted. It is also an instinct out of place in this changing world.
The World, A Shield [Stone-Skinned] [Flat Arrow Outlook] [Martial] [Admin] (12 Actions) - Prerequisites not met.
The World in Miniature [Wonderful World] [Diplomacy] [Admin] (7 actions) - The world is a grand place, seemingly endless in scope. The People's exploration and search for wonders has pushed them to find a way to more effectively communicate discoveries with each other. Trail markers are a start, but they are not easily portable. More can be done.
A Temple, Grand [Art] (8 Actions) - Prerequisites not met.
Extended Projects:
Temple at the Cave of Stars [Art] [Admin] (1 Action) - The People have come a long way in creating a thing of beauty upon a nexus of spiritual power. Somewhere rituals can be completed and secret arts can be learned.
The Hill (Crystal Lake, The Fingers) [Stone-Skinned] [Admin] (2 Actions) - A hill made by man. A simple construct, but one that greatly raises the defensive value of a settlement.
New Trails [Wondrous World] [Admin] (6 Actions) - Inspired by the Fire Relay, these small trails are cut into the innumerable forests that surround the People. Serving as akin to veins in the body, they promote the free movement of goods and people.
Expand Hunting (Dogs, Orkers, Traps, Herd Animals, Prize Animals) [Martial] - Improve upon the hunting techniques of the People. Work to increase the amount of meat that is available to consume and empower the People. A risky activity and one that requires a great investment of skill and energy, this provides the largest gains of food.
Expand Agriculture (Quinoa, Gourds, Corn) [Admin] - The People have come to realize the bounty of the world is often not enough. They need to tame it and carefully manage the foods that are so important in sating their appetites.
Expand Aquaculture (Wild Rice, Mussels, Fishing) [Admin] - Most of the People live close to a river and are able to gather one of numerous sources of food. Often much easier to obtain than food from hunting and much less risky, these sources of food are much more vulnerable to shifts of the seasons and that of the weather.
Explore (Specify?) [Wonderful World] [Martial] [Diplomacy] - There is much to be found in the world. Countless things, often placed by the hand of the spirits themselves. It is up to the People to find them.
Found Settlement (includes: Brick Wall, Shrine, Sugar Shack) [Admin] - While the People build homes where they will, often where food or resources can easily be found, these places are settled without organization or care. By founding a formal settlement, it becomes possible for central authority to exert itself before the People become too fracas. (Requires: 2 tiers of Econ and excess population. Available locations: North Bay, River Fork, River Bend, Wide River. 1 settlement possible to found.)
Manage Forests (Sugar, Timber, Medicine, Gathering) [Wondrous World] [Admin] - While the forests provide the least of the People's food, they have provided that which is most useful. Sugar is wonderous in taste and highly sought after as a trade goods. Evergreen tea soothes aching bodies and quiets headaches. There is much to be found in the unknown, perhaps rare, but of significant value.
Promote Folk Wrestling [Bellicose Bearing] [Martial] - The People are fracas and have a tendency towards physical confrontations and violence. By carefully channeling this tendency, it's possible to develop further skill at war and turn hunters into skilled and deadly raiders.
Raid (Target?) [Bellicose Bearing] [Retributive Justice] [Martial] - The hunting of beasts turns now into the hunting of men. Strike down those who oppose the People so that we may be kept safe.
Study Travel [Wonderful Word] [Art] - Invest time in learning how most effectively to travel. The world is harsh and strange, learning how to traverse it will save the People much in effort and food.
Study Fire [Art] - The greatest and most capricious of spirits, fire is of immense use to the People. The recent discovery of lime and the founding of the Ember-Eyed has spurred substantial interest in developing understanding of this forceful spirit further.
Study Stone [Stone-Skinned] [Art] - A solid and stable spirit, the People have found numerous type of stone with different properties. How these properties can be best served to support the People is unknown. Learning to work the material will likely pay enormous dividends in the future.
Trade (Arrow Lake, Peace Builders, Pearl Divers, Island Makers, Northlands) [Wondrous World] [Diplomacy] [Martial] - It is clear that the People do not hold all that is significant within the world. There are other tribes that hold interesting, useful or beautiful objects. By offering up some as gifts, things that the People do not have will be provided in return.
Train Warriors (Warriors, Holy Order) [Bellicose Behaviour] [Martial] [Admin] - The People have warriors well trained in the art of killing. By diverting more young people into these professions, preparations for war can be established. In a way, it is like knapping obsidian into a knife. An action that takes deliberation and planning, forethought, to be useful.
Prepare for Ordeal [Trial By Fire] [Admin] - The spirits test the People, always. These tests are ones that require careful preparation and forethought. The People will be prepared. A crisis well managed is a sign of spiritual favour, one that's botched causes the People to further suffer.
Tribute Foci
Defense - Walls, Defensive Structures, Trails, Folk Wrestling
Food - Agriculture, Aquaculture, Herding, Hunting
Magic - Study Fire, Study Stone, Study Travel
Megaprojects - Current Megaproject
Rural Infrastructure - Settlements, New Trails, Manage Forests
Spirits - Temples, Ordeals, Festivals
Urban Infrastructure - Temples, Walls, Festivals, Trade
War - Raids, Train Warriors, Folk Wrestling
World - New Trails, Exploring, Trade, Hunting
Megaprojects:
The Hunt [Wonderful World] [Trial By Fire] [Flat Arrow Outlook] [Martial] [Admin] (5 Actions) - The call of the hunt is a grand and beastly instinct. Long have the People felt the thrill of the chase. It is a solitary thing, one known only by hunter and the hunted. It is also an instinct out of place in this changing world.
The World in Miniature [Wonderful World] [Diplomacy] [Admin] (7 actions) - The world is a grand place, seemingly endless in scope. The People's exploration and search for wonders has pushed them to find a way to more effectively communicate discoveries with each other. Trail markers are a start, but they are not easily portable. More can be done.
Extended Projects:
Temple at the Cave of Stars [Art] [Admin] (1 Action) - The People have come a long way in creating a thing of beauty upon a nexus of spiritual power. Somewhere rituals can be completed and secret arts can be learned.
The Hill (Crystal Lake, The Fingers) [Stone-Skinned] [Admin] (2 Actions) - A hill made by man. A simple construct, but one that greatly raises the defensive value of a settlement.
New Trails [Wondrous World] [Admin] (6 Actions) - Inspired by the Fire Relay, these small trails are cut into the innumerable forests that surround the People. Serving as akin to veins in the body, they promote the free movement of goods and people.
Actions that could be locked in this turn: Trade (Pearl Divers), Expand Aquaculture (Fishing)
Automatic Actions: Trade (Arrow Lake, Northlands), Expand Aquaculture (Rice), Prepare for Ordeal
AN: This was supposed to go up two days ago, but everything seemed to go wrong. Vote is currently in Moratorium until I post the next thread mark. Votes before that will not be counted. Tag me for questions.
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