From Stone to the Stars

[X] Plan Win the War
-[X] [Recall] No
-[X] [Value] Yes
-[X][Action] Raid (Northlands)
-[X][Action] Expand Hunting (Dogs)
-[X][Admin] The Hunt -> Primitive Herding
-[X][Art] Study Travel -> Summer Dog Sleds
-[X][Tribute] Megaprojects (The Hunt, The Hunt)

The war, had not gone well.

At first, it seemed like it had. Aeva had known that the Northlands were much more thinly peopled than the lands to the south. They were primarily herders up there, following the caribou as they moved across the lands. It was a hard life, one which bred a certain resilience and familiarity with violence into every man and woman who managed to live. 'Every man an archer', the People had once said of the Northlands. The herds of caribou and moose that they followed numbered in the thousands. Trying to hunt one was like trying to hunt a single left of a tree. One mistake could easily bring the entire tree down on your head.

Now, the People knew the truth; the Northlands were as much man as beast. The whispers about them had only intensified in recent years. Claims that went so far as to the relations between the Northlanders and their caribou was fundamentally different from how the People related to their dogs. Instead, they said, that the relations between the North and their beasts was more akin to the relations that occur only among people.

The Peace Builders had not heeded these warnings. Even when Aeva herself warned their commanders that there was more to the man-beasts than met they eye, the People were ignored. The foreigners were perhaps right to ignore the People's worries, when they had initially smashed into the Northlanders, they had cast them aside. Upon arriving, they had turned the tide against the northern man-beasts and solidified the defensive borders. Perhaps not a dramatic reversal, but a significant one.

It seemed to solidify the Peace Builder's confidence. They and their spirits were righteous, punishing those who trespassed against sacred laws. Skalds from all over the Peace Builder's holdings had whipped their warriors up into a frenzy. They were powerful and they were going to set the world to rights.

They were wrong.

It had started innocuously. The People and the Peace Builders had slowly made steady ground, pushing up through the twisting hills of the Northlands' traditional range. It was slow going, but with the river to secure their supply lines, the People made progress. Each one of their warriors had a dedicated ration of food, this was something that did not change in war or peace and could be easily budgeted for. The Northlands, on the other hand, depended on their hunters and herders to fight. Every day that they fought, was a day that they would have to deal with hunger due to failing to look for food.

The war was slow going, but it was steady. When the Northlanders' war cries finally faded into the distance and the counter raids receded, it buoyed the People's spirits. The Peace Builders took it as a sign of impending victory; the Northlanders had been weak, unable to stop the advance, and now they'd taken enough casualties that all they could do was flee. "We must follow them!" the leading Skald of the Peace Builders had advocated. "They run, breaking before our power and might. Now is the time to strike!" They would strike that night, before the Northlands had time to move their camp.

But the People were not convinced. Under Aeva's leadership, they had become used to a more methodical method of war. One based on organization, planning, and objectives. It had not met the success of the Peace Builders, but it was an undeniably winning strategy. The People's warriors heeded their caution. It was what was needed when one was fighting spirits.

It caused many of the Peace Builders to call the People cowards, but their barbed words were a small price to pay considering what it let them avoid.

It was on that night that he finally acted. The Ivory-Blood Chief.

When the People went forth on the next day, they found the Peace Builders. Their central force was huddled in a clearing, eyes wide with terror and their numbers visibly reduced. All of their weapons were close at hand, even those who were sleeping did not release their great war clubs. All around them, the rest of the Peace Builders' war party stood as tall as the trees. They were impaled, massive ivory tusks speared through their bodies from end to mouth. It was clear that the impaled had died... screaming.

When the Northlanders showed themselves next, they attacked with a fury that up to that point the People had never seen. They were lead by a resplendent figure, his chest armoured in fine strips of dark wood and bearing an enormous ivory tusk studded with obsidian. A glowing amulet of bone hung from his neck with matching armlets threaded so tightly along his limbs that they clacked with every breath. Teeth like pointed fangs, the man-beast cackled when he fought, revelling in blood and slaughter.

He fought in close, ivory tusk stabbing out, impaling lone warriors and crushing past bone and wood armour with the force of a galloping man-beast. The lucky died instantly. Those unlucky were dragged away, disappearing into the night only to end up impaled on a tusk by dawn the next day.

Worse, the Ivory-Blooded Chief had sent part of his force to raid and harass the People's supply lines. Only a few caravans were broken, but it was enough that the People and the Peace Builders would fear hunger. That was the moment that it became obvious: the raid was lost.

Retreating burned at the pride of the People and the Peace Builders did not take it better. For them it was much worse. Many of their warriors refused to leave and stayed behind to face the Ivory-Blooded's echoing cackle.

The raid was a disaster, by Aeva's reckoning. The Ivory-Blooded Chief had not been able to force the People from their temporary camp at the border of the Northlands' territory, but they had stymied every advance and reaped a vicious toll in blood. Augmenting that perception was the lone messenger the Ivory-Blooded Chief had sent. A warrior from the Peace Builders, he had been utterly broken. His flesh shredded then crudely healed, bones broken and then twisted before being set, his face disfigured; all that was untouched were his ears and his mouth. "You murdered and defiled my sister," the messenger had said, passing on his former captor's words. "A curse upon you and your children and children's children. Blood and vengeance will be mine."

It had been a minor miracle that the People were able to stop the Ivory-Blooded Chief's advance. The People's forests were often trackless, virtual unknowns, and without trails. It hadn't quite seemed obvious to her before, but the well trailed lands of the Northlands allowed their man-beasts an unmatched strategic depth. It was easy for them to hit and then run, stymieing all efforts to advance against them. The lack of trails within the People's land meant that the Ivory-Blooded Chief's man-beasts were even more hemmed it. On the whole, Aeva would've judged having more trails to be beneficial.

What really saved them, though, was their knowledge of The Hunt.

The People had been close to panic in recent years over the sudden loss of animal populations around them. Everyone knew intellectually that the weather likely meant the animals suffered and fewer were born. But to have it be severe enough that they could not be found? That was different. What about the next time the People needed to rely on the hunt when the weather turned against them? Countless questions dominated the People's councils and campfires.

It seemed The Hunt, a thing of time immemorial, may no longer exist. That was the moment that drove Aeva back to her old friend of organization. She and her Slate kept extremely careful track of the People's hunts across many years. They tracked every rabbit, every fox, ever deer, moose, wolf, and orker that was slain. It was a laborious process, but it eventually revealed a pattern; the World moved in cycles. It was not a static thing, it was a system.

After the harsh weather of the last few years, many plants had died. This in turn meant that the creatures that feed on them; deer, moose, rabbits, raccoons, and badgers, would soon starve. This meant that the predators which relied on them; wolves, bears, cougars, and foxes, would suddenly find themselves starving in turn. The key observation was that these transitions were offset by a year. If the plants died, a year later the herbivores would die and a year after that the carnivores.

Despite these constant, osculating die offs, no animals seemed to permanently disappear from the forest; eventually, all would return. Checking the numbers a second time, Aeva realized that the die offs seemed to predict, perhaps even spark, enormous booms in population. When the carnivores died, the herbivores would boom in population until they exhausted the plants and the carnivores came back in force. The three were clearly interrelated, osculating in some great cosmic harmony.

Now that they knew the chorus, taking advantage of it would be easy. Instead of becoming dependent on wildly swinging populations of prey, the People could use the knowledge gleaned to level out the wild swings, creating a more predictable and stable source of food. It would also allow them to turn it against their enemies. It wouldn't be quite as useful against professional warriors who usually had some degree of support from home, but against hunters or herders? They were expected to supply themselves with food on campaign and the easiest way to acquire food was by hunting. Something that you now knew the secret magic of. Turning the forest from a placid place filled with pleasant herbivores to a dark terror of teeth and fangs was now possible.

Megaproject Complete: The Hunt

How should the People commemorate this project?

[ ] [Reward] Raise Temple: Hill Guard 1/2 + 2/2
[ ] [Reward] Annual Festival x2
[ ] [Reward] Manage Hunting x3
[ ] [Reward] Explore x5
[ ] [Reward] Raise Warriors (Holy Orders) x2

Values Combined! Wondrous World + Terrestrial Fetich -> Supernal Symphony!

Empty Honour Value Slot Detected! Where should a new Value be taken from?

[ ] [Value] Peace Builders
[ ] [Value] Pearl Divers (-1 Stability)
[ ] [Value] Arrow Lake (-1 Stability)
[ ] [Value] Northlands (-1 Legitimacy)
[ ] [Value] Develop Internally

It was the People's obligation to uphold such harmony and as far as Aeva could see it was a work in progress. One that would likely take far longer than her lifetime. Still, it was her role to see the People succeed, despite the dunderheadedness of some of those that sought to petition her.

After the situation with the Northlands had stabilized, many of the warriors involved has returned home. They were hardened men and tough women, Aeva could tell. Many of them never quite seemed to relax, eyes always darting to and fro, or bursting from the depths of sleep in the middle of the night, ready to kill. It was a matter of time before problems would arise, Aeva knew.

When it finally did, it was spectacular.

As she sat in high council, the Big Men of both Hill Guard and The Fingers beside her, Aeva wondered how it had come to his. Looking down, she could see her great-grandnephew staring back defiantly despite the binds that secured him almost from head to toe. Priit was a boy, seventeen years old, if she remembered correctly. He shouldn't have been able to do this.

"What have you to say for your actions?" the Big Man of the Hill asked him.

"My actions were without mistake," Priit responded. "I acted as Justice demands. I acted with full knowledge of my actions. I have not erred in my Outlook."

"And those things led you to spill the blood of the People?" the Big Man of the Fingers asked, incensed. He had lost friends due to Priit's actions, potentially even kin.

"I did not kill anyone who did not deserve it," Priit said. "The only ones to die were those who died to preserve my life."

"How many were dead by the end, Priit?" Aeva asked, breaking her silence for the first time. The boy focused on her, and he was a boy despite the trials he faced. His stare was the same as the other warriors, distant but sharp. "How many were wounded or maimed?"

"I acted to bring a thief to justice," Priit said. "The fact that others would shelter a criminal in defiance—"

"She was no thief, boy!" the Big Man of the Fingers bellowed. He was half out of his seat, great club in hand.

"Do it," Priit whispered. "Do it you cowardly old fuck."

The Big Man of the Fingers nearly did, knocking Priit to the ground and raising his club to crush the boy's skull. It was only the symphony of full throated growls that stopped him. Aeva shivered as all of the Fangs and their canine companions watched intensely.

The situation was tense and violence threaded through the air. Why couldn't Priit have done something differently, Aeva wondered? Because he was a boy, no matter how young he was once he passed his trials.

Priit had been a prodigy, scouted for the Fangs at nine and becoming a full member of their order at thirteen. He had spent most of the next four years on the front lines against the Northlands, distinguishing himself. A skilled warrior, he had come to fame two years into his fight when he directly engaged the Ivory-Blooded Chief. The man had brained Priit with his spear, concussing and nearly killing him. Despite that, Priit's wolf-companions had rallied and chased the Ivory-Blooded Chief off, but not before the chief dropped his ivory spear. Priit had taken it up after that and wielded the weapon to acclaim, and frustration on the part of the Ivory-Blooded Chief.

It had been during his recovery after that, that Priit met a woman. Their courtship was brief, but intense, and had left a child growing within her. Priit had missed the birth of his son due to the intensifying war and only came to know him recently. It was then he decried the boy, claiming that the child was not his son and that the woman had strayed. That was followed almost immediately by a fight where he beat the man he alleged to be the father, a simply farmer, half to death; perhaps even more. Aeva was uncertain if the father would recover fully from his broken bones.

That was normal, to be expected among the People. Fights over women were extremely common. Not, perhaps, necessarily approved of, but it wasn't something that the People's leaderships concerned itself with. In the grand scheme of things, Priit had been merciful; many would've simply killed in his position.

Where Priit had taken it further, however, was decrying his former paramour as a thief. She had received part of his ration as his wife and mother of his child, traded on his growing reputation, and ingratiated herself into his extended family. All of that was unjust and she continued it even after the child was born and she knew it was not Priit's son. (How the woman was supposed to know that, Aeva did not know, but both of the other two Big Men agreed with Priit's assertation of lack of paternity. No matter how grudging it was from the Big Man of the Fingers.)

From there, the situation became murky. Priit claimed that he went before the woman's longhouse, demanding that she and the representatives present themselves and go before the Big Man to resolve his claim of food theft. Of all crimes, food theft was nearly the most serious; something that was potentially worthy of death. At that point, many of the men of the longhouse attacked him, likely to cover their complicity in food theft.

The survivors from the longhouse claimed that Priit simply attacked them from nowhere. They were only defending themselves.

What was not in dispute was the fact that Priit single-handedly savaged everyone who opposed him. More than two dozen men. Priit smashed everyone that opposed him aside and the wolves following on his heels laid low everyone who managed to bypass his spearpoint. When the last of his opponents was put down, he took his 'wife' and 'child' to go before the Big Man of the Fingers. The initial fight wasn't exactly quiet and quickly drew spectators. That escalated the situation and turned it into a general riot.

It wasn't until the Big Man came with warriors to crack heads together that the fighting actually stopped. From what Aeva had heard, the Big Man had nearly smashed Priit's skull on the spot for disturbing the peace. Many were injured and some were dead, his kith and kin among them. The only thing that had stopped him was the Fangs closely circling around one of their own. Nothing had been said, but the Big Man realized that acting without consulting the other Big Men would end... poorly.

The entire situation made Aeva's head ache. Priit was a stupid boy. He had not been wrong to fight the man who'd lain with his wife. That was well enshrined within the People's precedent. He had also not been wrong to demand before his wife's longhouse that they present themselves to resolve a grievance. The only question was: Had Priit really been crazy enough to assault an entire longhouse, easily one hundred people, on his own? Even if he was, there was precedent in his favour. As a fully blooded warrior, it was his duty to execute justice on those who had wrong the People. If the longhouse's residents stood in his way, then he could strike them down. The only people who had been injured before the general brawl were young men; his violence had not been indiscriminate. He may very well have been acting in self-defense and with due diligence in his duty.

The problem was, there was no easy solution. Aeva couldn't determine whether her great-grandnephew was telling the truth, or the longhouse's residents. No one could; the facts supported both sides. Aeva wished it hadn't been so ambiguous and come up for Triumvirate review. The Big Man of the Fingers clearly wanted skulls to be smashed for the deaths in his settlement. Aeva was tied to this by bonds of family and the Big Man of Hill Guard was firmly in her pocket. No matter how she ruled, people would be unhappy, seeing either nepotism or injustice.

Supporting her great-grandnephew would come across as nepotism. Punishing him would alienate the warriors and especially the Fangs as they saw one of their own punished for fulfilling their duties. And then there were the concerns about the Northlanders; Priit was a profoundly skilled warrior. He was better than any save, perhaps, Kaspar had been at his prime. Losing him would hurt the war effort.

What should be done?

Should Priit be punished? (All options cost at least -1 Stability)

[ ] [Priit] No, he acted in accordance with precedent and his personal duty.
[ ] [Priit] Yes, his actions lead to tragedy regardless of intent.
[ ] [Pritt] Yes, he is clearly lying and went looking to fight, not to fulfill his duty.
[ ] [Pritt] No, he only defended himself.
[ ] [Pritt] Aeva would not vote against her family and abstains. (Vote deadlocks, -1 additional Stability)
[ ] [Pritt] Aeva would not vote against family and abstains alongside the Big Man of Hill Guard. (Big Man of the Fingers convicts.)
[ ] [Pritt] Aeva attempts to lean on her connections to solve the matter privately. (Chance of additional -1 to +1 Stability)
[ ] [Pritt] No, the boy is too important of a warrior to sacrifice.

How severely should he be punished? (You can vote for this, it won't matter if you do not vote to punish Priit)

[ ] [Punishment] Death. (-1 Stability)
[ ] [Punishment] Exile. (???)
[ ] [Punishment] Make Priit a Debtor. (-1 Stability)
[ ] [Punishment] Extract immense fines from Priit. (-1 Legitimacy)

How do the Big Men rule on Priit's allegation of food theft?

[ ] [Theft] The woman was no thief. A woman can always expect support from her husband.
[ ] [Theft] The woman was a thief. Taking food from a family with which your child shares no blood is done under false pretenses and a crime.
[ ] [Theft] The woman was not yet a thief. She would have only stole food once Priit officially ended their relationship.
[ ] [Theft] The woman was a thief, but not of everything she is accused. All of the initial gifts given were hers, but what she asked for later was theft under false pretenses.

AN: Voting is currently under moratorium and will be until the next threadmark is posted. Tag me for any questions.