Cacophonous Interlude is NOT active
(the QMPC does NOT hear what you write right now)
Next story update : Sometime in July would be nice
Next vote closing : TBD
Progress toward next update : 3,146 words
Code:
Anything I post that's not in text blocks or in spoilers
may be understood to be said by the QMPC, with the
exception of the Collaboration Post
(see Collaboration Post for details on itself)
Code:
Players do not need to use code blocks or spoilers
outside of cacophonous interludes
If you use code blocks, please limit yourself to 32 lines
and your lines to 57 characters, so that people on mobile
can read them without scrolling within the code block
Code:
This is not meant to be Plagiarism Quest.
You're not discouraged from using outside reference
material or quoting other sources. When you do, please
cite your sources in spoilers or a code box.
Code:
I have added some players who contributed a fair amount
the last two times as thread collaborators who can update
the collaboration post. If you'd like to update the
collaboration post too, contact me by PM and we'll talk
about it.
Check the Collaboration Post and read the latest story post in the Threadmarks to get a rough idea of where things are at.
If you're not already involved in the game, portions of either of these may be difficult to follow. But you can skip to the line that says "B R E A K" in the latest threadmarked story post and skim from there to get an idea of what's going on.
If there's no corresponding Closing The Vote post in the Informational threadmarks for the latest story post in (normal?) Threadmarks, then the game is in a cacophonous interlude and the QMPC will hear what you post, unless you do so with spoilers or code boxes. The NOTICES portion at the top of this post should also tell you if the game is in a cacophonous interlude.
So you can engage with other players, make suggestions, ask questions, and propose plans and you can compose a message to the QMPC all whether or not the game is in a cacophonous interlude. And once it is, you can vote and/or send a message to the QMPC by creating a post in the thread.
If you want to vote, simply do so as you would in other quests on this board. You may look at other players' votes to see how yours should be formatted. And you may check the tally to see that yours are counted as you intend them.
If you want to send a message to the QMPC, though, keep in mind that they are a creature of their time. They may not understand what you mean if you don't take the time to make it clear. This game rewards and demands work from its players. When a player wants to introduce a concept or tool or technology to the QMPC, that player will probably need to expend effort to explain it carefully, and take into consideration the limits of the QMPC's understanding of the world.
I think this is similar enough to Graeber's 'interpretive labor' that we can use the term colloquially to describe what is being asked of players. Put yourself in the mind of the QMPC and ask yourself how such a person can be made to understand what you want to tell them.
The QMPC has different values than we do. They have different assumptions about the world and objects and forces within it. Their goals may not align directly with number-go-up or color-get-big gaming agendas. But they want something, and will listen most attentively to players that tell them how to get more of or closer to what they want.
The Quest Master posts story updates that have 3 parts.
Quest Master Player Character responses to player posts made during the last cacophonous interlude
An update by the QMPC following a break of varying length but usually some number of years, covering what the character believes is worth mentioning
Requests by the QMPC for direction on a number of issues, which the players will provide in the form of votes
Following each story update, players posts are audible to the QMPC until voting is closed.
This is the cacophonous interlude.
Players may convey any information they can represent in text.
No images, sounds, or hyperlinks will get through (this is my limitation, not a limitation of the game, so please do not try to transcend it with clever protocol tricks).
Players may use spoilers or code blocks to communicate with each other without doing so in ways the QMPC can hear.
When votes are tallied, the QM collects player posts so that it may be known what the QMPC heard.
Votes are tallied in the conventional fashion. So only votes in the most recent post by each player are counted. [X] marks what the player is voting. And only identical write-ins accumulate.
Some votes are querying the players for their preference, in which case the only suboptimal answer is that which does not accurately reflect the preference of the players who nonetheless chose it (I don't think these kinds of misunderstandings can be helped).
Other votes are intended as puzzles where there is a choice the QM believes would best meet what they believe to be the goals of the players.
However, in these sorts of votes the QM has in mind a choice that would provide the players with what the QM thinks they most want, but which is not listed in the available votes.
In this way, clever write-ins are encouraged.
QM reads player posts, researches their suggestions, checks notes for precedent, determines what the QMPC thinks they already know on the topic, what they're right or wrong about, how likely they are to engage with the topic, how likely the QMPC's followers are to follow-through in the matter, and finally what the result is going to be later on.
QM composes QMPC's responses to player posts made during the cacophonous interlude and updates their notes.
When narrative benefits from uncertainty and chance, QM devises tests for QMPC or other characters and makes those tests using die rolls on a post made just for that purpose.
Skill or attribute tests will be made with a largely undocumented homebrew modification of the Burning Wheel system, mangled to suit the format of this game. (The Burning Wheelis a good system and I encourage you to check it out.)
Tests may be a contest between two characters or against a static target with tiered results.
The rules being used and followed will be described in each post in which tests are made by die rolls.
Normal mortals count 7s and better as successes.
Heroic characters and characters who are otherwise innately magical count 6s and better as successes.
Demigod characters and characters who otherwise possess some spark of divinity count 5s and better as successes.
New gods and characters who have otherwise stolen the power of Old Gods count 4s and better as successes.
Old Gods count 3s and better as successes.
Sorcery and other magic skills lower the threshold of success by 1 to a minimum of 3 only when they are the skill being tested, not when they provide a bonus to other skills. Players may note that Old Gods' threshold of success does not improve when they use magic.
Bonus dice provided by Kahl's Warhorses and any incendiary devices more complicated than a burning arrow reroll 9s & 10s and keeps successes. These same bonus dice cancels successes on 1s & 2s, rerolls those, and additional 1s & 2s cancel additional successes. More 1s, 2, 9, or 10s mean more rerolling and more successes or cancelations, but only in the manner of the original die. That is, a 1 or 2 that comes up when a 9 on a bonus die is rerolled don't cancel successes or lead to further rerolling.
Research project results are determined by percentile dice with results falling into 5 tiers.
Uh oh: something has gone horribly wrong
Nuh uh: failure, but the boring kind
Huh: partial success
Uh huh: full success
Whoa: superior special case success
When players expect a test to be coming up -- for example if they vote for an invasion or to send a diplomat to manipulate a foreign leader -- they can improve the odds of the test turning out the way they want by providing the QMPC with advice specific to that matter. If the advice is not mistaken or outright bad, there will be at least a chance it will help. That is, decent advice adds dice.
QM composes the QMPC's post-break update, player vote questions, and player vote options.
GOTO 1
The QMPC is intended to be the only character the players will interact with in this game. (It's kind of possible that the players could maneuver the QMPC to surrender control of the Astute Cacophony to another character, but unlikely.)
The QMPC is a small, evil woman who knows magic and has not died, despite looking like she probably should have at some point. She goes by the name Bianca the Undying. Her early life took place in the Paleolithic, in which she has said that she traveled around quite a bit and came to understand the malleable nature of populations of people and animals and even the land itself. At some point she was trapped underground, to her displeasure. She remained trapped for a very long time.
When Bianca got out, she found her way to a community of eight tribes living pastoral and agrarian lifestyles in the local Copper Age. She made these people hers and they relied on her for magically enriching their fields so that they did not need to slash, burn, and move around a bit, unlike their neighbors. Bianca and her followers formalized their relationships into the Eight Ways Pact. Later, another tribe joined Bianca's followers bringing small horses and the Bronze Age and their pact was updated with a ninth directive.
Bianca has an agenda that requires her to have more power than she does right now. She believes that achieving divinity will get her that power.
Roads are a thing that will require political capital, and will not see much return on investment due to the small size of our economy / trade. Bees could be use to gain political capital to enact more important reforms.
Roads are a thing that will require political capital, and will not see much return on investment due to the small size of our economy / trade. Bees could be use to gain political capital to enact more important reforms.
I agree with you that Bianca visiting a city is a good idea @liberty90 what I am not so sure of is whether or not we are at a point where we can leave society to its own devices for an extended period of time. going out to figure out beekeeping seems like a viable test run for when we eventually head to a city after, all its not like this is going to be Bianca's only opportunity to go out and see the world
Be aware: no matter which choice you vote
in under [Sabbatical] it is only the votes
for [Steward] which determine what or who
governs the Nine Nations. Bianca will
have no control for the duration of her
research period.
Sure, but this can be also done with normal advice. On the other hand, it's almost impossible to properly explain radically different city-based cultures (social inequality, wealthy merchants, somewhat disciplined peasants) with words alone. You cannot build infrastructure with words either, for that matter.
Adhoc vote count started by liberty90 on Mar 17, 2019 at 5:16 AM, finished with 29 posts and 8 votes.
I think that Bianca (or rather rough simulation of Bianca's character that exists in the QM's mind xP ) would choose, and as far as I know and understand her, decently enough I suppose, she would choose bees because this is more conservative invention (her people often tried themselves).
Change to roads like me IMHO.
Adhoc vote count started by liberty90 on Mar 17, 2019 at 10:00 AM, finished with 32 posts and 8 votes.
How does one recognize wandering queen bees? How are they captured? If one is placed within a lain-down or basket hive, will she build her kingdom there?
I believe there may have been a fatal miscommunication here oh Undying Bianca. It is possible to recognize a queen bee compared to regular bees, as she is larger and with a bigger abdomen, but queen bees would struggle to build a new colony on their own.
When a beehive is healthy and populous enough, they shall split off a swarm of thousands of bees with a new or old queen, which will leave the hive and travel to a new hive. This is swarming, and is how beehives usually reproduce. Swarming usually occurs during spring, but this is not a hard rule. Your primary goal should be to intercept these swarms during their travels and place them within prepared nests (swarms should usually be relatively docile compared to beehives, and look like a large clump of bees when resting, usually on tree branches), or lure them into desirable nesting cavities by optimizing the desirability for the initial scout bees.
Scouts will probably not go further than a day's travel on foot for a human from their original hive in search for nests.
There are several factors bees look for in their new hives, which you can try to optimize for to ensure bees settle within your hives. A good nest site has to be large enough to accommodate the swarm, ideally an area roughly analogous to 15 to 35 human skulls, and well protected from the elements. It is suggested that you build a roofed outbuilding over your hives to protect from rain, or otherwise protect them from inclement weather. The hive should have a small entrance, not larger than a human hand, located near the bottom, receive a decent amount of sunlight, and not be near any ants. If you can put old honeycombs into your built hives, this will help the bees to establish themselves and increase desirability.
After hives have been successfully established, it will take at least half a year before honey and wax can be harvested from them, possibly longer if conditions are not good. After that, how often you can harvest would once again depend on how well the hives do, but shouldn't be more than three times a year, and care should be taken to leave the bees a reserve of honey for the winter.
I would advise you, oh Undying Bianca, to place the beehives onto long poles coming at least to a man's waist, to prevent skunks, badgers and rodents from stealing honey and bees from them, and that care be taken to defend the hives against hungry bears.
If there is a need to move beehives for some reason, it must be done gently and during the night; the hives should be wrapped in skins; they should be set in place before dawn. When it is done in this way the combs will not be damaged and the creatures will not be injured.
"Dogs are loved for their loyalty. Mice and loctus are hated as thieves of grain. Foxes are hated as murderers of fowl. Wolves and bears are feared for their love of killing people and their livestock. But those and others are also valued for their furs. Serpents are hated for their venom.
"Now I visit all the fields of the people, each one once every so many years. And I make them fruitful. I visit the winter pastures as well and less often. When there is a great upwelling of mice or locust or some other peril, the people send their best to plead that I come to their fields to solve it. There are still times when matters are too far gone when I arrive and some famine occurs.
If this has not been done before oh Undying Bianca, I would suggest that the smallest of the cats, those smaller than even dogs, be invited into your peoples homes and granaries, to feast upon the rodent menace. Care must be taken in their taming, as they may turn their eyes upon the hatchlings of your fowl, and it is often said that cats do not get along well with dogs for whatever reason.
"So writing makes people more clever. It is truly of greater use than I had considered. But how much time does it take one to master writing to that end? How much paint on cloth? How many signs hammered into metal or stone? Even though writing might make people more clever, in addition to the other benefits, the time and goods to reach that end may still be an expense better put to another end.
Mastering writing to the degree that it provides significant aid to ones thinking will probably require at least a year, probably longer.
However, using such valuable resources and time to learn writing sounds like a criminal waste. Instead you should inscribe with styluses on loose sand or wet clay or mud.
"I would have some voice, any voice, tell me of finding and using arsenic to make bronze. Bronze is, yes, rare. And I will decide for myself if the dangers of making it are too much for the people of the Nine Nations. The withdrawing of copper sickens anyway.
Arsenic and bronze made from arsenic is poisonous. Arsenic can be likely most easily found in realgar and orpiment. If there are any hotsprings or geysers in your area, places where warm, sometimes even boiling, water wells or gushes up from the earth, there may be realgar, orpiment and related minerals near them.
Realgar is a ruby-like material, sometimes called "ruby of arsenic", that can be found as soft, red or sometimes orange-red, crystals or powder.
Orpiment is a deep-colored, orange to yellow mineral, like realgar it has a a striking colour, and both may be known to you as a pigment or paint.
You are most likely to find tin in the form of cassiterite, along rivers or old riverbeds as alluvial or placer deposits, usually at bends of rivers and creeks; in natural hollows; at the break of slope on a stream; the base of an escarpment, waterfall or other barrier. Ideally where there is granite nearby.
These deposits can be easily seen in river banks, because cassiterite is usually black or purple or otherwise dark.
[X] [Sabbatical] Construct more pylons roads, build more roads
Hello my name is DevilGirl!
To have a simple bridge build a big wall on the one side of the small river then another wall on the other side of the river higher walls than river cause there will be flooding sometimes. Then wooden logs should join one wall to another over that river or stream and then join roads maybe with ramp from stones dirt or something to these walls on the both sides Bridge should be wide for carts and horses
Support pillars for weight of these logs in the middle of river could be nice but its hard to build stuff in water not sure how do that
Thanks for that @Demonic Spoon , it's kinda funny, while I was writing the post in which I warned and tried to teach how to differentiate between bumble and honeybees, I made an error in the difference. Bumblebee queens hibernate throughout the winter before coming out and founding the nest alone, whereas honeybees swarm, but I was acting as if honeybee best founding and bumblebee nest founding occurred in the same way. Whoops, sorry.
[X] [Sabbatical] Construct more pylons roads, build more roads
Hello my name is DevilGirl!
To have a simple bridge build a big wall on the one side of the small river then another wall on the other side of the river higher walls than river cause there will be flooding sometimes. Then wooden logs should join one wall to another over that river or stream and then join roads maybe with ramp from stones dirt or something to these walls on the both sides Bridge should be wide for carts and horses
Support pillars for weight of these logs in the middle of river could be nice but its hard to build stuff in water not sure how do that
[X] [Sabbatical] Construct more pylons roads, build more roads
[X] [Staffing] Get some people, but not too many
[X] [Steward] Appoint the singer best suited to the job
[X] [Cacophony] liberty90
This is Black Cat, welcome again, Great Undying One.
If you decide to see cities... Keep in mind that these are still young and small cities, far from perfection. They may not even know some of the wisdom that I shared with you, not yet. For example, these cities may not yet know about the crop rotation and black soil, and lie around great fertile rivers instead. No reason to share such secrets with them! No reason for them to be stronger even sooner. These cities are still like children. Keep this in your mind.
Despite this, I know that at least one of these cities may be ruled by demi-god who can defeat 1000 warriors, alone. Be vary. Such a creature probably could capture you. Not all cities are ruled by the mortal kings. So it's probably safer to pretend that you are traders of some sort. At least this time, until you could know much more.
Cities are like children now, but will grow into adults. They shall discover all of my wisdom, and more, with time. If not rapidly and though magic, then slowly, with entirely mundane repeatedly-testing-and-seeing-what-works-and-what-not.
About recent matters and questions...
Clover is used for feeding animals, indeed.
Bees like to be around many flowers and in fact help flowers, remember.
It's much better to compost waste during summer, not winter. In this one case, some of the germs are your friend, and waste must rot properly. Germs like warm places, though not too warm. Like most living things, I suppose.
Use 1/20 or even 1/30 of charcoal if there is not enough. Charcoal remains in the soil for a long time. On the other hand, new compost must be added much more often.
About alcohol, yes. But why not have your singers as the only producers of stronger alcohol? Give away strong alcohol only for gold and other wealth and see wealth returning to you without any tribute, with people happy! Keep in mind that strong alcohol can be very unhealthy when consumed often. Especially pregnant women and children shouldn't drink that thing at all. Sadly what is bad for germs is often also bad for the human liver and body: strong alcohol should be used as a drink only by adults in moderation, and soap is only for washing and shouldn't be eaten at all. Sadly both humans and germs are living creatures.
By the way, it's good to wash clothes with soap and water from time to time. At least these clothes that touch body directly, not other clothes. As always, people should be reasonable and remember whether there is enough soap for that, because handwashing is obviously more important, and handwashing before touching wounds doubly so.
"Squeezing out the oils of wild seeds", you said... There is no farming of hemp? I mean, you cannot eat that, but it's a pretty useful plant for production of many things, clothes, oils, and medicines... Well, maybe farm some hemp if there will be more than enough food and food crops.
"But if people are not passing by, there is no need for warriors to be present"? No, there is a strong need for a few permanent warriors of the Army in the fortress! You cannot allow enemies to occupy fortresses without a fight, fortresses designed to be hard to attack after all! And you cannot at all times know when all traders and other people will travel. Besides, if there is an attack, fortress would force some of enemies to divide their forces or stop until strong door and wall is destroyed, or one of your warriors could escape to warn villages and rest of the Army about danger. You can also use signal fires for that: if there is a danger, light a small fire on the watchtower during night, or raise an additional bloody red flag during day. People should see that from some distance.
You are stronger than warriors, but you cannot be in 5 different places at the same time. And now you want to leave for a few months or maybe even years! It's thus obvious that your Armed Forces are needed.
"And even the chosen tire of bloodshed in time", true, but guarding watchtowers, fortresses, training for war and fighting against theft of cattle is not that tiring as true war. Army would be used to support your tribes during true wars, of course, but when there is a true war to support.
After some warriors of the Army, or rather let's call them "soldiers" as serving the Armed Forces would be their main work, would grow too old or ill, they should receive even more gifts, and be allowed normal life. Supply them also with food until they die from their disease or age, to show that they once served well. Allow this after 20 or 30 years of service.
In all fortresses there should be warleader called for example "officer". A few fortresses should be controlled by the "first officer" when you are not around, to be sure that fortresses guard land properly. Officers and First Officers should also have Lieutenants, people who could lead for a short while in the case of sudden death of their Officer. Even bigger groups of the Armed Forces should be lead by "Legate" when you are not around. Feel free to change these names.
Motivation with some greed is very, very useful. There would be more discord and theft, but this is well worth that downside. There is no need to use only greed of course, honor and oaths remain useful in their own ways.
Your Singers should observe whether the Armed Forces do what they should. There is, in fact, a special kind of singer called the Inquisitor. Your Inquisitor, or a few Inquisitors, could either travel and pretend to be normal singers, or travel with a few soldiers under his control. Their main duty is not to sing, though people may sometimes believe so, but to investigate any disappearances of other true singers when you are not around.
Keep in mind, you need to improve farming to produce enough food for full-time soldiers.
You said: "But any who love riches more than they love themselves would have trouble living among the people of the Nine Nations or any of the tribes around here." I can answer this: Army could impose much more order and punish theft and people speaking against you and against wealthier people that are useful to you, not at first of course, but when Army would slowly grow to be big enough. When finally strong enough of course. You cannot be everywhere, your Armed Forces could be. And Inquisitors.
Roads need to be repaired, yes. I mean... A road from good concrete could last for 1000 years in decent shape, but I doubt that you could produce anywhere enough amounts of the good concrete. Some stones would need to suffice, mostly. Your first roads would be pretty bad and would need to be repaired often, I'm afraid, but like it's the case with many crafts road building can be improved in time greatly, with testing and practice. Wider roads with well-pressed dirt underneath are much more durable than smaller ones.
Some of your people are afraid of change, but if you change something for the better, for example, if you allow people to produce much more food with our improvements or make their children more healthy, then make them remember that things were worse and YOU caused everything to be better.
Also, reward your own people, with gifts of wealth, honor and songs about them, if they invent new useful things or improve on these.
Your flag would remind also your soldiers, warriors, and people about loving you when you are not around, because people forget about things much slower when there are symbols to remind them. People that love you would be also very proud and happy while looking at your flag. Maybe you could, as I said before paint a simple red eye on each black or grey flag (as red is well visible on the black). Then make people falsely believe that you can sometimes see through these eyes with your divine magic. Truth is not needed here.
Could your singers count and write for our use how many villages you have and how many people, roughly, live in your lands?
"How is the tower of the chimney built over the oven of the fireplace without falling down into it"? Bricks of the chimney should join into one structure with bricks of the fireplace below, and can indeed be made stronger by some concrete between bricks. Chimney hole/channel/tunnel where smoke enters should open directly into fireplace below, not into the room.
You said: "There is a black metal that tarnishes red and does not melt in wood fire. It must be worked with hammers while hot. But it is not common. It is very rare and the people have not seen it in their memory, but I have some in my hoard. I believe it has only come to the people by trade and is precious to outsiders, too." This is iron, allright! But this is very rare iron that for complicated reasons never existed as iron ore, but always was finished iron. Iron ore is much more common. To transform iron ore into iron you would need furnance with much fresh air and fueled by charcoal, not wood. I believe that art of making iron from iron ore is not yet known by anybody. Besides us, I mean, because some of us know. My fellow Voices, could one of you explain how iron ore looks? I'm not sure how to explain that.
There should be bog iron ore in the swamps, wetlands, bogs... When a layer of peat in the bog is cut and pulled back, pea sized nodules of bog iron ore can be found and harvested...
Blood circulation helps also to keep the heat of the human body at proper levels. And the whole body uses things from food to create said heat. Blood finally "circulates", moves back to the veins. The smallest arteries end in a network of tiny vessels known as the capillary network that ends in the veins. Blood is then no longer full of oxygen that was used by the body. Then blood is again oxygenated in the different capillary network of the lungs, carbon dioxide is removed in the lungs, oxygenated blood is moved to arteries from lungs and the whole cycle repeats and repeats... Blood with oxygen, then without, then again full of oxygen, and again without oxygen; repeat and repeat and this ends only in death at least for the non-magical mortals. Whole body makes new blood, but for complicated reasons bone marrow (the soft fatty thing inside bones) is the most important for that.
As you now know about atoms, you should understand some of our future words better.
I know about a Voice that loves slavery and may try to persuade you to support widespread slavery. The problem is, free workers motivated with some moderate greed or honor work much harder and better than slaves.
Another problem with slavery, at least hereditary slavery, and with raising one tribe over others, is also as such... Even among slaves, there would be always some wise people that could be much better as traders, or warriors, or singers; instead of working as slaves or like slaves... Maybe this could work but only with some way for a truly exceptional children of slaves or "inferior" tribesmen to be raised into free ruling society. After all, the most brilliant and talented children should know a proper language and customs even when born to slaves, not only weird customs of their parents. Without any way to raise standing of such people, such a system can waste a great deal of human wisdom...
And some Voices are too bloodthirsty. After endless boredom hearing about people dying is fun, I get that, but it's not always the best advice.
And maybe instead of teaching children many languages, I know about Voice that wants to suggest such, could you try to create a new simplified language for basic writing and communication between traders and in the Armed Forces?
And... What? No, no my fellow Voices, to judge all writing as worthy or not is an utter waste of time. Even traders would need to write numbers of their goods, sooner or later, to improve trade properly.
I must say that we, Voices, do not always agree, especially not about all details.
What else, we are somewhat limited and I cannot speak for the whole day... I know... A small food and health advice maybe...
Germs like to eat and reproduce in higher temperatures - though not too high ones, like most living things. You can slow rotting, not completely but significantly, by keeping food cold. Create an underground room, preferably deep one. Store vast amount of ice during winter. If there is enough ice, there should be some ice and cold even during the next summer, and said room should remain much colder than outside. People could store meats, fish, fruits, milk and various other foods and drinks in the icehouse. People could even enjoy some cold beer during summer. Still, remember that after a while meat would rot even in the icehouse. Much slower than in the summer heat, though. Usual preservation methods are still important and can help even more.
I think that I may also know a way to keep food for travels, without honey... It's called pemmican. Dry lean meat, crush said dry meat to dust, and mix one-to-one with tallow. This would probably taste awfully bad, but well, it's better than starvation during travels. Pemmican can generally last from one to five years, depends on quality or whether anything else was added. You can add dried fruits, but then your pemmican would probably last for one year, not more. Less danger of scurvy, though.
One of diseases not caused by germs: scurvy. Symptoms include weakness, feeling tired, changes to hair, sore arms and legs, gum disease, easy bleeding. It's caused by a lack of fruit in diet, for example, if fisherman or sailor decides to eat mostly fish for a month, or during winter. Fruits are the proper cure, improvement often begins in a few days with complete recovery in a few weeks.
Lead. If you know about weighty metal known as lead, then I must inform you that lead is mild poison, that rarely kills, but often cause children to be stupider, and this effect persists for a whole human life. Lead shouldn't be used for pots, water pipes, or anything that touches food or water. Thankfully lead is boring and dull in appearance anyway.
Oh, and I could forget. You can use clay tablets for writing. Use clay again if you want to only teach writing, but if said writing is important fire clay tablet like pottery to harden this thing for many years.
Wikipedia, Simple Wikipedia, often heavily modified
I think that I can be persuaded to vote for road building if we want Bianca to remain in her land. Certainly not for the bees, though. Roads, very basic fortifications, and such are solid infrastructural work and foundation for any future towns. I improved agriculture already, bees are not THAT urgent.
There are solid settled villages, no, we are slightly savage, but we are not nomads. People who believe that much more is needed for basic infrastructure overstate difficulties.
[X] [Sabbatical] Bees?
[X] [Staffing] Get some people, but not too many
[X] [Steward] Appoint the singer best suited to the job
I greet you, oh Undying Bianca. If you wish, you may call me Demon. I shall speak to you now of matters that interest me.
I believe there may have been a fatal miscommunication here oh Undying Bianca. It is possible to recognize a queen bee compared to regular bees, as she is larger and with a bigger abdomen, but queen bees would struggle to build a new colony on their own.
When a beehive is healthy and populous enough, they shall split off a swarm of thousands of bees with a new or old queen, which will leave the hive and travel to a new hive. This is swarming, and is how beehives usually reproduce. Swarming usually occurs during spring, but this is not a hard rule. Your primary goal should be to intercept these swarms during their travels and place them within prepared nests (swarms should usually be relatively docile compared to beehives, and look like a large clump of bees when resting, usually on tree branches), or lure them into desirable nesting cavities by optimizing the desirability for the initial scout bees.
Scouts will probably not go further than a day's travel on foot for a human from their original hive in search for nests.
There are several factors bees look for in their new hives, which you can try to optimize for to ensure bees settle within your hives. A good nest site has to be large enough to accommodate the swarm, ideally an area roughly analogous to 15 to 35 human skulls, and well protected from the elements. It is suggested that you build a roofed outbuilding over your hives to protect from rain, or otherwise protect them from inclement weather. The hive should have a small entrance, not larger than a human hand, located near the bottom, receive a decent amount of sunlight, and not be near any ants. If you can put old honeycombs into your built hives, this will help the bees to establish themselves and increase desirability.
After hives have been successfully established, it will take at least half a year before honey and wax can be harvested from them, possibly longer if conditions are not good. After that, how often you can harvest would once again depend on how well the hives do, but shouldn't be more than three times a year, and care should be taken to leave the bees a reserve of honey for the winter.
I would advise you, oh Undying Bianca, to place the beehives onto long poles coming at least to a man's waist, to prevent skunks, badgers and rodents from stealing honey and bees from them, and that care be taken to defend the hives against hungry bears.
If there is a need to move beehives for some reason, it must be done gently and during the night; the hives should be wrapped in skins; they should be set in place before dawn. When it is done in this way the combs will not be damaged and the creatures will not be injured.
If this has not been done before oh Undying Bianca, I would suggest that the smallest of the cats, those smaller than even dogs, be invited into your peoples homes and granaries, to feast upon the rodent menace. Care must be taken in their taming, as they may turn their eyes upon the hatchlings of your fowl, and it is often said that cats do not get along well with dogs for whatever reason.
Mastering writing to the degree that it provides significant aid to ones thinking will probably require at least a year, probably longer.
However, using such valuable resources and time to learn writing sounds like a criminal waste. Instead you should inscribe with styluses on loose sand or wet clay or mud.
Arsenic and bronze made from arsenic is poisonous. Arsenic can be likely most easily found in realgar and orpiment. If there are any hotsprings or geysers in your area, places where warm, sometimes even boiling, water wells or gushes up from the earth, there may be realgar, orpiment and related minerals near them.
Realgar is a ruby-like material, sometimes called "ruby of arsenic", that can be found as soft, red or and sometimes orange-red, crystals or powder.
Orpiment is a deep-colored, orange to yellow mineral, like realgar it has a a striking colour, and both may be known to you as a pigment or paint.
You are most likely to find tin in the form of cassiterite, along rivers or old riverbeds as alluvial or placer deposits, usually at bends of rivers and creeks; in natural hollows; at the break of slope on a stream; the base of an escarpment, waterfall or other barrier. Ideally where there is granite nearby.
These deposits can be easily seen in river banks, because cassiterite is usually black or purple or otherwise dark.
Greetings, Undying One! If you wish a name to call me by, then you may call me the Chronicler.
I will start with saying, that I said dedication to the art of warfare, not to warfare itself. So, what I meant was that warriors ought to spend their life to preparing themselves to war, not to simply fight war.
When you talk about having warriors who only wrestle and playfight, you do seem like you have understood what I meant, though I think there is more to a warrior's life and training than wrestling and playfighting. Also, as you have said yourself, hard labor does also train a warrior's body in its own fashion.
The bow is a good example on a weapon where regular training is required to truly master it, though one might not have to dedicate the whole of their life to do this, but if a warrior wish to master multiple weapons, then he might have to do so.
When it comes to a warrior becoming one with his weapon, then I will say that I have never been a warrior myself, but when it has been described to me, then it is that a warrior has gotten so much practices and skill with a weapon, that he can use it instinctively, like one might know how to use ones legs to walk.
When I talked about groups of warriors acting as one, I meant it like how a body may be doing many things at once, but they are all coordinated with each other to achieve the overall goal. An example might be a warrior that have a shield in one hand and an axe in the other. He might use his shield hand to block his enemy's attack, while his axe hand is already counterattacking. His legs are maintaining the proper stance, while his eyes are on his enemy, watching his every move. This is what I meant, when talking about acting as one, that the Nine Nation's warriors may have coordinated their actions to maximize their chance of victory.
When you talked about warriors doing the same act at the same time, then I would to a certain extent recommended the loosening of arrows as one, which might be called for volley fire. The point of volley fire would be to make up for inaccuracy amongst your archers, since it is hard for someone to avoid a rain of arrows.
If you are asking about the benefit in acting as one, as in maintaining a combat formation, then one benefit is that they make it harder for someone to flak a warrior, since he would be standing side by side with his fellow warriors.
Other voices have described how to harness a horse, but I will say that a decent use of these youths on horses, if they learn how to ride horses, is that they would serve as good scouts and messengers, because of the quickness of their horses.
I do not know much about shield making, but you might try using bronze to strengthening shields, perhaps like adding some bronze on the top of the shield to protect the shield weapons hitting it from that direction.
This talk about the weight of shields does also explain, why I see the training of warrior's bodies and increasing their strength and endurance as important, because they will need it, if they wish to fight with heavy equipment.
I want to correct myself, when I claimed that there were roughly four categories of warriors, since I failed to talk about the different weapons these groups might use, but you do seem to be aware of this, like the difference between using spears or axes.
[X] [Sabbatical] Construct more pylons roads, build more roads
[X] [Staffing] Get some people, but not too many
[X] [Steward] Appoint the singer best suited to the job
[X] [Cacophony] Mortenkam
As always, do tell me if there is something there could be improved.
first bees then alcohol to numb the pain (from bees) then surgery with sterilized tools then either cities or roads depending on whether you believe all roads lead to Rome or Rome leads to all roads
[X] [Staffing] Get some people, but not too many
aditional perspectives may prove useful and many hands make light work
[X] [Steward] Appoint the singer best suited to the job
want to try making singers into bureaucrat/priests
Greetings Undying, currently you may refer to me as weight of what is owed, though I may decide upon a more appropriate name at a later date. For now I wish to comment upon the nature of both the written word and cities. While my fellow voices have portrayed both as inevitable monoliths of civilization there is an exception for every rule and just because something is inevitable doesn't mean it is currently appropriate. Many cultures will and have kept written records but we also know of cases in which some facets of history have been the exclusive domain of oral tradition. By merely stating that earthly matters or those concerning the immutable past should be written down while those concerning sacred edicts or matters of the moldable present are to be spoken and kept alive by living tongues until such time as holy becomes mundane or present becomes past one can ensure that your peoples rich traditions are upheld and their undying ruler still holds sway over what is remembered. Now that I am thinking on it if this idea is utilized it may be appropriate to have some holy celebration or festival in which all things that people wish to have recorded are judged by yourself, or the wisest and most trusted nearby singer for those matters either too distant or trivial for your perusal.
Note these are merely examples of potential paths of logic you could use to separate written and spoken language within your culture
As for the matter of cities and the softness you believe they breed another solution from elsewhen presents itself. Make it mandatory that once a member of the tribes has reached adulthood they are to be trained in the art of war or the making of things which are used for war for two or some other fixed number of years at which point the warrior shall make the decision to devote himself to war or the making of wars tools for the rest of his years or to some other craft. In this way one can insure that all your people are able to fight while those most capable of truly waging war act as loyal sheepdogs… you do have dogs trained in the guarding of sheep flocks from predators right?
I believe you also had questions regarding how to make a written language when some of your people are physically incapable of speaking their fellow tribes' language. Allow me to explain…when a child is born of any people do they have some innate affinity for their native tongue while all foreign tongues require great effort? The answer is no, in fact children possess the ability to understand all languages…at least as a child does. Of course much like a muscle that goes too long without being used may atrophy or grow rigid an ear that does not need to recognize sounds it is not exposed to will find it difficult to distinguish these sounds in the future. For this reason I would suggest encouraging all families born of the union of two tribes to utilize both languages within their household for this too is a way that the mind can be strengthened.
While on the subject of children I find it important to state that a child's mind is like wet clay in that it is easily molded or added to when new information presents itself and like clay as it ages it becomes more and more difficult to mold until it becomes more likely to break rather than be reshaped. For this reason elders and other learned should take time to teach any child who wishes to learn so that your people grow stronger in mind and body both. Later this can be formalized into some profession or another dedicated solely to the teaching of those who are not yet adults but for now I believe this will suffice.
One last point I would like to make is that while others have made the case for greed as a motivator I feel that honor will suffice as long as the definition of honor is expanded upon. It is already known that warriors, singers, and elders are to be respected but a case can and must be made that the saving of a life or the act of training ones disciples is honorable, for thus you insure that another's legend can continue or be enriched much as the Pact between your nine tribes ensures your collective bounty.
Tangent: you should feel free to change the names of any term we give you to suit your own needs and the needs of your people, for example if the term germ does not make sense in your context then use something like Least One, for these are the least of things that can said to be alive, or some other term
Tangent: While you have told us of the Forest People and the blessings they received from their creator god you have yet to state what blessing and divine heritage your people possess. Perhaps the reason some tribes cannot speak the others language because the nine tribes contain the creations of multiple gods
originally came on here to ramble about domestication instead decided to try my hand at crafting culture. took a smattering of ideas from Plato who believed writing ideas down killed them, the Hebrew Torah and Haftorah which was once maintained exclusively by word of mouth (considering adding more references to the torah by suggesting parts of saced text be unrecorded and memorized or borrowing from exalted of all things by having sacred edicts be in ink dyed in a color associated with our rule), along with modern Jerusalem's practice of mandatory temporary enlistment of all able bodied adults, and modern understanding of childhood neuroplasticity along with the beginnings of a school system which the tribes currently aren't ready for(I recall the QM getting stressed from un-cited references we voices made so tell me if this helps LoserThree). also if we are going to be dissecting corpses to figure out how they tick determining what if any internal differences their are between the tribes and Forest People internally is probably a good idea but this post has gone on long enough (sorry for not casting a vote need discussion first and wanted to get this out of the way)
The other voice speaking about drafting every child to be soldiers is speaking nonsense! Or rather, the raising of all children to be warriors would strain your agricultural output.
Really, only by raising agricultural output would it be possible to spend enormous amount of resources educating every child to be a soldier, should you will it or need it. All the other voices speaking of building professional soldiery are also speaking nonsense for the same reason!
Yes, in time, professional armies will be needed and that you will need to learn how to keep their loyalty, how to select them, and so forth, but not now, perhaps many generations into the future.
But whose enemies do you face have full time warriors dedicated to only learning how to kill their enemies and be ready to fight at all time? I see none nearby.
[X] [Sabbatical] Construct more pylons roads, build more roads
[X] [Staffing] Get some people, but not too many
If the horses are not big or strong enough to carry an adult rider, then it is pointless to try to learn how to ride a horse. Rather, you must breed bigger horses, which will take generations until they are strong enough to carry a warrior. To work on technologies for riding a horse is premature!
[X] [Sabbatical] Construct more pylons roads, build more roads
Hello my name is DevilGirl!
To have a simple bridge build a big wall on the one side of the small river then another wall on the other side of the river higher walls than river cause there will be flooding sometimes. Then wooden logs should join one wall to another over that river or stream and then join roads maybe with ramp from stones dirt or something to these walls on the both sides Bridge should be wide for carts and horses
Support pillars for weight of these logs in the middle of river could be nice but its hard to build stuff in water not sure how do that
There are a number of devices that make the riding of horses safer and easier. There is the saddle, which is a seat made out of wood and leather, shaped to fit over the back of the horse where a rider is to sit, allowing the rider to sit more securely on their mount. There are stirrups, which are rings hanging from straps from that the rider places their feet through, to make it easier to get on and off a horse, and make them harder to dislodge. Both of these are attached to the body of the horse by a girth, which loops under the belly of the horse and is used to securely fasten the saddle and stirrups.
Though it takes some degree of skill, stirrups also allow a rider to control the movement of a horse with their feet alone, freeing both their hands for the use of a bow. As your horses are still too slight to carry much in the way of weight, the best use of them for now would be to have them carry riders armed with bows or throwing spears.
I sheep, congratulate you on your good fortune I undying one.
In regards to the remarks of my fellow voices:
The whole of the people can be dedicated to honourable persuets of war, song and art, and the farms output need not suffer.
Indeed the purpose of slaves is to perform tasks so that others are relived from performing them.
So long as you have enough slaves, you need not worry about constraints in how the nine may change and develop.
Indeed there existed a people in a distant realm whose entire population took the callings of priests and warriors.
They made Slaves and tributaries of every man and woman not of their tribe, food and drink came to them without end.
They congregated upon a great temple city built upon a lake, a massive monolith to their glory.
They sacrificed entire tribes upon the altars of bloodthirsty gods, so much so that rivers of blood would flow down from the temple tops.
They celebrated with song and dance and made wondrous crafts, they were famed for their honour and power, and never suffered a lack of food.
The point is o great undying one, is that there are many means of achieving one's ends, each with certain benefits and detremits but all valid.
This the means sole constraint should be your desire, for thoust art the pretender god of the nine.
[] [Sabbatical] Go see what this 'city' nonsense is all about
Leaving the peoples unsupervised at this juncture is not advisable. Suggest waiting until after a great victory, or otherwise time when the people greatly favor you. [X] [Sabbatical] Bees?
Food, Trade, Healing, and they can also help crops grow. This will provide the most immediate and obvious improvement to the lives of the people.
[] [Sabbatical] Construct more pylons roads, build more roads
The people are not yet developed enough for this to be worth the cost. Roads that are worth the name require a continuing effort to upkeep. Definitely something to consider for the future, but not now, when tribes still roam the lands. Wait for them to become more settled.
[] [Sabbatical] Prep for surgery, stat!
The current value of this is dubious. You are not yet equipped with the tools to make use of this knowledge, it may cause counterproductive fear amongst the peoples, and there yet remain many lower hanging fruit besides.
[] [Sabbatical] It's five o'clock somewhere; make liquor
Certainly many uses, a definite second priority. We would prefer your people to become more acquainted with the throwing of pottery and working of metal first.
[] [Sabbatical] Write in
[X] [Staffing] Minimum (solo, in most cases)
If you fully develop the secrets yourself, then more concessions may be extracted from those with whom you later choose to share.
For the keeping of bees in particular, you have the advantage that helpers would not be necessary, unlike the workings of iron which may require and entire tribe to work together in constructing smelters of the required size.
[X] [Steward] Council of three eldars from each tribe
Should a matter come to you, that means that the tribal chiefs and first chief have already failed, and promoting one among the singers could lead to distrust. Ostensibly, your authority among the tribes derives from the accumulated wisdom from you many summers. Thus a council of the wisest mortals is likely the only way to approach your greatosity.
It was not so great a victory. We won, yes. But consider how the tribes will view Biancas role in this victory. She has earned much fear and little love. The search for cities can wait. You must have a town before a city, and a village before a town. We could just like stop talking about cities? They are important in the long term sure, but we should really be focusing on strengthening the tribes first. Forming a city is not a goal to seek, it is an inevitable consequence, and challenge, of our real goals.
Roads are a thing that will require political capital, and will not see much return on investment due to the small size of our economy / trade. Bees could be use to gain political capital to enact more important reforms.
Yeah. I expect Bianca will have enough of an opinion to break the tie once she's heard what y'all've said about the choices. We'll see once I'm done writing responses.
Draft about proper bridges, Archimedes Screw for irrigation, and wind power for turning said screw - would be very helpful next turn I think. I want to explain candles (there may be beeswax after all), I'm not too good in regards to more complicated machines.
I think there are some disconnections between the choices voters are making and the intentions those voters have. That might be unavoidable and inherent to the nature of voting. But I do encourage readers to choose what they want for the sake of the thing they're choosing, when at all possible.
In the case of this vote, I could have written Bianca to make it more clear that she intended to totally devote herself to the project and that no matter which choice or how easily the people of the Nine Nations could get to her, her intention would at all times be to send them to speak with whomever she appointed based on the third choice. I guess y'all could have gotten around that by picking one of the close-to-home options AND writing in on the Steward vote that there shouldn't be any steward at all.
And there will still be some surprises. If, for example, in the Sabbatical vote y'all'd chosen the city option because you wanted Bianca to work toward making cities of the Nine Nations, BUT you had also chosen the max option for Staffing they you would not have gotten what you wanted. Instead, Bianca and the many, many warriors she took with her would have conquered a city before returning, perhaps after sacking one or two. And consequently Bianca herself would not have returned to the villages of the Nine Nations at all. She'd have been ruling from her new city instead. The Nine Nations would have remained mix of pastoral and agrarian villages until external urban communities -- likely under Bianca's control -- swallowed them up, or until the Great Haunted Forest claimed all their land.
But outside of rare and meant-to-be-surprising combinations like that, I'll work on making it more clear what you're voting for. And when you were voting for Sabbatical last time, you were voting for what knowledge would get developed, not how available Bianca would be to the people of the Nine Nations.
"So the voices are divided. That is, you voices area always ever divided, but on the matter of my work of the next few years no part is greater than another. Well, then. I think you voices are telling me enough of the keeping of bees that I will be able to tell some shepherds to go out and do this and that and they will be nearly as good as my own, personal attention. So I suppose I will see to the laying of roads. I will draw some number, not to great but not any few, from the villages around me as the road is laid. And I will instruct the people to direct questions to Plokban the… hmm. 'First Singer' sounds fine. Yes."
[X] [Sabbatical] Construct more pylons roads, build more roads
[X] [Staffing] Get some people, but not too many
[X] [Steward] Appoint the singer best suited to the job
[X] [Cacophony] liberty90
This is Black Cat, welcome again, Great Undying One.
If you decide to see cities... Keep in mind that these are still young and small cities, far from perfection. They may not even know some of the wisdom that I shared with you, not yet. For example, these cities may not yet know about the crop rotation and black soil, and lie around great fertile rivers instead. No reason to share such secrets with them! No reason for them to be stronger even sooner. These cities are still like children. Keep this in your mind.
Despite this, I know that at least one of these cities may be ruled by demi-god who can defeat 1000 warriors, alone. Be vary. Such a creature probably could capture you. Not all cities are ruled by the mortal kings. So it's probably safer to pretend that you are traders of some sort. At least this time, until you could know much more.
Cities are like children now, but will grow into adults. They shall discover all of my wisdom, and more, with time. If not rapidly and though magic, then slowly, with entirely mundane repeatedly-testing-and-seeing-what-works-and-what-not.
About recent matters and questions...
Clover is used for feeding animals, indeed.
Bees like to be around many flowers and in fact help flowers, remember.
It's much better to compost waste during summer, not winter. In this one case, some of the germs are your friend, and waste must rot properly. Germs like warm places, though not too warm. Like most living things, I suppose.
Use 1/20 or even 1/30 of charcoal if there is not enough. Charcoal remains in the soil for a long time. On the other hand, new compost must be added much more often.
About alcohol, yes. But why not have your singers as the only producers of stronger alcohol? Give away strong alcohol only for gold and other wealth and see wealth returning to you without any tribute, with people happy! Keep in mind that strong alcohol can be very unhealthy when consumed often. Especially pregnant women and children shouldn't drink that thing at all. Sadly what is bad for germs is often also bad for the human liver and body: strong alcohol should be used as a drink only by adults in moderation, and soap is only for washing and shouldn't be eaten at all. Sadly both humans and germs are living creatures.
By the way, it's good to wash clothes with soap and water from time to time. At least these clothes that touch body directly, not other clothes. As always, people should be reasonable and remember whether there is enough soap for that, because handwashing is obviously more important, and handwashing before touching wounds doubly so.
"Squeezing out the oils of wild seeds", you said... There is no farming of hemp? I mean, you cannot eat that, but it's a pretty useful plant for production of many things, clothes, oils, and medicines... Well, maybe farm some hemp if there will be more than enough food and food crops.
"But if people are not passing by, there is no need for warriors to be present"? No, there is a strong need for a few permanent warriors of the Army in the fortress! You cannot allow enemies to occupy fortresses without a fight, fortresses designed to be hard to attack after all! And you cannot at all times know when all traders and other people will travel. Besides, if there is an attack, fortress would force some of enemies to divide their forces or stop until strong door and wall is destroyed, or one of your warriors could escape to warn villages and rest of the Army about danger. You can also use signal fires for that: if there is a danger, light a small fire on the watchtower during night, or raise an additional bloody red flag during day. People should see that from some distance.
You are stronger than warriors, but you cannot be in 5 different places at the same time. And now you want to leave for a few months or maybe even years! It's thus obvious that your Armed Forces are needed.
"And even the chosen tire of bloodshed in time", true, but guarding watchtowers, fortresses, training for war and fighting against theft of cattle is not that tiring as true war. Army would be used to support your tribes during true wars, of course, but when there is a true war to support.
After some warriors of the Army, or rather let's call them "soldiers" as serving the Armed Forces would be their main work, would grow too old or ill, they should receive even more gifts, and be allowed normal life. Supply them also with food until they die from their disease or age, to show that they once served well. Allow this after 20 or 30 years of service.
In all fortresses there should be warleader called for example "officer". A few fortresses should be controlled by the "first officer" when you are not around, to be sure that fortresses guard land properly. Officers and First Officers should also have Lieutenants, people who could lead for a short while in the case of sudden death of their Officer. Even bigger groups of the Armed Forces should be lead by "Legate" when you are not around. Feel free to change these names.
Motivation with some greed is very, very useful. There would be more discord and theft, but this is well worth that downside. There is no need to use only greed of course, honor and oaths remain useful in their own ways.
Your Singers should observe whether the Armed Forces do what they should. There is, in fact, a special kind of singer called the Inquisitor. Your Inquisitor, or a few Inquisitors, could either travel and pretend to be normal singers, or travel with a few soldiers under his control. Their main duty is not to sing, though people may sometimes believe so, but to investigate any disappearances of other true singers when you are not around.
Keep in mind, you need to improve farming to produce enough food for full-time soldiers.
You said: "But any who love riches more than they love themselves would have trouble living among the people of the Nine Nations or any of the tribes around here." I can answer this: Army could impose much more order and punish theft and people speaking against you and against wealthier people that are useful to you, not at first of course, but when Army would slowly grow to be big enough. When finally strong enough of course. You cannot be everywhere, your Armed Forces could be. And Inquisitors.
Roads need to be repaired, yes. I mean... A road from good concrete could last for 1000 years in decent shape, but I doubt that you could produce anywhere enough amounts of the good concrete. Some stones would need to suffice, mostly. Your first roads would be pretty bad and would need to be repaired often, I'm afraid, but like it's the case with many crafts road building can be improved in time greatly, with testing and practice. Wider roads with well-pressed dirt underneath are much more durable than smaller ones.
Some of your people are afraid of change, but if you change something for the better, for example, if you allow people to produce much more food with our improvements or make their children more healthy, then make them remember that things were worse and YOU caused everything to be better.
Also, reward your own people, with gifts of wealth, honor and songs about them, if they invent new useful things or improve on these.
Your flag would remind also your soldiers, warriors, and people about loving you when you are not around, because people forget about things much slower when there are symbols to remind them. People that love you would be also very proud and happy while looking at your flag. Maybe you could, as I said before paint a simple red eye on each black or grey flag (as red is well visible on the black). Then make people falsely believe that you can sometimes see through these eyes with your divine magic. Truth is not needed here.
Could your singers count and write for our use how many villages you have and how many people, roughly, live in your lands?
"How is the tower of the chimney built over the oven of the fireplace without falling down into it"? Bricks of the chimney should join into one structure with bricks of the fireplace below, and can indeed be made stronger by some concrete between bricks. Chimney hole/channel/tunnel where smoke enters should open directly into fireplace below, not into the room.
You said: "There is a black metal that tarnishes red and does not melt in wood fire. It must be worked with hammers while hot. But it is not common. It is very rare and the people have not seen it in their memory, but I have some in my hoard. I believe it has only come to the people by trade and is precious to outsiders, too." This is iron, allright! But this is very rare iron that for complicated reasons never existed as iron ore, but always was finished iron. Iron ore is much more common. To transform iron ore into iron you would need furnance with much fresh air and fueled by charcoal, not wood. I believe that art of making iron from iron ore is not yet known by anybody. Besides us, I mean, because some of us know. My fellow Voices, could one of you explain how iron ore looks? I'm not sure how to explain that.
There should be bog iron ore in the swamps, wetlands, bogs... When a layer of peat in the bog is cut and pulled back, pea sized nodules of bog iron ore can be found and harvested...
Blood circulation helps also to keep the heat of the human body at proper levels. And the whole body uses things from food to create said heat. Blood finally "circulates", moves back to the veins. The smallest arteries end in a network of tiny vessels known as the capillary network that ends in the veins. Blood is then no longer full of oxygen that was used by the body. Then blood is again oxygenated in the different capillary network of the lungs, carbon dioxide is removed in the lungs, oxygenated blood is moved to arteries from lungs and the whole cycle repeats and repeats... Blood with oxygen, then without, then again full of oxygen, and again without oxygen; repeat and repeat and this ends only in death at least for the non-magical mortals. Whole body makes new blood, but for complicated reasons bone marrow (the soft fatty thing inside bones) is the most important for that.
As you now know about atoms, you should understand some of our future words better.
I know about a Voice that loves slavery and may try to persuade you to support widespread slavery. The problem is, free workers motivated with some moderate greed or honor work much harder and better than slaves.
Another problem with slavery, at least hereditary slavery, and with raising one tribe over others, is also as such... Even among slaves, there would be always some wise people that could be much better as traders, or warriors, or singers; instead of working as slaves or like slaves... Maybe this could work but only with some way for a truly exceptional children of slaves or "inferior" tribesmen to be raised into free ruling society. After all, the most brilliant and talented children should know a proper language and customs even when born to slaves, not only weird customs of their parents. Without any way to raise standing of such people, such a system can waste a great deal of human wisdom...
And some Voices are too bloodthirsty. After endless boredom hearing about people dying is fun, I get that, but it's not always the best advice.
And maybe instead of teaching children many languages, I know about Voice that wants to suggest such, could you try to create a new simplified language for basic writing and communication between traders and in the Armed Forces?
And... What? No, no my fellow Voices, to judge all writing as worthy or not is an utter waste of time. Even traders would need to write numbers of their goods, sooner or later, to improve trade properly.
I must say that we, Voices, do not always agree, especially not about all details.
What else, we are somewhat limited and I cannot speak for the whole day... I know... A small food and health advice maybe...
Germs like to eat and reproduce in higher temperatures - though not too high ones, like most living things. You can slow rotting, not completely but significantly, by keeping food cold. Create an underground room, preferably deep one. Store vast amount of ice during winter. If there is enough ice, there should be some ice and cold even during the next summer, and said room should remain much colder than outside. People could store meats, fish, fruits, milk and various other foods and drinks in the icehouse. People could even enjoy some cold beer during summer. Still, remember that after a while meat would rot even in the icehouse. Much slower than in the summer heat, though. Usual preservation methods are still important and can help even more.
I think that I may also know a way to keep food for travels, without honey... It's called pemmican. Dry lean meat, crush said dry meat to dust, and mix one-to-one with tallow. This would probably taste awfully bad, but well, it's better than starvation during travels. Pemmican can generally last from one to five years, depends on quality or whether anything else was added. You can add dried fruits, but then your pemmican would probably last for one year, not more. Less danger of scurvy, though.
One of diseases not caused by germs: scurvy. Symptoms include weakness, feeling tired, changes to hair, sore arms and legs, gum disease, easy bleeding. It's caused by a lack of fruit in diet, for example, if fisherman or sailor decides to eat mostly fish for a month, or during winter. Fruits are the proper cure, improvement often begins in a few days with complete recovery in a few weeks.
Lead. If you know about weighty metal known as lead, then I must inform you that lead is mild poison, that rarely kills, but often cause children to be stupider, and this effect persists for a whole human life. Lead shouldn't be used for pots, water pipes, or anything that touches food or water. Thankfully lead is boring and dull in appearance anyway.
Oh, and I could forget. You can use clay tablets for writing. Use clay again if you want to only teach writing, but if said writing is important fire clay tablet like pottery to harden this thing for many years.
Wikipedia, Simple Wikipedia, often heavily modified
I think that I can be persuaded to vote for road building if we want Bianca to remain in her land. Certainly not for the bees, though. Roads, very basic fortifications, and such are solid infrastructural work and foundation for any future towns. I improved agriculture already, bees are not THAT urgent.
There are solid settled villages, no, we are slightly savage, but we are not nomads. People who believe that much more is needed for basic infrastructure overstate difficulties.
"Secrets well practiced and with notable effects on the prosperity of a people are difficult to keep. Already the neighboring tribes imitate my visits to the fields and winter pastures. In some cases the officiant even works magic similar to my own. Their efforts are insufficient, though. And they still must burn new fields out of woodlands every so many years. Still, they go through the motions.
"When they inevitably take up your crop rotation and black soil, I suppose we shall see if that is enough on its own and without my intervention. It is my observation that details falter in retelling when they cannot be put into practice. So the people further inland know little of the sea and what they think they know is not uncommonly mistaken. And the people in low places have similar misunderstandings about what goes on in the mountains. But as soon as everyone in between actually makes a practice of crop rotation and black soil, the cities too will know of these.
"Other voices, I think, have asked why I wish to be divine. The abilities of those only partially so are a fine demonstration. The progeny of divinities are beyond heroes, beyond sorcery in strength and might. They move like the wind that tears trees from the ground. They strike like landslides. They stand like longstones buried half-deep in the ground. I have never heard directly how gods fight. The tales of song are the creations of a singer, embellishments on what is known of this or that god's death or what have you. It must be, though, that the might of a god is even greater. And that is what I want.
"Those who raid often trade, too. No trader will ever be fully trusted. But few are turned away entirely.
"The piles of compost were added to and turned during winter because the people made waste and trash to add and because you said turning was important. In spring, the first piles will have rotted for a year and can be made into your black soil. The piles of the previous year will not be further added to. And the piles of the new year will begin.
"I can keep an object from the people by taking that object as tribute. I have taken some dangerous or cursed items of power from them in this way. But I cannot take knowledge from them, I can only wait for them to forget. And, again, what is useful and what is practiced spreads. And yes, of course the strong drink will be given away. That is where honor comes from, for my singers as for anyone else who makes it. Whether the people drink it or preserve it for the cleaning of wounds will be a matter of custom. And if drinking alcohol is dangerous, that will inform custom.
"Do I understand correctly, then, that soap is first to be used for washing of hands before touching wounds or midwifery, then if there is spare for washing after touching the dead, and if there is more to spare for hands before eating, then if there is still spare for washing of people up to four times a moon, and finally if there is yet still spare for washing clothing, but only that which lays against the body? If so, then fine. That is sensible enough and understandable.
"No, the people do not farm hemp. They do not farm every little plant they come across in the unplowed lands and the wilds. Tell me about the making of clothing, oil and medicine from hemp, Black Cat. And tell me how to know where one plant or another fits into the cycle, should the people come to me and say, 'We will put this seed in our fields because the plant is good to us. After which planting should we do so? And before with other planting?
"I do not need to know when people travel. Among all the people of the Nine Nations there are warriors. Some farmers, some who craft, especially many who herd cattle. There are warriors in every family and when people travel there are warriors among them. Everything you tell me that I need an 'army' to do, the warriors of the people already do or could do. I do not see what you find obvious about the need for 'armed forces.' The people already keep after themselves.
"Likewise, the old are already looked after by their families. How could it be otherwise? What people would cast their elderly out or tell them they must continue to craft or they will not be fed, clothed, and sheltered? Some of your words make no sense, Black Cat. And others tell me that obvious and everyday things are only possible with that nonsense, when it is clear to see that those things are possible and even necessary at all times.
"You must tell me why a thing must be. I do not see any shortcoming in the way of warriors as they are now that will be solved by taking them out of their families and tribes and making them swear to me. Or by numbering them. Or by making them to stand in small stone houses away from all the people. Or by giving them trifles that will only cause others to resent them and them to resent others.
"And if food is plentiful, why reserve that plenty for 'soldiers' who do nothing but wrestle, play at fighting, and stand in small houses of stone or in high places? Why not allow that plentitude to increase the numbers of all the people, among whom there are already warriors, as well as more crafters and farmers and the keepers of beasts so that the people are stronger in all ways?
"The people already punish theft. And it is a waste, in my eye. Every thief maimed or cast out or slain is one person fewer for sowing and harvest and every act that benefits all the people. But to allow theft without consequence is to sow discord. And the harvest thereof is even worse. So to limit theft, precious trifles are given way for honor and those that do not fade eventually make their way to me in tribute. Tools are made for those who need them. And weapons too, and finer weapons are accumulated according to glory. Greed is still among the people, and so there is some discord. But there is no thing which I need or which you have told me of that would make the increase of that discord worthwhile. Perhaps you would better explain what good things can come of greed and hoardings by mortals, Black Cat. For I do not see it.
"Packed dirt, some stones, width to stave off damage. Yes, that I can understand. And repair, of course. Nothing stands as long as the gods and I do. In time everything must be torn down and replaced. Even the standing stones show wear in time and to my eye. It may take a long, long time but even they will wear away.
"I know my singers can take a counting of the villages, for I have had them do so in the past. Always there is some confusion over which singer has counted which village, some counted twice, some not at all. And even with all I do to make the land and herds fruitful, still a village may wither away. Also, at times a marriage decides to start a new family away from any village, and a new village may form or not. The villages of each tribe have always numbered more than twenty and often there are as many as thirty villages in one tribe. A counting of people would be, I think, more difficult. Perhaps with the practice of writing numbers we can make a better job of that. It would be a great deal of work.
"I have built chimneys, now. The setting of stones against each other to make the roof and the mouth of the opening is not simple and I would like to know how better to make that. The effect is as you say: smoke is drawn up the passage and does billow out into the space in front of the fire. They still fall into themselves far too often. And I do not know, yet, how to tell if one will hold or fall. But those that hold are very well liked. So for now the people make an attempt to build a fireplace and chimney. And if it does not collapse, they make a house or a bakery or a smithy around it.
"Ah, so this is the other use of charred coals: they burn hotter than wood if given sufficient bellow work. Already I can have this tested with one of the black metal fetishes. We will melt this iron, pour it into a cast, and see what comes of it. Likewise, I will send my singers to check bogs for seeds of black metal.
"So the arteries divide like a river in a marsh, and divide so small that they cannot be seen, and then these divisions come back together in the way streams do inland, finally combining to great veins which put blood through the lungs, where that air which fire needs is drawn into the blood, which then exits in arteries again. I have seen, now, that hearts push blood around, blood moves because the heart moves it. And the heart does not stop when an artery is opened. So by knowing the places of arteries, any creature may be swiftly drained of much of their blood. Those who keep cattle and sheep have long known some form of this, I think. But it is a fine thing to understand the particulars.
"Slaves do, in fact, lack moving force. They work poorly but need just as much food as any one of the Nine Nations. In the distant past I attempted to persuade the people to simply kill any they come across in raids or any they take in battle, to kill them or send them away. But nearly every person, it seems, dreams of having another person whose role it is to do as they say. Some make near-slaves of their husbands or wives or children or even, less commonly, their parents. And this is not as wasteful as slavery as those so treated are still of the people and work harder than slaves. But it is discord, and the families of such people often direct them away from such things as well as they can. But when an outsider is taken, well, there are none to speak for them. They are outsiders. So one who is of the tribes may direct that outsider to do as they will by right of custom or force of arms. And so there are slaves, which is wasteful in a small way and so unfortunate in a small way.
"If I raise one tribe over the others, though, then the other tribes will not be their slaves except when taken as such, for they will be as outsiders. And once a slave has served their term, they are sent away. So it always is. For how could any work be gotten from them if the promise of freedom were absent?
"Some people thirst for blood, so it is not great surprise that some voices do.
"I sigh. What is the purpose of creating a new language? I do not wish to add to the confusion of tongues. Teaching writing and more importantly promoting its use is hard enough. And I still find no need for your 'armed forces,' as I hope is clear.
"If a deep pit has much ice in it, it seems that it will flood as the ice melts. Food does not keep well when it is wet. How can water be made to drain from a deep place? Perhaps I will have this tried, but I think it will mean some people buried by cave in, some by fallen, melting ice. How does the ceiling stay up?
"The smoking and drying of meats is known, as well the people know to pack food in tallow to preserve it. This combination is novel, though, and five years preservation of meat is very good. And I think we know of your scurvy, or some weakening sickness like it. It is turned away by certain leafy greens, grown in smaller plots near houses. Fruit are rare and some of the people will go years without eating fruit. How can one keep fruit while watching herds in summer pasture?
"Gold is weighty. Is there lead in it, or is gold made up of gold 'atoms?' Other than the black metal the people of the Nine Nations know only gold, silver, copper, and bronze. Tell me more about this poison, so that I can advise the people from it. And tell me how music may be made with water, as well. Can water pipes be made of wood, or do they need to be metal so to avoid rot?"
[X] [Sabbatical] Bees?
[X] [Staffing] Get some people, but not too many
[X] [Steward] Appoint the singer best suited to the job
I greet you, oh Undying Bianca. If you wish, you may call me Demon. I shall speak to you now of matters that interest me.
I believe there may have been a fatal miscommunication here oh Undying Bianca. It is possible to recognize a queen bee compared to regular bees, as she is larger and with a bigger abdomen, but queen bees would struggle to build a new colony on their own.
When a beehive is healthy and populous enough, they shall split off a swarm of thousands of bees with a new or old queen, which will leave the hive and travel to a new hive. This is swarming, and is how beehives usually reproduce. Swarming usually occurs during spring, but this is not a hard rule. Your primary goal should be to intercept these swarms during their travels and place them within prepared nests (swarms should usually be relatively docile compared to beehives, and look like a large clump of bees when resting, usually on tree branches), or lure them into desirable nesting cavities by optimizing the desirability for the initial scout bees.
Scouts will probably not go further than a day's travel on foot for a human from their original hive in search for nests.
There are several factors bees look for in their new hives, which you can try to optimize for to ensure bees settle within your hives. A good nest site has to be large enough to accommodate the swarm, ideally an area roughly analogous to 15 to 35 human skulls, and well protected from the elements. It is suggested that you build a roofed outbuilding over your hives to protect from rain, or otherwise protect them from inclement weather. The hive should have a small entrance, not larger than a human hand, located near the bottom, receive a decent amount of sunlight, and not be near any ants. If you can put old honeycombs into your built hives, this will help the bees to establish themselves and increase desirability.
After hives have been successfully established, it will take at least half a year before honey and wax can be harvested from them, possibly longer if conditions are not good. After that, how often you can harvest would once again depend on how well the hives do, but shouldn't be more than three times a year, and care should be taken to leave the bees a reserve of honey for the winter.
I would advise you, oh Undying Bianca, to place the beehives onto long poles coming at least to a man's waist, to prevent skunks, badgers and rodents from stealing honey and bees from them, and that care be taken to defend the hives against hungry bears.
If there is a need to move beehives for some reason, it must be done gently and during the night; the hives should be wrapped in skins; they should be set in place before dawn. When it is done in this way the combs will not be damaged and the creatures will not be injured.
If this has not been done before oh Undying Bianca, I would suggest that the smallest of the cats, those smaller than even dogs, be invited into your peoples homes and granaries, to feast upon the rodent menace. Care must be taken in their taming, as they may turn their eyes upon the hatchlings of your fowl, and it is often said that cats do not get along well with dogs for whatever reason.
Mastering writing to the degree that it provides significant aid to ones thinking will probably require at least a year, probably longer.
However, using such valuable resources and time to learn writing sounds like a criminal waste. Instead you should inscribe with styluses on loose sand or wet clay or mud.
Arsenic and bronze made from arsenic is poisonous. Arsenic can be likely most easily found in realgar and orpiment. If there are any hotsprings or geysers in your area, places where warm, sometimes even boiling, water wells or gushes up from the earth, there may be realgar, orpiment and related minerals near them.
Realgar is a ruby-like material, sometimes called "ruby of arsenic", that can be found as soft, red or and sometimes orange-red, crystals or powder.
Orpiment is a deep-colored, orange to yellow mineral, like realgar it has a a striking colour, and both may be known to you as a pigment or paint.
You are most likely to find tin in the form of cassiterite, along rivers or old riverbeds as alluvial or placer deposits, usually at bends of rivers and creeks; in natural hollows; at the break of slope on a stream; the base of an escarpment, waterfall or other barrier. Ideally where there is granite nearby.
These deposits can be easily seen in river banks, because cassiterite is usually black or purple or otherwise dark.
"I greet you as well, Demon. And I thank you for your beekeeping advice. So in spring the people will seek swarms of bees on tree branches. These they will smoke to sleep and gather up with special attention to always gather the queen whose belly is larger. These then are placed in a prepared hive of a certain volume, with old honeycomb when possible. Other, similarly prepared hives should be set out as well in spring to attract other swarms. The prepared hive should be proof against the rain and ants, and also vermin. To preserve the hive, some honey should be left each time honey is taken, especially just before winter. And if an occupied hive must be moved, it should be moved at night and gently.
"Bears will be a special problem, as they always are. If bears take to wrecking hives there will be nothing to do but call for the mightiest among the hunters to slay them. There is little dissuasion of bears.
"Small cats are known from the wilds. They eat vermin, as you say, and songbirds as well. Some hunters, trappers especially, speak ill of them as they kill and mangle animals whose fur is preferable to their own. They avoid fields and villages and any place where there are people, as most wild animals do most of the time. Tell me how they can be invited, if you would. I can have their kits brought in and, if they are young enough, hand reared by the people. Every so often some clever trapper makes some similar attempt to raise stoat or marten as people raise fowl, always to an excess of frustration and a shortage of fur. But I will have it tried with cats, nonetheless.
"Yes, inscriptions in dirt do seem the best means to teach writing. My singers continue to make play with the script, writing down this or that song to ensure there is a mark for everything they wish to say. The tongue of the Sleomjash tribe is, as expected, a special problem and my singers who left that tribe are especially interested in ensuring that their own songs can be rightly written. So the script continue to shift, a bit, and has not found other uses, proper and needful practice which will see it spread.
"How is it that minerals come to be along streams? The people may think that rivers are as old as the mountains. But I have seen them shift with time. Do minerals attract streams? And how can granite be known? No less, my singers will seek your soft crystals and yellow-red powders. I will have these added to copper and we will see what comes of it. And thank you, Demon, for telling me how these things may be found."
Greetings, Undying One! If you wish a name to call me by, then you may call me the Chronicler.
I will start with saying, that I said dedication to the art of warfare, not to warfare itself. So, what I meant was that warriors ought to spend their life to preparing themselves to war, not to simply fight war.
When you talk about having warriors who only wrestle and playfight, you do seem like you have understood what I meant, though I think there is more to a warrior's life and training than wrestling and playfighting. Also, as you have said yourself, hard labor does also train a warrior's body in its own fashion.
The bow is a good example on a weapon where regular training is required to truly master it, though one might not have to dedicate the whole of their life to do this, but if a warrior wish to master multiple weapons, then he might have to do so.
When it comes to a warrior becoming one with his weapon, then I will say that I have never been a warrior myself, but when it has been described to me, then it is that a warrior has gotten so much practices and skill with a weapon, that he can use it instinctively, like one might know how to use ones legs to walk.
When I talked about groups of warriors acting as one, I meant it like how a body may be doing many things at once, but they are all coordinated with each other to achieve the overall goal. An example might be a warrior that have a shield in one hand and an axe in the other. He might use his shield hand to block his enemy's attack, while his axe hand is already counterattacking. His legs are maintaining the proper stance, while his eyes are on his enemy, watching his every move. This is what I meant, when talking about acting as one, that the Nine Nation's warriors may have coordinated their actions to maximize their chance of victory.
When you talked about warriors doing the same act at the same time, then I would to a certain extent recommended the loosening of arrows as one, which might be called for volley fire. The point of volley fire would be to make up for inaccuracy amongst your archers, since it is hard for someone to avoid a rain of arrows.
If you are asking about the benefit in acting as one, as in maintaining a combat formation, then one benefit is that they make it harder for someone to flak a warrior, since he would be standing side by side with his fellow warriors.
Other voices have described how to harness a horse, but I will say that a decent use of these youths on horses, if they learn how to ride horses, is that they would serve as good scouts and messengers, because of the quickness of their horses.
I do not know much about shield making, but you might try using bronze to strengthening shields, perhaps like adding some bronze on the top of the shield to protect the shield weapons hitting it from that direction.
This talk about the weight of shields does also explain, why I see the training of warrior's bodies and increasing their strength and endurance as important, because they will need it, if they wish to fight with heavy equipment.
I want to correct myself, when I claimed that there were roughly four categories of warriors, since I failed to talk about the different weapons these groups might use, but you do seem to be aware of this, like the difference between using spears or axes.
[X] [Sabbatical] Construct more pylons roads, build more roads
[X] [Staffing] Get some people, but not too many
[X] [Steward] Appoint the singer best suited to the job
[X] [Cacophony] Mortenkam
As always, do tell me if there is something there could be improved.
"Yes, thank you, Chronicler. I can see how warriors acting in coordination will be more effective than warriors striking as though they, alone, stride across the field of battle. And a warrior will learn when to swing his axe in response to a strike against his shield by having his shield struck. So I suppose warriors must play at fighting in groups to learn how to coordinate between each other. Unless, voices, any of you can tell me what coordination between warriors should be like. Loosing of arrows as a 'volley' does make sense, now that you mention it. I will exhort the warleaders demand that of their warriors. I don't know why you call it a 'fire,' though that is of little matter, I think.
"Yes. If warriors stand in a line then each who is not at the end need only fight in a single direction and be wary of, I think, two directions. That seems good for warriors. And, as you say, will require practice. I will have to think on how practice may be encouraged.
"If youths could ride horses reliably, then warleaders might rely on them as scouts and messengers. A single horse is quicker than a chariot, and would not be limited to the paths suitable for wheels. Woodlands will still be difficult for them, but not impassable.
"Shields of bronze are much preferred to shields of wood or hide. But bronze is precious and even the chosen warriors do not all have bronze shields. A bronze cap on a wooden shield may be worthwhile. I will have it tried. And thank you, Chronicler"
first bees then alcohol to numb the pain (from bees) then surgery with sterilized tools then either cities or roads depending on whether you believe all roads lead to Rome or Rome leads to all roads
[X] [Staffing] Get some people, but not too many
aditional perspectives may prove useful and many hands make light work
[X] [Steward] Appoint the singer best suited to the job
want to try making singers into bureaucrat/priests
Greetings Undying, currently you may refer to me as weight of what is owed, though I may decide upon a more appropriate name at a later date. For now I wish to comment upon the nature of both the written word and cities. While my fellow voices have portrayed both as inevitable monoliths of civilization there is an exception for every rule and just because something is inevitable doesn't mean it is currently appropriate. Many cultures will and have kept written records but we also know of cases in which some facets of history have been the exclusive domain of oral tradition. By merely stating that earthly matters or those concerning the immutable past should be written down while those concerning sacred edicts or matters of the moldable present are to be spoken and kept alive by living tongues until such time as holy becomes mundane or present becomes past one can ensure that your peoples rich traditions are upheld and their undying ruler still holds sway over what is remembered. Now that I am thinking on it if this idea is utilized it may be appropriate to have some holy celebration or festival in which all things that people wish to have recorded are judged by yourself, or the wisest and most trusted nearby singer for those matters either too distant or trivial for your perusal.
Note these are merely examples of potential paths of logic you could use to separate written and spoken language within your culture
As for the matter of cities and the softness you believe they breed another solution from elsewhen presents itself. Make it mandatory that once a member of the tribes has reached adulthood they are to be trained in the art of war or the making of things which are used for war for two or some other fixed number of years at which point the warrior shall make the decision to devote himself to war or the making of wars tools for the rest of his years or to some other craft. In this way one can insure that all your people are able to fight while those most capable of truly waging war act as loyal sheepdogs… you do have dogs trained in the guarding of sheep flocks from predators right?
I believe you also had questions regarding how to make a written language when some of your people are physically incapable of speaking their fellow tribes' language. Allow me to explain…when a child is born of any people do they have some innate affinity for their native tongue while all foreign tongues require great effort? The answer is no, in fact children possess the ability to understand all languages…at least as a child does. Of course much like a muscle that goes too long without being used may atrophy or grow rigid an ear that does not need to recognize sounds it is not exposed to will find it difficult to distinguish these sounds in the future. For this reason I would suggest encouraging all families born of the union of two tribes to utilize both languages within their household for this too is a way that the mind can be strengthened.
While on the subject of children I find it important to state that a child's mind is like wet clay in that it is easily molded or added to when new information presents itself and like clay as it ages it becomes more and more difficult to mold until it becomes more likely to break rather than be reshaped. For this reason elders and other learned should take time to teach any child who wishes to learn so that your people grow stronger in mind and body both. Later this can be formalized into some profession or another dedicated solely to the teaching of those who are not yet adults but for now I believe this will suffice.
One last point I would like to make is that while others have made the case for greed as a motivator I feel that honor will suffice as long as the definition of honor is expanded upon. It is already known that warriors, singers, and elders are to be respected but a case can and must be made that the saving of a life or the act of training ones disciples is honorable, for thus you insure that another's legend can continue or be enriched much as the Pact between your nine tribes ensures your collective bounty.
Tangent: you should feel free to change the names of any term we give you to suit your own needs and the needs of your people, for example if the term germ does not make sense in your context then use something like Least One, for these are the least of things that can said to be alive, or some other term
Tangent: While you have told us of the Forest People and the blessings they received from their creator god you have yet to state what blessing and divine heritage your people possess. Perhaps the reason some tribes cannot speak the others language because the nine tribes contain the creations of multiple gods
originally came on here to ramble about domestication instead decided to try my hand at crafting culture. took a smattering of ideas from Plato who believed writing ideas down killed them, the Hebrew Torah and Haftorah which was once maintained exclusively by word of mouth (considering adding more references to the torah by suggesting parts of saced text be unrecorded and memorized or borrowing from exalted of all things by having sacred edicts be in ink dyed in a color associated with our rule), along with modern Jerusalem's practice of mandatory temporary enlistment of all able bodied adults, and modern understanding of childhood neuroplasticity along with the beginnings of a school system which the tribes currently aren't ready for(I recall the QM getting stressed from un-cited references we voices made so tell me if this helps LoserThree). also if we are going to be dissecting corpses to figure out how they tick determining what if any internal differences their are between the tribes and Forest People internally is probably a good idea but this post has gone on long enough (sorry for not casting a vote need discussion first and wanted to get this out of the way)
"Thank you, Debt. My singers already gather in what the people think they know, and what I judge good to know they repeat back to the people in song. I would like to hear more about separating written from spoken language. Why would I want that? Should not the one be like the other in every way it can?
"The unwilling fight poorly, Debt. And already all those of the people who are willing to fight are or shall become warriors. Some additional training of youths has been an interesting suggestion. But requiring people to go out to fight only leads to more so-called warriors breaking from the field. And that is bad.
"If one who does not wish to fight is forced to fight to defend their home against a raid, then yes it would be better if they knew how to fight, I suppose. But in that case if they break and lose their home or their life it is only a thing that often happens in raids, and not of special concern.
"There are few among the people, even among my singers, who are as loyal to me as a dog is to the person who feeds and shelters and orders them. Some are so devoted, for their own reasons I cannot know or because of some event or another. But this is not common. As I have said, you voices seem unfamiliar with bold people and how the bold will lead more often than the meek. But even the meek have their own minds and are not loyal as dogs are. Tell me, Debt, how warriors should act as my sheepdogs. I think I may not understand your meaning.
"I do not know how a marriage of people from two or more tribes manages their different tongues. I will ask about from my singers if any of them come from such a marriage, but I do not think that is so. I suspect that the language of the family to which the marriage is joined is the language spoken. These marriages are, I think, too infrequent to learn much about what changes they work on tongues any time soon. Perhaps I will encourage a few, and likewise encourage them to teach their children all the ways of speaking they know.
"Parents and elders know that children need to be taught. Do you know of some skill or knowledge that you think they are not being taught but should?
"I think people only attract disciples if they already are honored for whatever it is their disciples want from them. Perhaps I misunderstand you?
"I can say 'germ' when I speak with you and 'mitelet' when I speak with the people. Or any other variation or combination. So long as I understand you and the people understand me, we will get what we want.
"There were eight First People made from some other animal I have not seen since long before I was confined. Together, the Old Gods made these animals into the First People. Then each of the Old Gods except Hawk, who had chosen the animal, gave gifts to one of the eight. Three of those eight and their progeny died. So the First People had endurance and range from Wolf, composure and craft from Bear, ferocity and ruthlessness from Crocodile, pride and insight into creatures, plants, and the land from Deer, and twice-gifted intellect and understanding from Leopard. Much later, Fish made some of the First People into the Fisher People by teaching them to swim and make boats and catch fish and by scraping away their fur with her scales in every place they would allow to be scraped. These are the gifts given to all the Fisher People, of which I am one, of which the people of the Nine Nations are, and of which most of their neighbors are, as well. Except for the Lesser Giants, who seem lacking the gifts of Bear, all of the people of the world have all the gifts given the five First People whose children survived."
The other voice speaking about drafting every child to be soldiers is speaking nonsense! Or rather, the raising of all children to be warriors would strain your agricultural output.
Really, only by raising agricultural output would it be possible to spend enormous amount of resources educating every child to be a soldier, should you will it or need it. All the other voices speaking of building professional soldiery are also speaking nonsense for the same reason!
Yes, in time, professional armies will be needed and that you will need to learn how to keep their loyalty, how to select them, and so forth, but not now, perhaps many generations into the future.
But whose enemies do you face have full time warriors dedicated to only learning how to kill their enemies and be ready to fight at all time? I see none nearby.
[X] [Sabbatical] Construct more pylons roads, build more roads
[X] [Staffing] Get some people, but not too many
If the horses are not big or strong enough to carry an adult rider, then it is pointless to try to learn how to ride a horse. Rather, you must breed bigger horses, which will take generations until they are strong enough to carry a warrior. To work on technologies for riding a horse is premature!
"Yes it is true, voice who gives no name, that I do not see a need for warriors who are only warriors and not also shepherds, farmers, and crafters. But still I would like to hear the hows, even when the whys are wrong. How can warriors be made loyal to me without adding unnecessary strife as forced oaths and unequal possession of trifles will? How should they be selected, if not in the manner that from among them the chosen already are? And, yes, how can a child be raised best to grow into a warrior?
"Other voices have suggested that warriors be led against distant cities. Perhaps those are the enemies that require full time warriors? I do not know. It would be a matter of much time, and just now I will be devoting much time to the laying of roads.
"Similarly, I would like to know how to breed larger horses. Already the Tash and Sleomjash prize stallions of greater size and hope for larger chariots. Are there means by which this can be brought about sooner than otherwise?
"Also, the people do prize foods they get only rarely and seem happier for more variety in what they eat most often. But please do tell me what need there is for 'diversity in the diet?'"
[X] [Sabbatical] Construct more pylons roads, build more roads
Hello my name is DevilGirl!
To have a simple bridge build a big wall on the one side of the small river then another wall on the other side of the river higher walls than river cause there will be flooding sometimes. Then wooden logs should join one wall to another over that river or stream and then join roads maybe with ramp from stones dirt or something to these walls on the both sides Bridge should be wide for carts and horses
Support pillars for weight of these logs in the middle of river could be nice but its hard to build stuff in water not sure how do that
"The people already fell trees of exceptional height and width, limb them, split them all the way of their length, and lay them across streams in something like the fashion you describe. This can only be done for moderate streams, only when proper trees abound, and only lasts as long as the wood. The wise say they can tell when the log is near to breaking, but the unwise continue to cross, fruitfully, until suddenly they don't. And that may be a wasteful loss of life. Even when such bridges are to be had, they are not suitable for much more than sheep, perhaps smaller pigs, but never for cattle or horses.
"Using piles built around walls -- of stone I assume -- on either side is new, but I do not see how that will improve the performance of the wood that makes the bridge itself. Please elaborate when you can, for the people could use better means to cross streams and especially rivers. And thank you, Devil Girl."
There are a number of devices that make the riding of horses safer and easier. There is the saddle, which is a seat made out of wood and leather, shaped to fit over the back of the horse where a rider is to sit, allowing the rider to sit more securely on their mount. There are stirrups, which are rings hanging from straps from that the rider places their feet through, to make it easier to get on and off a horse, and make them harder to dislodge. Both of these are attached to the body of the horse by a girth, which loops under the belly of the horse and is used to securely fasten the saddle and stirrups.
Though it takes some degree of skill, stirrups also allow a rider to control the movement of a horse with their feet alone, freeing both their hands for the use of a bow. As your horses are still too slight to carry much in the way of weight, the best use of them for now would be to have them carry riders armed with bows or throwing spears.
"Marvelous, just marvelous. Thank you, unnamed voice. So a seat should be shaped to the horse's back and to the rider's sitting, attached to the horse with a belt. And from this should hang a ring on either side which the rider will put their foot in. And then the horse, unbridled, must be taught to obey the rider's feet. And the rider can loose arrows from a bow or hurl spears, just like a charioteer. Only, they will be more slight of stature than a charioteer,and unarmored besides. So the chariot will, I think, remains superior for some time.
"I will send my singers to the Sleomjash immediately to teach them this thing. Or, no. We will, I think, first create a saddle or two here at my great home, just so we have something specific to teach. There will be some child about to put on one of the horses given to me in tribute. Yes. This can be made, and tried, and then made known to the Sleomjash.
"And, eventually, the Tash. But their oathbreakers still live so they get nothing from me."
I sheep, congratulate you on your good fortune I undying one.
In regards to the remarks of my fellow voices:
The whole of the people can be dedicated to honourable persuets of war, song and art, and the farms output need not suffer.
Indeed the purpose of slaves is to perform tasks so that others are relived from performing them.
So long as you have enough slaves, you need not worry about constraints in how the nine may change and develop.
Indeed there existed a people in a distant realm whose entire population took the callings of priests and warriors.
They made Slaves and tributaries of every man and woman not of their tribe, food and drink came to them without end.
They congregated upon a great temple city built upon a lake, a massive monolith to their glory.
They sacrificed entire tribes upon the altars of bloodthirsty gods, so much so that rivers of blood would flow down from the temple tops.
They celebrated with song and dance and made wondrous crafts, they were famed for their honour and power, and never suffered a lack of food.
The point is o great undying one, is that there are many means of achieving one's ends, each with certain benefits and detremits but all valid.
This the means sole constraint should be your desire, for thoust art the pretender god of the nine.
"Some purpose that is, Sheep Voice, when the slave eats as much as any of the free people but does perhaps two parts in three of their work, or less! So long as the free people keep slaves, every task will require more food, overall, to be completed.
"Why did the slaves of the people in your story not rise up against the people who would kill them all? The people of the Nine Nations do take lives at times for those purposes one might have in the underworld. And sometimes lives are taken in waste, because the life or the ritual or the time is not right. But when the lives so taken are those of slaves, the other slaves to that family and that tribe do not so easily wait for the time of their freedom. Instead they are restless and reckless and in that way are dangerous.
"I do not see how such a thing can last. Perhaps to mortals it might seem like a fine way to live. But I would see the children, grandchildren, and children of grandchildren soon enough. And at some point the enslaved would make trouble. Or there would be too few in the tribes that surrounded them to make them all the food they needed. How did the story of these slave-taking sacrificers end, oh Sheep?"
"Haunted liver with onions? Voice, I do not eat. It is displeasing to me to attempt to eat, or to drink. It is fortunate that I do not hunger or thirst.
"I suppose the liver of a person would taste good if prepared well, and onions are also well liked. I do not think the haunting has ever been said to be of noticeable flavor. Then again, often people do not notice the flavor of food that has gone bad. Likewise, they speak against the flavors of food that remains perfectly good.
"The important part is what comes after haunted meat is eaten, when the spirit of a person is able to slip into the body of a living person. It is said this occurs only when the spirit is from a body so similar to the person's living body. But every so often I come to see a troubled person of the Nine Nations and find that some other spirit is in them, a hare or some such."
[] [Sabbatical] Go see what this 'city' nonsense is all about
Leaving the peoples unsupervised at this juncture is not advisable. Suggest waiting until after a great victory, or otherwise time when the people greatly favor you. [X] [Sabbatical] Bees?
Food, Trade, Healing, and they can also help crops grow. This will provide the most immediate and obvious improvement to the lives of the people.
[] [Sabbatical] Construct more pylons roads, build more roads
The people are not yet developed enough for this to be worth the cost. Roads that are worth the name require a continuing effort to upkeep. Definitely something to consider for the future, but not now, when tribes still roam the lands. Wait for them to become more settled.
[] [Sabbatical] Prep for surgery, stat!
The current value of this is dubious. You are not yet equipped with the tools to make use of this knowledge, it may cause counterproductive fear amongst the peoples, and there yet remain many lower hanging fruit besides.
[] [Sabbatical] It's five o'clock somewhere; make liquor
Certainly many uses, a definite second priority. We would prefer your people to become more acquainted with the throwing of pottery and working of metal first.
[] [Sabbatical] Write in
[X] [Staffing] Minimum (solo, in most cases)
If you fully develop the secrets yourself, then more concessions may be extracted from those with whom you later choose to share.
For the keeping of bees in particular, you have the advantage that helpers would not be necessary, unlike the workings of iron which may require and entire tribe to work together in constructing smelters of the required size.
[X] [Steward] Council of three eldars from each tribe
Should a matter come to you, that means that the tribal chiefs and first chief have already failed, and promoting one among the singers could lead to distrust. Ostensibly, your authority among the tribes derives from the accumulated wisdom from you many summers. Thus a council of the wisest mortals is likely the only way to approach your greatosity.
It was not so great a victory. We won, yes. But consider how the tribes will view Biancas role in this victory. She has earned much fear and little love. The search for cities can wait. You must have a town before a city, and a village before a town. We could just like stop talking about cities? They are important in the long term sure, but we should really be focusing on strengthening the tribes first. Forming a city is not a goal to seek, it is an inevitable consequence, and challenge, of our real goals.
Roads are a thing that will require political capital, and will not see much return on investment due to the small size of our economy / trade. Bees could be use to gain political capital to enact more important reforms.
"I do mean to leave the people without my oversight, voice. They have little enough of it as it is and will speak of missing my blessings more than my wisdom, I think. All of these things, bees included, will be of more use in the future, I think.
"But in the moment I wish to know much more of one of them. Know, however, that the tribes do not roam about, except for those who keep herds of sheep or cattle or horse and move them from more distant and high summer pastures to low and closer winter pastures.
"I, too, would like to know more about throwing clay and working metal. Please do tell me more of those things.
"What concessions would you have had me ask? I do not need to offer anything for what I am owed in tribute. That's how tribute works. You are, though, correct that for some of the matters which I may have investigated, I was likely to get much done by myself or with few to assist.
"Should a matter come to me, I will send them away. The people can do without me for a few years. And if there is some famine here or there, which I doubt will happen, then they will deal with that in the way that people do. You may be right, though, that mortals can only hope to play at having wisdom like mine when they work in groups.
"I am relieved to hear that cities can happen on their own. I have watched the Nine Nations grow over many, many seasons. They grow still, and I suppose that means there is something for them to grow into. Time enough, too.
"Please do tell me more of bridges and devices, voice who has not given their name."
Code:
B R E A K
"VOICES! I HAVE RETURNED!
"There are so many things you did not tell me about laying roads.
"Firstly, only the simplest of paths is formed when brush and trees are cut away from the straight path between two places. These paths, no matter how wide, suffer greatly in months of rain. Where water pools, water runs. And where water runs it tears at the ground. And these paths are only bare patches of ground, swiftly made muddy and ruinous in the rain.
"Hard packed dirt sheds water better. So as I revisited the ruined places, I and the free people with me filled in what was torn out and battered the ground to pack it. We made several devices to pound the ground flat, too.
"The first was an overlong barrel filled with dirt and stones. But it would break up if it was not laying flat on the ground. Some of these broke during their filling, of course, and others when they were first tipped over.
"A clever potter suggested we plate the outside of the barrel with fired clay. These proved prone to breaking as well, often for reasons we could not tell. But by firing more all the time they could be replaced with only a little delay. This required constant labor that was not the clearing of roads, though, so I didn't like it.
"Instead, I had great and thick copper disks cast and fixed to each other. When they are all together, these require eight oxen to pull them as they roll along, packing the ground. When they have finished a stretch of road, more dirt is thrown on and they pass back over it again.
"This does not resolve the issue of running water, but it was an improvement. So I considered rivers.
"Slow rivers, great rivers are silty and have muddy floors. But smaller, fast rivers have only smooth stones. So swift water, I knew, must carry away dirt while slow water does not, so much. And more importantly, even swift water does not carry away stones. Is this why, voices, you suggested a road of small stones?
"So while the rolling batterer of ground made something like a road in one direction, I started out in another with carts of small stones. It made little sense to set these atop the cleared path. They would only be kicked away. So I and the free people with me dug into the ground a little ways and set the stones in there.
"These roads of small stones do still wash away a little at the edges in particularly bad rains. But they are an improvement and are not difficult to repair.
"The clever potter, who I had kept with me, suggested putting bricks on top of the small stones. So I sent the people on down that road and returned to my great home once again. And we set out in another direction. This time we dug deeper, battered the dirt, filled in small stones, and then put brick on top of that. Because the water that falls on the road runs between the bricks, and into the small stones, it does not run off to the sides. Instead, it runs along the ditch underneath the road. I fear this will continue to be a problem, even though the stones slow the water it may still be tearing away at the packed dirt beneath. Time will tell.
"In the meantime, the laborers on the first road, most vulnerable to rain, learned to sight in the land places where water runs in rain. These cannot all be avoided, but, at least, the path of the road can be chosen so that it crosses as few as possible, and side on. They also took to piling up the road over the land around it, so that water did not run along the road. And this was good except for the places where the road crossed flowing water. That water builds up on one side until it spills over and, in so doing, tears the road away.
"We fashioned channels like pots with no bottom and laid them across those places before dirt was piled on. Some were made of unfired clay, some fired clay, and some wood. The fired clay worked best. Then we poured concrete over the channels, packed dirt atop that, and made the rest of the road over as usual. But if the channel is blocked the water tears at the edges of the road still.
"I think enough of these channels and a road could be built right over small streams, no need for a bridge. And we have tried that in places to mixed results.
"I turned my attention to the building of small stone houses, then. I spoke with warriors at some length before starting, finding what they thought they wanted. Steps, it turns out. So the stone house itself is a lesser high place. I and the free people with me found hills. Or we brought stones and dirt together to make them. Then we battered that dirt to packed and laid stones for the small house at the top. These places still have the two problems of stone buildings: making stones remain upright and overhangings. These are much the same problems with fireplaces and chimneys, really.
"So many of the small places of protection along the roads are largely wood above shoulder height or so, but where stone can be used it is. And the high place over it is certainly made of wood. But it is high. And in any of those places a handful of warriors could stand against many times their number, except in the case where fire arrows are used after a long dry season. Fortunately, such seasons rare.
"None of this took place quickly. Bricks take time to fire. Ditches take time to dig. Stones take time to break and to haul. And at times I or one of the other groups of road layers would find that the path had been taken wrongly, and we needed to go back and start again from a place some way back on the road.
"In most places where the roads have actually reached villages, they pass beside them. I had thought some about whether roads should pass through or not. And I do not know for certain which will be easier to move in all cases, the road or the village. But I know that villages do move on their own already. Houses are built in one place and torn down in another. And I don't know that roads will move. Perhaps with repair? I am unsure.
"Oh, yes. I think roads will continue to move, as they are not all in good places. Over time the people will better understand where roads are best put. And then we will build roads there.
"The Tash have only just begun to send youths about on horseback. I believe some among the Sleomjash shared the saddle and stirrups the Tash the whole time. I am mildly cross, but it is no great matter.
"The Sleomjash have taken youths on horseback with them on raids. These young people have not yet spent the seasons of practice they need to master the bow, but still they do well. It is clear that warriors on horseback will be well feared as soon as adequate horses are born.
"The cats have not proven fruitful. Even when hand reared from kits, they are given to fright and biting and clawing. When allowed to do so, they make their way into the wilderness, never to be seen again. No means of 'inviting' them to the people's graineries has been found.
"Cement has proven useful for building just about anything. Overhang remains unresolved, but the piles on either side of a small river -- and in one case even amidst it -- stand up. I do not know how to make the split logs lain across last long or bear great weight.
Code:
Bianca has acquired the following skills:
Roadlaying (+1), Road Theory
"I am told the fields of the people have not been as fruitful in my absence as they were in previous harvests. The black soil and crop rotation must be helping, though, because the harvests are something like adequate. The people do not need to burn new fields.
"And there are people keeping bees in some manner among the tribes of Naumo, Bima Nolco, and Gawdtha. Or, at least, there are those among those tribes who are much better at gathering honey. I do not know how they go about it.
"Plokban died in his second winter as First Singer. Other singers came to me to ask who should replace him and I asked them what Plokban had done about that. So it came to be known that Plokban had named another as his successor, and Huo became First Singer. I would not have chosen her for the job, but I did choose Plokban and it is said that he chose her. And that is enough for me.
"It was not enough for Raezl of Burgeck, however. And he… did something at my great home. I think he came with many from his tribe to take over looking after my home in my absence. I think he meant to establish a priesthood. And that was a mistake on his part. I would not have returned early or answered any question before I was satisfied with my understanding of the laying of roads. But when I did return I would not have been gentle with him or whomever he left in his place.
"His second mistake was allowing an elder among my singers to speak when he had dispute with her. If he wanted to win he needed to just cut her down. Or, I suppose frighten her to cowering. But remember what I told you about the bold, voices. They do not bend easily, even when perhaps they should. And so instead of stepping down, Huo mocked Raezl. She did it at length and she did it in song. And Raezl, already afraid to strike down one of my singers, could only leave in shame.
"It is not a good time to be in Burgeck tribe. It is not a good time to be their neighbor. I am considering sending raidleaders from one tribe or another, possible Burgeck, to steal the priesthood from some distant cities. I don't want trouble with a god or goddess, but surely they must also be cross with their own priesthoods. Then Burgeck can speak with those who have what they want, and will hopefully learn that it is not all that they hope.
"Alcohol is being drawn from beer in this way. A pot of beer sits on top of a high fire, to boil, on a hill. There is a lid on this pot with a closed flute that points down, down past the bottom of that pot. This fits into the lid on another pot which sits on dirt further down that hill. But that lid also has a flute of its own which leads to a further put and then one more. The joinings of all the lids to the pots and the flutes to the lids are sealed with wet clay, leaving the last pot, the flute of which points straight up like a chimney. Some steam does escape from there, but little.
"Further, Huo ordered that the alcohol taken from many pots of beer be placed in the high pot itself to be boiled again. And then a third time. And the result is a much stronger drink that causes pain and itself burns with a blue flame. Some have said that this was wasteful of Huo, but no. She understands what the pots and the flutes are doing, and that it can be done to anything that boils to make the first thing that boils off the greater part of it.
"I do think twice is enough, though.
"The people of the Nine Nations are reluctant to learn writing. They see little use to it. My singers are not reluctant. It is important to them or, at least, they know not to object. The elders of the people feel it is a corruption of their traditions. But they will die. And young people will age knowing that writing is a thing and not realizing how much closer it gets to their lives. And they will die. And then young people will age with writing close to them. And in time, I think, writing will become more common.
"There is a shadowy forest, now, where the last remnants of the woodlands of the Forest People were. It is an unwelcoming place. Hunters who enter it do not return. And fouled spirits venture forth from it every other year or so. So it may be that the land taken to be fields for Eppam will not be as valuable as they had hoped. Perhaps I will allow them to learn not to start unnecessary wars. Or perhaps the real learning was done by the Forest People, who are no longer known to be in that place.
"The ice pits have performed irregularly. Some caved in, but no one died to them. Food was lost, which is unfortunate. But in other cases food was preserved. The floors were apparently not so wet as I thought they would be. But still these were damp places and, despite their chill, not ideal for most food preservations.
"More than any other use, the Sleomjash have most benefited from their horseback youths in the herding of their cattle. Already the Lan are giving gifts to the Sleomjash and asking for riding horses in return. Other tribes will make similar gifts soon, I am sure.
"It happens that there were none among my singers who came from marriages of people of differing tribes. Since the Sleomjash differ the most, I asked after children from marriages with only one adults from Sleomjash. In some cases the children spoke both tongues, in others one, in most some mixture of aptitudes."
"Many among the people of the Nine Nations have waited for my return to make requests of me. I dislike this mild disobedience, but the fact is that I am back now and can address these. Should I?"
[ ] [Backlog] No. Anything pending should be addressed by First Singer Huo as Bianca ordained before leaving.
[ ] [Backlog] Yes. Bianca should address pending matters as though they had just arrived.
[ ] [Backlog] No. Any pending matter in which the supplicant did not accept Huo's answer is settled as is and will not be revisited.
[ ] [Backlog] Write in
"A traveller from far away has only just arrived. She brings word from the god Erweh, who is displeased and calls for the people of the Nine Nations to pay tribute for their slight against his governance of the underworld.
"Now, of course we won't be doing that.
"And, in fact, this is the first that I have ever heard of Erweh governing the underworld. The underworld has no government. I think. Erweh is a god, one of the New Gods. Long, long ago, before my confinement, he came out of the underworld and claimed to have been Ponam, brother of the god Yula, before he died. He is powerful in the way of the spirits, but not even the three gods of the Forest People govern the underworld.
"Still, hospitality is most likely the right response. What should be done with this messenger?"
[ ] [Prophetess] Extend all hospitality and send her away with gifts and an invitation to further talks but promise nothing
[ ] [Prophetess] Extend minimum hospitality and politely but firmly refuse her
[ ] [Prophetess] Kill her such that her spirit carries Bianca's refusal to the underworld, let Erweh hear her there
[ ] [Prophetess] kill her in secret and lull her departing spirit to peace
[ ] [Prophetess] Write in
"Word has come from my singers in that a great beast troubles the tribe of Lan. No leader of Lan nor its chieftain have asked for help. But I am told that their hunters have sought the beast in its prowling and those who come back do so empty handed. Lan should call for all the great hunters of the tribe, but has not. I can force the issue, but this will be a shame to Lan. What should be done with this strange monster?"
[ ] [Horror] Let Lan handle it or not as they see fit
[ ] [Horror] Send word to all the great hunters of the Nine Nations
[ ] [Horror] Bianca should go out herself to deal with the beast
[ ] [Horror] Write in
I disagreed with your recent course of action, and my reasons for doing so are still valid, but I must admit some approval for how things turned out. You solved many problems, and will thus be better able to solve problems in the future. If you are to defeat a god then it shall not be by brute strength. A sharp mind can defeat the sharpest blade.
[X] [Backlog] No. Anything pending should be addressed by First Singer Huo as Bianca ordained before leaving.
In matters of leadership it is important to present a unified front. But in this, as all things, balance. Your subordinates must feel safe voicing their disagreement lest all you desire is a clean asshole. I suggest you loom behind Huo, glaring at supplicants. Until such a time as the backlog is clear, voice the exact same reply should any attempt to speak with you.
[X] [Prophetess] Extend all hospitality and send her away with gifts and an invitation to further talks but promise nothing
Ingratiating yourself with this potentially weak gods priesthood could prove advantageous in the future.
[X] [Horror] Let Lan handle it or not as they see fit
Once Lan has been bleed a bit, they will come begging. Do not miss an opportunity to remind the peoples why they need you...
...Which brings me to my next point. You are deluding yourself if you believe that "tribute" is anything but a form of trade. For all that it is couched in ritual, the people give you tribute because the value what they receive more than what they give. Be it their continued lives, your favor, or to demonstrate and solidify social status.
"Human behavior is economic behavior. The particulars may vary, but competition for limited resources remains a constant. Need as well as greed have followed us to the stars, and the rewards of wealth still await those wise enough to recognize this deep thrumming of our common pulse." (Mwabudike Morgan)
[x] [Cacophony] Ciber
Thread Theory of Forces
So you want to make some nice stone overhangs? A window, door, bridge, or roof? Try this out, you'll have your proof!
The simplest way is to make up some temporary wooden form-work in the shape of half a circle. A semi-circle if you will. Then you can place carefully cut stones or bricks upon the form., coming together at the center upon a larger wedge shaped keystone. You may want to use something like cement to help bind the pieces together.
Of course a simple circle is not the best shape to use, but it is close. Consider the top most stone, the keystone. Its own weight pulls it down, in addition to the weight of all that it supports. Now consider the stones which support the keystone. Clearly the weight of the keystone, and all the stones that support it, must eventually be carried through into the ground.
It turns out that for a given structure, the weight prefers to follow a certain path, a certain thread of force. So long as your structure contains this thread, then it will not fail. An allowance must of course be made for imperfect knowledge of the structure, and the moving weights of people, goods, and nature that it may experience.
The thread of force for an arch of constant wall thickness with no loading besides its own weight is described by the inversion of a similarly proportioned hanging thread. More complicated structures may be described by attaching may small proportional weights at the appropriate positions.
To be clear, the thread and weights upon it need not be that same size as the structure to be built, merely proportional.
Consider a small bridge. The top is flat but the bottom must be an arch for water to flow under. To design such a bridge using the method of the threads of force, we might begin by dividing our bridge into ten equal lengths, and attaching a small weight at ten equally spaced points on our thread. Then we would assign additional weights in proportion to the depth of the bridge at that point.
Code of Life
Children are similar to their parents. Not just among the Peoples, but among all life great and small, plant or animal. Some rare plants and the very smallest animals have only one parent, but the majority have two. I tell you now that these similarities are not merely skin deep. In fact, all living things possess a set of instructions that dictate their growth. To clarify, these instructions do not, and cannot, dictate the precise position of every hair upon the body, or every minor vessel of blood within. Instead, they contain the patterns from which such features are derived. For instance in almost all animals the color of hair / fur is determined by balance of only two substances.
Smallest Life
Return again to analogy of the human and the spider. There exist living things that are to the spider as the spider is to the human. As the human is to the God. It does not go on forever though, The smallest thing that can be considered life is at most one more iteration of as the human unto the god. Now consider that all large life is made up of a community of this smallest life. I understand that this is a challenging concept, not least because the smallest life cannot be directly seen, not even by the Eagle god. This arises due the subtle natures of light which we have not yet covered. Suffice to say that it is impossible for light to form a clear image of objects below a certain size.
Reproduction
Earlier I stated that smallest life has only a single parent. To elaborate, once a smallest life grows large enough it is capable of splitting in half, or sometimes quarters. It is in this way that a new plant or animal grows with each smallest life containing a full copy of the instructions of life. Now you may be wondering how reproduction with two parents takes place. Well, the male and female each have highly specialized forms of smallest life for the job. The male provides a copy of its life instructions, which the female combines at random with its own before beginning the process of growing and splitting. Thus each animal and plant begins as a singular smallest life and grows from there.
Passing of Traits
Knowing all this, you may wonder why offspring are not always a clear combination of their parents. Sometimes this is because of their life circumstance; one who is naturally tall may still end up short if they eat poorly as a child. But often, this is because traits do not mix as easily as honey and water. A dominant trait may suppress a weaker one, but the weak trait is still there, waiting for the right random combination to reveal itself in future generations. For instance, we know of a weak trait which makes likely to get weakening sickness of the blood, but almost immune to a deadly sickness of the lungs. Thus when the sickness of the lungs is running wild, many of those with the stronger trait will die. Those few who would normally be unlucky enough to have the weak trait will survive, and their children will be more likely to have the weak trait .