Tales of History - A Civ-Builder Quest

In these days, the Council chamber of Greenvalley was increasingly filled with shouting. Gone was the restraint of the Councillors themselves, gone the attempt to show unity, instead the group among the people had drawn them firmly into their respective corners. It began with Tall Reed, whom the Fishes had begun to direct their ire towards, saying he failed to represent them in the Council. So he had turned to increasingly outlandish displays to show the opposite, first by spitting onto the ground whenever the lowlanders were mentioned in debate, then beginning to wave around bone charms meant to ward away ill fortune. His antics served no true purpose anymore, save to have his supporters hollering their approval. And as he had begun with this behavior, so had the Hunters and the Artisans push on their Councillors, Willow and Fingers.

Of the two of them, Fingers had taken to mock the other two, alternating between pretending to doze off when they spoke to interrupting them with biting remarks. Her tongue was famed to be just as sharp as a obsidian blade by those who had drawn her ire in the pat, yet never before had she so freely indulged in lashing out at others. To her supporters, she was the only one who spoke sense in the Council, while her opponents saw her as an old crone who should be thrown from her post for her lack of wits. While Tall Reed's behavior was obnoxious though, hers had begun to become dangerous for how it enraged Willow.

He, who had his seat solely because he promised his fellow hunters to lead them to the same glories as in the old days. He, who had to save face at all costs, lest his supporters loose what little trust they had in him after he had achieved so little for them. He, who was probably the only one between the Council and an irate mob of Hunters taking matters into their own hands. Willow knew quite well what was at stake, for his supporters felt no shame and never hid their rising contempt with the Artisans and the Fishes. Neither could he ignore the whispers about how a Council only made of Hunters would lead the Valley People back to the glorious past.

For months, he tried to keep the peace, but when Tall Reeds antics started, he lost his temper a few times. The Hunters loved him for it, as they felt his rage was showing the vigor they expected from a Councillor, so he let it flare more often to tighten his grip on them. Once Fingers told him that she remembered him as a small boy and that his mother clearly didn't beat him enough to get the stupid out of him. Then Willow let his wrath speak for him, saying he would have her throat slit as a traitor if she ever spoke of violence against another Councillor again. He was ashamed for his words then, but the cheers of the Hunters drowned it out. Soon such words got easier and began to wield a spear in the chamber like some of his more eccentric predecessors. Some months later he began to wear deer antlers as a headdress and calling himself the Great Deer. The mask he wore had slowly taken over and while the hunters cheered on his grandstanding and callous insults, he began to see himself as that mythical hero that he pretended to be.

Few were those in Greenvalley who could avoid being drawn into the conflict, even the serfs being bullied into proclaiming a stance one way or another. Only the Bone Tenders managed to avoid it, instead using their accepted neutrality to mediate between the increasingly hostile factions, but there was not much they could achieve while so many others tried to escalate. At the same time though, they had to be the messengers for the Council to the Clans and with every month of increasingly hostile debate, the conflict of the Valley People began to spill into the Clans. There the matters discussed were far less pressing and the isolating nature of the mountains helped to keep heads cooler then in the valley, but slowly the battle lines were drawn there too. It became clear that while the Clans would not fight each other over the disagreements of the Valley People, they were certainly willing to lend their strength to whatever group they felt to be closest to their own desires.


The next year in the spring, Willow and a group of hunters simply disappeared from the valley, nobody knowing or at least not willing to tell where they went. The other two Councillors were furious about this, having not agreed to send out any scouts, and given that they had departed geared for war, there was no doubt that this was more then a hunting trip. Two moon turns came and went, the Council all but paralyzed as even the simplest matters could no longer be decided as Fingers and Tall Reed began blaming each other for this mess. Then Willow returned and with him came the bounty of his raid. He had tracked one of the caravans coming from the mountains and ambushed it near the valley, taking a few tamed yak bulls, a few prisoners and most of their wares.

In the bags and baskets the Valley People found beautiful dyes of deep red and blue, the latter even darker and fuller in color then the finest Azurite, and strange gourds made from some kind of brown stone that contained water and milk. The red dye the Goat People were hewing from the mountains, while the blue dye and the strange gourds apparently came from further east. A different set of lowlanders then those around Brushcrest, who lived in huts made from mud and bowed before oxen. But nobody truly cared about where the plunder came from, just that it was there. The people cheered at this bounty, first among them the hunters. Both Tall Reed and Fingers, in a rare moment of agreement, began to lay into Willow for having overstepped his authority by leading this raid without their approval, but there was no use. There own supporters listened and nodded along with their indictment, while his just laughed and hollered at the cowardly Fish and the jealous crone.

Next summer, they went again, capturing another caravan. This time there were a few dead hunters to mourn, for this time the Goat People had brought along some warriors of their own. This time, the cargo was just more of the blue dye and much less then in the year before. There were still cheers for Willow and his hunters, but not as many is before and this time, there were more people listening when the other Councillors condemned him. So he decided that he needed more. More plunder. More prisoners. More victories. If he could win a truly grand battle as in the days of old, even the Fishes and the Artisans would have to call him the Great Deer and all this talk about him doing wrong by making decisions on his lonesome would be forgotten in the celebration that would follow. Next summer, two in three hunters marched with him, bolstered by a force of clansmen who had heard about the riches to be found from the Goat People.

The other Councillors were outraged by this and said as much, but at this point, not a single hunter listened to them anymore. They all followed Willow and even those that remained behind to hunt for food refused any order given by someone else then him. Tall Reed and Fingers began to plot what to do about this situation, each one conferring with their supporters how to reign in the hunters, but still refusing to work with each other if it could be avoided. Summer turned into fall, and the hunters did not return. Just a runner came back to Greenvalley to tell the hunters that the Great Deer would be campaigning for a while longer. That he didn't even bother to address the Council was lost to no one.


As fall turned into winter, another runner came. The Great Deer was making a winter camp in the mountains, tended to by the many Goat People he had forced under his will in the name of Greenvalley and the ancestors. He would return in the coming summer, after he raided the Ox People. His supporters were ecstatic at these news, deciding to celebrate their hero then and there and all but demanding that the Bone Tenders would elevate him to the same heights as the Bear and the Wolf in the years to come. Other though were afraid, for the lack of fresh meat was keenly felt in every stomach of the valley and those who did not buy into Willows grandstanding began asking themselves what would happen if he was lying. What if he would not return? What if he lost? When the spring came, the mood in the valley became more and more tense. Soon, the hunters proclaimed to everyone they perceived as enemies, soon they all would see their folly when the Great Deer returned with the riches of the world and an army of serfs for the people. Soon he would purge the rot and weakness that had festered in the Valley People.

Their threats were soon forgotten though, for in the late spring, something else then Willow came to the valley. A great host was marching up along the Gentle River, so large that it didn't even bother to hide their presence. The remaining hunters had done their best to figure out who had sent these warriors, but many symbols on the shields they didn't recognize. One they did though. A hill in between two wavy lines. It was the hunters of Brushcrest, among many others, who had come to the valley.


What did the diminished Council do?
Note: As the government of Greenvalley is deadlocked, there is a chance that orders are not carried out properly. This is determined by checks against the current Stability score.

[] Try to negotiate with the oncoming army. (Might cause conflict with Cultural Ideas)
-[] Write-In terms to offer them.

[] Meet them in battle.
-[] Write-In how many Mobs to field.

[] Hunker down behind the walls of Greenvalley and wait for Willow to return with the hunters.

[] Write-In

AN: The rolls for Greenvalley were anything but stellar this turn so far.