TreeQuest: Magitech (Riot Quest)

The Squirrels led an expedition South, along the trail, but had to return a bit early. They went as far as they easily could. The trees continue for a bit along the path, but then there's a bit of very rocky scrubland. The Squirrels, led by Arthur Scrat, ventured briefly into that scrubland, but turned back when they saw a pack of coyotes prowling near the path.

That said, they made a point of taking the creek on the way back, to explore that alternate route (and to get a drink). There's a roughly 10-foot-tall waterfall, with a large pool beneath it - prior data suggests there are Beavers shortly downstream of this waterfall. The waterfall is gushing at the moment, thanks to the plentiful rain, but will presumably dry up quite a bit in seasons of drought. On their way back, the Squirrels discovered a vast field of grass, that they were only able to properly map a small bit of, that the creek flows through right before it goes over the waterfall; they can't promise, but the farthest-sighted among them believe that there are two-legs doing something with different plants way off in the distance, to the East.

If you want to explore further South along the path, you have three options: Have the Deer do it instead (a herd of Deer could fight coyotes, and will almost certainly not be attacked as long as they stay together and look fierce - and it's not midwinter when the coyotes are hungry), have the Squirrels make a run for it (risky; good chance of losing a few squirrels; probably survivable for most of them; they are prepared to attempt it if you ask but will ask for a break from risky missions for a while after), or wait until you have further resources (those Humans and Elves might help). The grassland should be safer, particularly as long as it is still fall, and will thus register as a normal exploration command. Sending a squirrel swimming on a warm day is an option for exploring the creek, though only Arthur Scrat is crazy enough to look forward to it (he'd portage around the waterfall, FWIW).

Well, in other news, the long-awaited Connection to the local Deer population is finished! You haven't connected to any of them quite as emphatically as you connected to Arthur Scrat, but you can feel them slowly gaining comfort with both your presence in their minds, and the new strange concepts and thoughts that your presence brings. At any rate, they seem happy to have lots of tasty food - and forewarning for all the traps that you're setting with the Squirrels. Indeed, after a wolf was chased out of your part of the Forest by said traps, the Deer quite like the idea of helping… Regardless, when you ask them to… fertilize… certain locations, and trim the definitely-getting-overgrown vines, they're more than happy to do so. (Connect to Deer - finished! Finishes Clever and adds +1 (after bonuses) to all current Growth projects.)

And with the help of the Deer, you have barely managed to finish growing your second Clever Tree! This was a definite help to all your Research projects - and particularly it did whatever it could to offset the strangely low progress in Basics of Magic (again, you wonder: does the excitement of the turn disturb your calm, quiet, contemplation? Or is it just chance?). (GM Note: Just chance unless I decide otherwise later.)

Finally, on the list of exciting successes, you have picked up enough of the Elves and Humans language to be able to Negotiate with them whenever you feel like it!!! Further, you have learned some things about this… this Newton Village. Aside from Old Man Materson (as the locals call him), who lives back in the woods to the northeast of the village, there are four families: the Grimms, the Tavishes, the Millers, and the Yuadores (pronounced "ya a door"). Granny Miller is the closest thing they have to a true leader, apparently because she's amazing at delegating (and too annoying to cross without good cause). As part of said delegating skill, in case of danger she immediately delegates to the eldest Grimm son and his father, who have led the village to safely repel monsters in the past. As part of being good leaders, they in turn make a point of immediately grabbing Old Man Materson and Mr. Tavish - the scariest and second-scariest people in a fight, due to experience and magic (and probably other things in Old Man Materson's case - though you're not quite sure what yet).

The villagers raise most of their own food, but do occasional bits of mining for some vaguely-magical shiny rocks in some woody hills filled with huge boulders to their north. They trade those rocks, and use the paths to bring those (along with any spare food or goods) to market - you have the impression that both Northern and Southern paths eventually lead to cities, but also that the two cities are quite different. Elves and Humans seem to get along quite well, at least in this village - you get the feeling that Elves don't live very long in Tree-terms, though still longer than Humans and way longer than Squirrels. Nobody local is particularly good with Magic, though Old Man Materson knows a bit and the widower Mr. Tavish knows a few cantrips. (Negotiation option unlocked! Further Reach Out To Minds actions will be looking for Minds that are not part of this village unless otherwise specified.)

The weather was good, with only one massive gust in a storm causing anything like problems. And the Shield blocked that with frankly contemptuous ease; it wasn't even strong enough to reliably damage the Forest without any shielding. (20 of 25 cumulative damage blocked by Shields.)

Preparing Dangerous Terrain continues apace, and is three-fifths of the way done. The Deer are planning to aid this action next turn…

Research into the Basics of Magic was unusually ineffective. Nonetheless, you are certain that your skill is growing, with every failure giving you a few more lessons learned, bringing you closer to your next major success. Attempts to expand the Forest also seem to have gone relatively slowly, with only the assistance of the Deer in curbing other plants allowing you to match your expected growth. An (alas) very token attempt at growing another Collector Tree has made no progress at this point - though, again, it's only a matter of time and effort.

More Resources were stored, and a stockpile of Thorns has begun! Enemies beware, this Forest is getting dangerous!

Researching Lens Trees is barely over halfway done now, and Researching Throwing Spikes has gone from not-started to essentially a quarter-done in a single turn. A Shield Tree, though only just now started, is all-but halfway complete!

Annoying Pollen was released, and one of the squirrels - while on the expedition along the path - was almost certain it saw a coyote sneeze despite the distance.

An attempt to create a Watchful Tree… erm… well, the sapling in question somehow wound up with eyeballs growing out of it, which then got infected. Which was not the desired result!!! By the end of it, you were lucky to be able to salvage that poor Tree, saving its life if not the effort devoted to growing it.

One Tree looked into wargaming squirrel-deer combined arms tactics! (Results positive, but details redacted until a future turn.)

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Actions:

Communication:
[ ][Action] Reach Out to Minds (Psychic)
-Successes sort-of stack. You're not sure how difficult this will be. Better results if more successful. Possibility of finding "there's nothing within X miles" - but even something like that will be good to know.
-0 successes banked.

[ ][Action] Connect to Local Wildlife (Psychic)
-Wolves - scouts? Bears - heavy combat? Beavers - creek work and construction? You know you've seen all these; you have only vague ideas on what to do with them.
-Feel free to write in a specific request. The Forest is reaching that point where it can target specific classes of animals.
-0.5 successes banked.

Research:
Note: Your Clever Trees grant you +20% on Research actions.

[ ][Action] Research Lens Trees
-16 of 30 successes; Lens Trees will give a permanent Growth Bonus

[ ][Action] Research Throwing Spikes
-2.4 of 10 successes; let's figure out how to throw larger Thorns!
-Like Thorns, but an Offense action that is thus capable of reaching beyond the Forest's borders. Also, it won't stockpile and will need to be done when an enemy is actually present.

[ ][Action] Basics of Magic
-22 of 50 successes; begin the systematic study of this, this Magic/Intent/whatever, that you're starting to use. A larger project, but expected to grant immediate benefits and unlock further possibilities.
-Most attempts to research the Magic(?) Sword are currently considered part of Basics of Magic. This may change when that action is completed. If you have a specific request, write-in your Action accordingly.
-Bonus from Clever Trees doubled for this highly-cerebral very-theoretical generally-mysterious task.

Survival:
[ ][Action] Store Resources Against Future Need
-25 stored; this will function as a spare HP pool against anything that gets through your Defense, and may be useful for other things

[ ][Action] Prepare Dangerous Terrain
-9 of 15 successes; this alters the Forest to be as dangerous as possible to intruders. Mostly it involves working with the squirrels to dig small pit-traps, plant sharpened stakes, and such. Between the Mind Trees and the new Clever Tree, you might even manage some snares, rock-fall traps, and maybe even a log-fall trap or two.
-This will be ineffective versus creatures significantly smaller than squirrels or larger than your own smaller Trees (about 15 feet or 4.5 meters tall). The first would require something more like a plague-resistance Survival Roll and the second… yeah, you don't have anything that would work versus the second, yet. Except maybe "position Magic(?) Sword under giant's foot and hope for the best."

Defense:
[ ][Action] Raise the Shield
-Use magic to defend the Forest. Effectiveness is generally fairly high, but depends on the exact nature of the threat. (Not effective against a plague of locusts or similar - that's a Survival roll.) Like most defenses, this does little to nothing if you are not attacked.
-Gains 2 automatic successes from Shield Trees, if at least 1 Player-Tree votes for this action.

[ ][Action] Stockpile Thorns
-Successes stockpile up to 10 times the Magnitude of the Forest. These will automatically damage hostile intruders that enter the Forest.
-2 of 20 stockpiled.

Growth:
[ ][Action] Grow the Forest
-This has a +25% bonus from Analyze Creek and Tree Placement until we reach Magnitude 3.
-17.65 of 50 successes to Magnitude 3

[ ][Action] Grow <Treename>
-Replace <Treename> with the name of a Special Tree from the Front Page. Variable cost. You can have up to 10 Special Trees per Magnitude of the Forest.
-This has a +25% bonus (and any Drought penalties halved) from Shore up Creek Banks until we have 12 Special Trees total.
-3.5 of 10 successes banked on Collector Tree.
-3.25 of 10 successes banked on Wise Tree.
-4.75 of 10 successes banked on Shield Tree.

Offense:
[ ][Action] Release Annoying Pollen
-Not a terribly powerful attack, but it could annoy invaders, at least. Like most attacks, this does little to nothing if you have no nearby enemies.

Focus

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

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

These Actions will receive a number of automatic successes equal to the Magnitude of the Forest (currently 2) and any bonuses from other sources.

Squirrel Actions

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

Deer Actions

This vote will be IGNORED, and the GM will add roughly 3-4 successes to categories of his choice (typically Growth, but others may apply; things that are about to finish will be prioritized), UNLESS at least ¼ of the voters place a vote in this category. That said, if you have a special mission for the Deer, by all means:
[][Deer] Explore the Plains
[][Deer] Explore the Path further South
[][Deer] Assist with <Action Name>
[][Deer] Lead a search-party in (write-in Direction)
[][Deer] Train for War
[][Deer] Write-in

Negotiate with Newton Village?

You can make contact with Newton Village, a small settlement of Humans and Elves. Do you wish to do so? If more players vote Yes than vote No, negotiations will begin - this will likely be its own mini-turn, depending on how the dice fall and what shows up in Turn 11! If you vote Yes, please write-in (on a separate line) any ideas for how you want to approach first contact, what you would be interested in learning/gaining, what you have to offer, and so on. If you vote No, feel free to write in ideas anyway, just in case:
[][Negotiate] Yes
[][Negotiate] No

Your Votes should look like the following:

[ ][Action] Action
[ ][Focus] Action
[ ][Focus] Action x2
[ ][Squirrel] Squirrel action
[ ][Deer] Deer action (very optional)
[ ][Negotiate] Yes or No

Newcomers should add one of the following:

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

This vote will always be open.