Try to survive the Winter: A planquest in Fantasy Colonial America

Preparations for Winter:

Food: The stores are nearly empty.
Heat: We have homes, and furs, but our fuel reserve have been emptied.
Defense: We need to rebuild the Wall, but the militia is ready. The gunpowder stores are low.
Knowledge: The Freed whisper to us about our foes. We have a few defenses, especially few against illness.

Resources:

Wood: Still a few reserves.
Tools: Barely enough steel tools for now. No way to make more.
Weapons: Enough muskets for a few dozen men, 4 cannons, some native weapons.
Herbs: Nothing.

Morale: 55/100, Steady (reduce chance of negatives event)

Dices:

Dices :
- Workforce :
-1 Generic dice (+2)
-7 Colonist dices (+7)
- 4 Natives dices (+2)
-2 Silent Blades dices (Silent Mind, Cold Blades: Those Dices represent near mindless, untiring undead fighters. As such, they will be automatically reduced to 0 when used on actions needing intellect, dialogues or cunning, but will obtain a strong bonus when used on action needing tirelessness, fighting, killing, and cutting) (+2)
- Specialist:
-1 Mourner dice (Little Gift of the Winter's Winds [Curse]: -5 to all Mourners dice) (-3)
-1 Militia dice (+2)
- Leadership: 1 Council dice (+2)
- Heroes:
-2 Personnal dices from Sara Smith (MC) (+2)
-1 Hero dice from the Warrior's Son (Usable for Wild and [Militia] tagged actions] (+2)

Green actions are Native Dice exclusive.
Red actions are Colonist Dice exclusive.
White actions allowed all dices.
[Death Singing] action need Leader Dices for now.

DC actions do not have progress, but a difficulty that needs to be rolled over by one of the dice used on the action for success.
[Task] automatically succeed if enough dice is attributed to them. A lesser number of dice mean a roll to see if the task is completed with fewer hands.
[Expedition] represents sending people on a long-term expedition during the season. The assigned dices are the people sent and will be rolled against various DC for obstacles during the Expedition.
[Danger] action indicate a risk for your people. In cases of bad rolls, can cause malus to dice, temporary loss of dice, or permanent loss of dice. [Danger] can be mitigated or eliminated with sufficient preparation. [/JUSTIFY]

The people are happy, they feast the new dawn, sing together, and enjoy new life and new hopes. I feel relief and contentment for them, for this new year of life offered by God to His children. But I am not happy.
People toast in my name, thanking me for my leadership, some even saying I am blessed by the Lord. But I am just a girl. I do not understand why people listen to me, and gain hope from my words. I do not understand why I can hear the Dead, and sing song for them. I do not understand how I saved the Silent Blades from Winter's grasp.
I feel…stretched. Everyday, I constantly hear tales from the graves, countless dead speaking in my ears. I can feel the Blades moving around, I am almost as aware of them as of my own body.
But I cannot stop. Winter is not vanquished, only temporarily pushed back. The dead tell me the Tribute Taker's hunger for more slaves and more tribute for their dark masters. And, as always, there is more. Our recent victory has changed the balance of the Wilds, so say the wises amongst the Freed. We were like the failing pebble causing a landslide.
Now the Wilds shift at breakneck paces, some of our hunters report a prey a few paces away suddenly being miles away. And the tree wage war. Even our peoples can see giant trees fight and break in the distances, and some of our woodcutters must flee for they live when thousands of trees unroot themselves and march to new battlefields. We have broken the balance of power, and caused a war that we had no way of predicting.


Fields
What lies between the homes of man and the wilds Now filled with the remnants of Winter's servants.

[] Cleaning up [Task] (1 Workforce Die)
Our fields and town are filled with the remnants of the invaders, endless piles of edges-covered husks making obstacles to the townsfolk's labors. If we want a good sowing season; we first need to clean our fields and collect all the husks in one place.
You can take additional actions to deal with the husks.

[] Sow the Fields [Task] (2 Colonist Dices, 1 Natives Dice)
We have learned from the last year, and our people now understand how to sow crops into this strange, ever-fertile soil. Let's send our people and ensure another fat harvest for the good folks of Union.
Sow the Fields with the Four Sister (maize, squash, beans, and wheat/barley) and herb in the garden.
Additional crops may be sowed in the spring, for the prices of one additional Workforce die per option:

[] Razorweed
Razorweed was one of the great defenses of the Awake, so say the Winter Walkers, a climbing, thorny vine able to cut body and soul with nearly unhealing wounds. What I know is that the Dead fear it, for its thorns cut them as well as the living.Our scouts have found in an old Awake catch a stock of preserved Razorweed pods, the juvenile form of the plant, dispersed by the wind during spring and able to give birth to a full scale vine. Now, we need to decide how we are going to plant our stock.
-[] Plot [0/25]: By planting some Razorweed around pole into separated poles planted in the ground, we can have an easy way to provide Razorweed thorns and pods without unnecessary risk to the gatherer, however this has little to no defensive impact. Razorweed supply enhanced.



[] Blood Pact [???]
One of the Winter Walker council members, since the discovery of Razorweed, has proposed to try old rites of bloodletting, to adopt and integrate part of the wild into the land claimed by man. He says that once, domesticated Razorweed could strike on its own against an invader, and sparring members of the community. A rite of blood is never without risks. ???



[] The Wicker Man [21/100]
The scarecrow maker has come to me. She told me about a legend from her village. Once, the Devil haunted the land, poisoning crops, kidnaping children, and sending cold winds upon the village every winter. Then came a priest. The priest gathered every wicked and poisonous thing in the village, every poisoned grain and rotted branch. He wrote every sin confessed by the villager on many, many sheets. And, at the summer solstice, he builds a great man of wicker, where he puts every bad thing of the village. Then, in a great mass, invoking the Lord's sacrifice to redeem the sins of man, he burned the Wicker man. And after, the harvest was good, the Winter mild, and the Devil nowhere to be seen.
So, every Summer, in her village, a wicker man of wicked things was burned. And she wants us to do the same. ???

[] The Fruits of Flesh [0/25]
Strange are the fruits of the Eyesvines. The climbing, eyeseating vines produce fruits of flesh, that when cut apart, bled. There is power in blood, the Winter Walkers tell us. So some amongst the Council ask that a few Eyesvines be planted and well watched, to see if we can obtain blood and flesh without needing to take it from others. Trials planting of Eyesvines



Wilds (+1 to rolls)
The places that we do not control. It has become a battlefield for the trees. We have begun restoring the old way and safe hunting grounds of the Winter Walkers into the Wilds, even if the moving battlefields of the woods menace them.



[] Hunt
Bring death into the wood and bring back meats and furs home. We need to live. And we have foe in the wilds.




[] Fish [0/50]
There is life in the water. We can take a little for us and give death in exchange. + Food

[] The Fall (??? DC) :
A creature of power has been felt, and its death cry heard miles around. This is not normal, even less that the killer did not claim the corpse, left to rot. We could send scouts to find what happened, even if the remnants must have been devoured by now. Information, ???


[] The Awake Circle [Expedition] [Danger] :
We have found the emplacement of a hidden old training ground of the Awake, filled with their secrets and treasure. It lies at the end of hidden, misty paths, at the edge of the old Winter Walker domain. If we can travel those past without being lost in the mists, escape the Awake's traps and triumph over the shades of ancient wardens, the bounty of centuries could be ours. If. Know loots: Awake lore, magical weapons, and items.

[] Rebuild the Peaceful Wilds
There is much to do to restore what once was a land where children could play into the woods without a guardian. To work, then.

[] Gathering Expedition [DC 20/60/90]:
Razorweed as show to the Council the value of the many strange plants lying in the wilds. They are ready to send some Winter Walkers gather what they can and hope for another growing weapon against the Winter. At worst, they should bring us some food. + Food, + Herb, additional crops, and plants options.

[] War in the Woods
The Woods are shifting, moving. I can hear trees waging war against each other in the dept of the wildlands. We need to walk into those battlefields and bring back a bounty of firewood if we hope to survive.

[] Steel and Gunpowder [Militia] [???]
It is undeniable that steel and gunpowder saved our people for two Winter. It is also undeniable that we lack the resources to produce more. We do not have iron,saltpeter, and sulfur. Even before thinking about producing more, we need to find and secure deposits of these precious resources.
Time to send the scouts further than ever.
Prospect for resources, in particular iron, saltpeter, and sulfur.
[] We need allies [???] [Risky]
We are alone, surrounded by foes on all sides. We have friends, yes, but no living friends. Some argue that, since we proved our might by surviving two Winter, it is time to seek allies amongst the communities surviving Winter.
We shall send the scout…
[] Purge the Vermin [Away with the pest] [Risky]
We have found the lairs of the beasts that pollute the lands and menace our people. We shall fight them until they are no longer a threat.


Settlement
The homes of man, where our children are raised. This is all that we have, this is what must be defended.

[] Rebuild the Stockade [Militia] [0/50]
Despite the labor of the godly folks of Union, our walls have been breached and cut away, and our new task shall be to make them anew, to weather the next assault of the beast of the pits and the ill wills of Winter. Rebuild the stockade.

[] A Stronger Wall [Militia] [0/150]
The defensive wall raised last year has proven insufficient to spot the Devil's servants from spilling inside our good town. According to the voices of those wise in the ways of battles, we should prevent a repetition of this failing by rising a tall palisade of reinforced stakes surrounded by a deep ditch around our town, with enough strength to be able to endure for a time even the might of the Lords of the Wilds. Build a reinforced defensive wall, - Wood

[] Principle of Monster-Hunting [Militia] [0/50]
One thing shown by our fight last Winter is that the forces of Winter cannot be fought only with conventional tactics. We need to devise tactics against swarms, against beasts able to break our walls, against flying foes and against creatures that cannot be simply broken apart or filled with lead. Develop new tactics against unconventional foes.

[] Train Scouts [Militia] [0/75]
The New World is vast, and dangerous. Our people cannot simply move as an army and destroy our many foes before they can strike the innocents. But our hunters last year, when they explored the Wilds and killed the vermin waiting near our lands, showed us another path.
By mixing the traditions of the Winter Walkers and of Old-World skirmishers, we could create a force from our hunters of light militiamen able to scout into the Wilds, warn us of invaders and harass our foes in the good seasons to make them weaker in the Winter.
Generic Workforce Die turned into 2 Specialist Wild Dices. Enhanced warning system. Bonus to offensive actions and harassment. Results will be strongly influenced by the dice used.


[] Atelier [0/100]
Smithing, Weaving, Woodcarving, Stone Cutting, there are many crafts that could help us, and just not enough resources for them all. Let's gather all we can into a large, safe hall, protected from the elements and with safe hearths. Put the craftsmen back to work. -Wood, unlock most crafting options, ???

[] Town Hall [0/100]
For two Seasons, the Council and the Folk have gathered outside to deliberate, to pray, sometimes even to eat. As such, every gathering is at the mercy of the weather, and most gatherings are inefficient. We should build a Town Hall able to shield under its roof most townsfolk. This would give us a safe place for gatherings, a place for me to preach, as well as a last line of defense if our Winter foes break into Town. – Wood, +1 Council Dice, +5 Morale, unlock additional Organization options.

[] True Homes for a True People [0/150]
We could build better homes for our peoples, with more spaces, more warmth and stronger walls. It is probably not the time for such a thing, but our people would greatly enjoy better living conditions. – Wood, + Heat, +5 Morale

[] A place of Death [Death] [Spiritsm] [0/75]
The Freed are far, and I need to strain myself to hear them. For the Mourners, it is worst. If we truly want to be able to coordinate and communicate with…our new allies, we should dig a place underground where we can protect the remains of a few Freed, so that they may be next to us. It should also help train people to deal with the dead, even if it will fill their hearts with fear. Better Coordination with the Freed Ones, additional [Death] option, -5 morale.

Knowledge
Much to do, much to learn, and never enough time. I understand now why the elders are so impatient.

[] The Fallen Homes, Part 2 (old settlement) [Death] [0/100]
The second step of our sworn duties to the fallen is to build meetinghouses for their kind, made of dead wood and shielded with ashes and salt, and bring and arrange their remnants to those places until they can hold a meeting and court unmolested in their halls of the dead. Build appropriate housing for the Freed.

[] Scout a murdered Home [Danger] [??? DC]
There are a few places where our people still hear the screams of the dead, and the Winter Walker's old home is one of them. This is a town sacrificed by the Tribute Taker, home of the Flayed Court. We will need to clean up this place sooner or later, but before we need to know what to expect. The scouts will not like this. Information on the Flayed Court

[] Burn the Lesser Pit [Expedition][Danger]
Last season, our scouts have found part of the Tribute Taker domain. They have also found a vulnerability. Amongst a few settlements of starving slaves, lie one of the pits used by the Takers priest, deep enough into Taker land that it is nearly unprotected, and away from the water. If we want to hinder the Takers before they attack us, and learn more about them, we should strike this place. The plan is simple: get in without being noticed, attack at night, burn the place and leave fast. Damage to the Tribute Takers, Information, Occult item, potentially freed (?) slaves.

[] Study the Tribute Taker's tools [Progress 0/75]
Dark stones, charred bones, bloodstained ritual rugs. This is what the Tribute Takers used to pollute the land, torture Winter Walkers into specters and enslave beasts, spirits, and men. I need to find how to unmake those blasphemies. + Knowledge, Information on Tribute Takers's occults practices, new Occult options.

[] The Mindless Ones [Death] [???]
The Silent Blades are almost mindless. They are much like the husks that attacked us, empty vessels going through the motion of existence. So, what allows beings bereft of wills to moves and acts? What guides them, what moves them? And how did my song bring such beings to our side?
Better understanding of the nature of mindless undeath, what drives them and how to control them.


[] The Ashes [Death] [0/25]

Ashes touch Death. Those who put ashes on themselves can hear them with greater ease, and when I put ashes on myself, I feel like one of the Dead. In the ashes reside the broken souls of what was burned, and perhaps their suffering too. We need to know more. Information on ashes properties and potential use.


[] The Nature of Mourning [Death] (Mourner and Personal Dice Only) [? DC]

The Mourning is what separates me from my people. It is what allows me to hear the dead, to touch them, to feel what they feel. The Mourners tell me that they can feel it too, the call of beyond. A feeling of having a soul…less bound, that can shift around in their bodies.

What other effects are caused by Mourning? What separates truly a Mourner from others? What causes someone to become a Mourner? Can a Mourner become normal again? Many questions to answer. Information on Mourning
[] The lesser Curse of Cold [? DC]
The Mourners have been touched by Winter. Where I could once feel emptiness inside them, holes bored by sorrow and pain, there is now an everlasting cold, that follows them everywhere. They do not know warm, even if they put their limbs into an open fire.
We must understand what happened and find a way to help them.
Understanding of the curse of cold

The Council
The Council has a lot of work before the Winter, too many conflicts have accumulated, too many decisions to take.

1 Council Dice this turn. Council dice can be used on Council action or on General Action.

[] Put the children to work (Automatic success)
Children should not work too hard, they should be allowed to grow and play. However, they will not be able to any of those things if the settlement does not survive the Winter. We could put them to work, even if I am disgusted by the idea. Add one Children Dice, that can be used as a colonist dice instantly (if you took this option on your plan, you can assign the Children Dice in the plan), -5 Morale.

[] Ashen Mass [Spiritism] [? DC]
It has been proposed by some to try to repeat the effect of the prayers and songs that broke the curse last season. The council members propose a great mass for the dead, with all the community present. At minimum, it should help unite the people. Institute regular Mass/Collective prayers/ Spiritism seances

[] Solve disputes [? DC]

Who own what, what faith is the good one, what way of eating is the right one, is this man a thieve, is the head of a household the father or the mother? I have no answers, even will I urge for unity and understanding.

It is the duty of the Council to solve those disputes before they become something worse. Begin to work on solving two seasons of disputes and cultural clash.

[] Questions of leadership [? DC]

Spring and the crisis have shown how the whole command structures of our town can be paralyzed in one strike in this land.
Now we need to find a way of command that will prevent our settlement becoming like a headless chicken as easily. We need to decide how decisions are taken, and how one obtains authority. Rationalize the structure of the settlement beyond an ad hoc survival system.

Sara Smith, The Mourner
Once again, I am captain. I have ashes upon my face, and doubt in my heart, and I give hope to the living and the death. I do not stop, for I have failed. May the Lord forgive me as my people already have.

(Only Personal Dice can be used on Sara Smith actions)

[] Practice the Breathless Songs [Spiritism] [Death Singing] [40/?? DC]

When I sing for the dead, I do not sing only with my voice. I… shift my spirit, move it in myself, I make it thrum like a cord and boom like a drum, so that what I want to share of myself resonates until it reaches others. I need to train, and I need to understand what I do. Enhance Death Singing

[] Teach Death Singing [Death Singing]

I could try to see if I can teach others how to make the soul thrum and ring and sing without breath. It will not be easy for those that have not been touched by death or are not in Mourning. Their souls do not…shift.

Where should I seek my students?

[] Shepherd for Corpses [Death Singing] [0/150]

I shall go into the wilds and sing the song of Hope. I shall walk to the place where the broken dead lie, souls in tatters and broken bodies. I shall sing, and bring them back, to become a new flock. For such is the duty of a Shepherd. Earn a Dead Dice

Where will I go?

[] Preach: This is my duty, what I know how to do, the destiny chosen for me by the Lord. I shall preach, I shall give hope, give strength, I shall make people remember that they are more than what they think. I shall preach…
Unlock additional morale and hero recruiting actions.

[] Listen to the Stories [? DC]

I no longer fear sleep. When I sleep, I forget the pain of all those I lost, and I hear stories from beyond. Old dead ever telling tales of their lives, spread by the winds. I can seek solace in sleep, and hear stories long forgotten. Help Sara's mental state. Learning opportunity.

No moratium.