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

Turn 11 Results


Fields

[X] Harvest [Task] (1 Unhardened Colonist die, 1 Native die, 1 Unchained die)

When harvest times come, guided by Winter Walker's farmers more experienced with the Four Sisters, Unchained and Newcomers work from dawn to dusk to gather all the crops. Their arms grew wary before the seas of wheat and maize to reap, the countless beans to gather, the enormous squashs to pluck and carry with two hands.
They grew hazy in the herbs gardens, so many different roots and leaves to gather in specific ways, and so many poisons to be wary off.
But in the end, it is done, the herbs are dried, the crops gathered in the granaries, and the flax fibers are retting in the waters, ready to be gathered and turned into fabrics.
The Newcomers are in awe. So much food, enough for years ! What fertile soil ! Surely, with overflowing granaries, surely they will never know hunger again ! No matter how strange this land's Winter is, how bad could it be ?
They will learn.

++++++++ Food
+++++ Herb
+ 1 Unit of Fabric
The Unchained and Newcomers know how to harvest the Four Sisters.
The Newcomers have learned to work with others groups in Union, and are in good spirit…for now.



Wilds

[X] Rebuild the Peaceful Wilds
-[X] Further out [41/100] (1 Dead Die) (34+7)

All seasons, you can hear buzz and the sounds of small, chitinous legs.
Inside your spirits, carried by the spirits bound to you, the strange mass of the many-in-one minds of the Hives whisper what their scouts see, small beings flying and walking and crawling through the deep wilds, away from Union, where the land's twists and paths are few.
Each scout does little, walk a path mindlessly, munch on some dead wood in a path, devour a thorny vines, but there are many, more than you can count.
Slowly, as you try to fuse the visions from a thousand small points of view on a piece of paper, a map begins to emerge…

[X] Gathering Expedition [144, DC 20/80/120] (1 Colonist die, 1 Native die) (42+12;81+7)

Two years ago, the Winter Walkers would have balked at the idea of bringing one born in Europe to gather in the Wilds. They were brave, yes, but they were untrained, unprepared forthe Wilds and unaware of the Winter Walker's woodlore.

After many hunts, many expeditions, and many stories shared at night around the fire, they no longer balk.

The people of Union simply walked into the wilds, white and brown skins covered by dark colors, steps made lights and soundless, no words exchanged, only gestures of the Winter's Walker silent language.

They move and gather, without disturbing what may lie in the woods, without losing their way amidst twisted paths unbound by the logics of maps and distance.
When the sacks are full, they go back to Union, they go into the wilds again. In Union, they speak. Beyond, there is silence.
The silent gathering did go well, many new roots, leaves and berries filling even more already overflowing granaries and medicine reserves.

More importantly, more of the strange gifts from the wilds were found, as spoken in old Winter Walker's tales. I can hear them, the elders of the Walkers, through my ghostly followers, speaking of how the wilds have…opened, and places that where accessibles only a few times each generation can be reached now by any who know the ways.
Two of such ways were found, and will now be used by our wildmen. One goes through groves filled with black-barked trees, their feets, a root, of a blue so deep it seems black. The stories call these roots the Murderer's Roots, for one that chew on this root and suck on its juice will lose for a few days the ability to feel. No fear, no stress, no anger, less tiredness, but also no joy, compassion or empathy. This root earned its name when warriors used it to murder without remorse the childrens of a rival settlement, in long past days.
The others go to a clearing, with a soil of red clay. In the clay, one can find worms, small and the color of flesh. Those are the Roteater Worms, once used to heal infected and poisoned wounds, devouring rotted flesh and secreting a substance that helps wounds to heal cleanly.
Two new tools from the Wilds that will empower Union.
+++ Food, ++ Herbs
Obtain limited access (about as much as the Fireberries) to Murderer's Roots (temporarily eliminate feelings) and Roteater Worms (Good at healing infected woods and eating rotten things).
DC to find new Wilds ressources increase


[X] Purge the Vermin [Away With the Pests] [Risky]
-[X] The Tower of Eyes [Vermin]
--[X] Strike down the Node (Risky) [209/75] (2 Warrior's Son dice, 2 Son's Skirmishers dice) (86+17;11+17;16+17;28+17)

The people of Union could have faced head-on the Eyesvines, we could have won, defeating the hordes of eyesless thralls of the vines. It would have been brave, a thing of great battles and triumphs. It would have been pointless.
The Warrior's Son did not face the Eyesvines head on, he sent his Skirmishers to distract the vines, to garner their attention and thralls through small raids into their territory, before leaving Union alone. Like a ghost, he slipped through the distracted Eyesvines, and reached the Nodes, the tree-like vines, gorged with blood, and, importantly, with holes in them, like the teethless mouths of babies opening to suck.
In the right holes, he put small barrels of powder he brought with him, set them alight, and let each Node break in two, leaving them to slowly crumble and die under their crippled weight.
It seemed to matter little how much effort the Eyesvines spent in the patrols of their thralls or the watchfulness of their servants, for no ounce during the season was the Warrior's Son even spotted, acting more like a powder-bearing shadow than a man.
Now, voices on the winds tell the story of a shadow in the night, unseen and unfelt, bringing gifts of fiery destruction.
Still, it is done.
Without nodes, slowly, the Eyesvines are withering, losing their ability to spread, the eyes on them rotting and falling off like obscene parodies of overripe fruits, their thralls left to wander, leaderless.
All the lands and possessions of the Eyesvines are now up for grabs, and, perhaps more importantly, I heard a message, whispered by the Eyesvine bearing fruit in our fields. The Eyeless Lord is pleased, but otherwise occupied for now, however, I have earned one of his favors, and I can spend it how I will it.
He…was very specific that I, Sara Smith, was the one owning the favor, not Union…
And that I should come to meet him, as soon as I could…

Eyesvines Nodes eliminated !
The Eyesvines are withering away, their resources and thralls up for grab !
One favor owned by Sara from the Eyeless Lord of the Tower. Action using this favor unlocked. Sara receive an invitation from the Eyeless Lord.
Warrior's Son unlock dice trait [Shadow]. Any raid or expedition including [Shadow] dice will unlock infiltration, assassinations and others hidden attacks.


--[X] The Devourer Kingdoms [Vermin] [269,5/???] (2 Silent Blades dice, 1 Personal die)
((76X1,5)+7;(35X1,5)+7;82+7)

Somewhere, in the Wilds, lie the kingdoms of the Many-Limbeds Devourers, a land of rotting corpses and dead trees, slowly oozing the green of the life-eating acid of the Devourers.
It is a land of vicious fertility, where thousands of long, chitinous things crawl through tunnels dug out of flesh, wood and soil, seeking more to devour, more to breed, more to spread, like a cancer taking over healthy flesh without restraints or thoughts.
In this land, came death.
It came, carried by fleshless servants, their bony legs walking in perfect unison, like many limbs guided by one will.
It came, guided by ghostly eyes and ears, bodiless specters floating through lands and tunnels.
It came, in a vessel of flesh, a small, plain thing, with black hair and ashes on the face.

Tasting juicy flesh and lukewarm blood, the Devourers waited, until the awaiting flesh was in the middle of their domain. Here, when the prize could not flee, they came out, from all sides and from below, an unending tide of maws and chitlins, vast enough to submerge the walking skeletons, and use them as pathways toward the prize, seated on the back of one of the Blade, bit of girl on a skeleton one-time-and-half taller than her.

Size of the Devourers horde : 250

Then, Death revealed itself. The girl-vessel opened, sang without words, without voice, and a rang spread, like the bell of a submerged church, spreading through water. It spread from the vessel, through the skeletons, through the ghosts, even through even the Devourers.
For, beyond matter, all around the vessel, there was cool, dark water, like a deep lake of spirit, and those waters rose following the song of the bell, a wave of cold, pure water against the poisonous, chitinous tide of the Devourers.

The skeletons and their weapons came down with all the power of the wave, breaking apart the Devourers tide, the blades like a blur of cold, deadly sharpness, leaving behind half-frozen carcasses.
The ghosts acted, reaching in spirits into the Devourers, and ripping out life and strength from them, letting the wave flow and drag out the poisonous trickle flowing through each insectoid beast.
Even the land, with the dead trees and rotting corpses, reacted, shaking and moaning under the might of the wave, remnants of life twitching as a hope and a promise of better days spread through song.
Then, the cool wave receded, and the Devourers surged again, half-stunned and enraged by a song they could not understand, by promise that was not for them.

So it was, for three days and three nights, the chitinous tide surging forward, and being beaten back by a cool wave of power guided by the ring of a bell, by a song of hope that could be heard even by the dead

In the world of spirit, a thousand poisonous rivers were overtaken and cleansed by the seemingly endless flow of cool water, the rivers forced to feed further the lake, to make it grow larger, deeper, darker.
Until, finally, the tide of chitin ended, foot-sized swarmlings and two-man long broodmothers cut in pieces, their warmth and blood taken.
There were still Devourers below, skittering fearfully in dark, crumpled tunnels, but above, on the surface, Death had triumphed, and the bell slowly stopped ringing.
Again, the vessel of Death became Sara, with her ghosts and Blades, and now just limbs, the dark lake again hidden inside flesh.
—-----------------------------------------------------------
I fought without my body. I was power, flowing through many limbs, I was Sara and a lake and a bell and a song.
The Devourers have been mostly culled, now we must cleanse what remains.

Devourers culled, their territory open for gathering.
Their nests and tunnels still need to be cleansed (around 300 points of projects).
Poisonous rivers flew into a dark lake, their water cleansed. Sara has eliminated all tiredness.



Town

[X] Train Champions [70/100] (1 Unchained die, 1 Andreyas die) (7+7;49+7)

For a month and a half, Andreyas had trained the best men of Union's militia, to be…like his old friends. Like the people he had trained in the dark of the night, when they were still enslaved to the will of a greedy pig-like parody of nobility.
He had trained them into what it meant to be a champion, a knight, a noble. To be just, to be proper, to never show fear and to suffer silently for others. To be both a leader and example. To fight like lions, to lead, to be examples.
This is what champions were.

But even champions died, and in this land, could rise as monsters to be put down. Would the people he was training now suffer the same fate, he wondered, as he put them through duels, ambushed them to test their reactions, trained their ability to act quick and decisively at a moment notice, barging in their home before dawns and bombarding them with questions in their beds.

Would they fail, he wondered, even as he counted the days before Winter, knowing they were not ready yet. Would he have to put them down too, to allow himself a scant few days of sorrow, before again showing only strength, as a champion, as a prince, as an example ?

He could train them harder, prepare them harder…They, and their kin, would complain of sleepless days and hurt their minds and bodies, especially before winter, but they would be ready…

[][Training] Complete the Champions project through…intensive training [-6 Morale]
[][Training] not, let them rest. They will need all the strength they can in Winter.


[X] The Food Traps [26/25] (1 Generic die) (19+7)
--[X] The Flesh Traps [Free]

Despite their differences, there are similarities in the customs and stories of all the people of Union. Tales of spirits, good and ills, and how to distract away evil spirits and bargain for the assistance of good ones.
With the help of Failure's teaching, our people made use of the lessons from those tales, and made a false offering, to attract and hinder evil spirits.
In a mortar, the Fleshfruits are crushed, fleshy paste and blood gathered. Then, they are put under slow fire, to cook like a stew for days, until all that is left is a dark red, glue like thing, smelling faintly of rot.
The stew is poured into bowls, placed at each corner of our houses, and part of it is diluted, and used as paint, tracing faint red lines on our walls, leading to the bowls.
Attracted by the smell and following the lines, evil spirits without true intellect will go to the bowls and, if they are weak enough, be trapped inside, as they try to devour the power hidden in the red, heavy, sticky stew.
Unless we are heavily attacked, the stews should last for months, and may have use if we ever need to capture a spirit…
Flesh Traps created : the Red Stew. + Knowledge. As long as Fleshfruits access does not increase, other Flesh Fruits projects will be impossible.


[X] To protect animals [105/50] (1 Native die) (98+7)

Long before Union, the Winter Walkers had a long history of hiding and safekeeping things from Winter, the example of the Awakes and their hiddens ways inspiring them into creating many hideouts and stockpiles.
Now, they have put this experience to use, digging out multiple caves under the houses of Union, and preparing them for our animals, for turkeys, chickens, cats and deers, with multiple modifications born of their traditions.
First, most animals that can survive the Winter will enter a state of reduced activity during it, not quite an hibernation, more like a form of sleepwalking. As such, they have made the caves smaller than expected, but more numerous, and told us that if the chickens can enter this state, it will be enough for both them, the deers and turkey.
Second, the best way to hide living things from the gaze of Winter is to use a disguise of weak, interesting life. Moss and worms and others are put into our caves, to dissimulate the life of our livestock.
Finally, it is almost certain that the spaws of Winter will uncover in time that we hide our livestock, and it is almost impossible to protect them from monsters that can crawl under the earth, especially when most of the people of Union will be far more focused on defending their kin and town. As such, it is far more efficient to create multiple caves, to ensure not all our livestock will be whipped out if Winter is able to send its thralls in our animal shelters.

Project enhanced by over-roll.
Enhanced animal shelters built under Union, according to old Winter Walker's principles. Built for hiding and redundancy, and numerous enough for the current livestock of Union, deer herds included.

[X] Train the Militia against monsters [Militia]
-[X] Spread and Regroup [56/75] (1 Militia Die) (34+12)

Despite the best efforts of the old veterans in Union, despite a lot of screamings and a lot of screaming, most of our militiamen cannot yet keep their cool when they disperse, and the veterans are unanimous : they will not retreat, they will flee and rout.
Their solution is simple : more training.
Sadly, we do not have enough days before the sun sets for 3 months for such training…

[X] Patterns of Protection [163/125] (2 Colonist dice) (69+12;40
+12)

Jonathan Smith did not like the way the town was being decorated.
When he had heard at the town's meeting his niece explain how the townsfolk would have free time to help ornate the town with wards against evil, he did not think much of it, mostly believing it meant hadding cross and other holy images in the town.
When he learned from some of the mourners sharing the house with his niece (he had finally accustomed itself how the houses in Union where, more or less barracks with a few rooms per family) that she meant according to the teachings of the weird, gentle Moore that spent his times telling stories to the childrens, he was somewhat worried, but this "Failure" wore a cross, so Jonathan expected something…exotic, but still christian.
How wrong he was.
In a few months, at dawn before work, just before twilight, during rest days and anytime they were somewhat free of labors, the Johnstown's Colonists had engraved and paints the walls of the town with strange "patterns of protections", spirals and labyrinth-likes forms slowly covering the walls, floor and ceilings, some made of smaller little figures.
Now, his niece's door was covered by an engraved cross, made of smaller cross, imbricated in one another until the eye did not even know where to stop, how many crosses were on the door…
It was…tiring, for everywhere he looked, there was a pattern that made the eye wander and the mind hurt. It had even spread to the clothes and tools, and it seemed there were barely any hammer's handles that were not engraved with damn spirals ! Almost made him hammer his own damned finger, if there had not been the cold touch on his shoulder…he did not want to think of this.
His niece's people were nice, they were safe (he could admit there were less nightmares since the patterns had begun to spread), but they were strange, and tiring…
Those people had even taken to putting shells everywhere, wearing them as jewelry, and even suspended them on their ceilings, to jingle and make noise whenever there was any movement in the room. "To distract and to warn" they seemed to forget their annoyance.


A few examples of what Union's new style is like. I sadly did not find any cross made of smaller crosses


Overall, the "spiral-labyrinths style" has been invented by Union.
A somewhat disturbing style to the unaccustomed, this style use an abundance of simple, repetitive shape (mostly spirals-based and pattern arranged to form labyrinths) to help protect places and people. This style also tends to create optical illusion, make the eye wander and even cause vertigo if over-observed, an acceptable price for ease of use and efficiency.
This style will be spread at no cost on all Union-made or inspired ventures or constructions.
++ Knowledge


Craft

[X] Make tools for the Shepherds [1 Craft, 1 Mediocre Steel]

The Shepherds want tools, they want saws, hammers and shovels to construct defenses, they want knives, they want shears.
The tools are brought to the edge of Union's fields, Speaker as representative of the Shepherds following, then left her. Later, another thinking Shepherd comes, with a herd of Hairies, and the apelikes beings, under the Shepherd's command, take and transport the tools.
Speaker says his people are happy with what they obtained.

Promise of tools to the Shepherds fulfilled.


[X] Produce Winter Clothing [1 Craft, 1 Normal Leather]

At this point, making winter clothing, ensuring every part of it can fuse into one isolating ensemble, is routine for Nixkamich, and some have heard him claim he can make them with his eyes closed.
Still, we need more, so that everyone in Union may have a chance if they need to go outside during Winter.

1 More until all of Union has Winter Clothing available


[X] Produce Protective Clothing [1 Craft, 1 Normal Leather] (Will trigger a quality roll) (79-10=69)

As could be expected, someone who has never seen a plague doctor trying to imitate (and enhance, insisted all Autumn Nixkamich) give…strange results.
For half the season, Nixkamich was cloistered in his workshop, a constant stream of swearing ensuring no one even wanted to be near.
When he finally exited it, he presented to Union the results of his work : half-a-dozen heavy suits made of glued layers of leather, much like his Winter Clothing, with an heavy apron of leather, with the hands beings protected by gantlet-like renforcement of barks and woods, and the face covered with a heavy mask, a small beach allowing to stock herbs in it (like the beaks of the plague doctor's outfit).
Not something easy or comfortable to wear, but a good protection.

Primitive protective gear created, reduces risks of dangerous projects.
Efficient, but heavy and uncomfortable to wear.


[X] The Giant's Shield [2 Craft, 1 unit of Excellent Wood] (Will trigger a quality roll) (11-10=1)

The Giant's wood is exceptional, malleable when wet and rock-hard when dry.
However, immunity to worms is not part of its capacity.
When John Granit tried to carve the wood, and a swarm of fat, white worms began to spread out from the half-hollowed wood, his screams rapidly attracted his neighbors, who rushed to his help, thankfully preventing him from being possibly hurt by the creatures.
After inspection, our entire stock was worm-filled, prompting a rapid purge through fire of the logs. Those damn worms had even eaten most of the spiritual power of the logs, their ashes were just…ashes.
It is good for humility to remember how easily our projects can be thwarted by ill luck, I suppose…
Nothing, 1 unit of Excellent Wood wasted


[X] Ashen Paints [2 Craft] (Will trigger a quality roll) (82-10=72)

With the basis of the ashes coating, creating a real paint from ashes was far easier.
As the craftsmen explained to me, it is a remarkably simple thing : take wood ashes crushed into a fine powder, make glue from boiled bones, mix the two into one, and dissolve the mix in oil or liquid fat.
Beyond ensuring that the dissolution do not cause the ashes to separate, the main issue of this method is the sheer quantity of kills we would need to cover every inches of Union with the ashen paints, especially since the process should be done only with materials as clean as possible, if we do not want the power inside the ashes to empower potential unwholesome influence inside the materials.
No one wants to have their glue begin to move by itself. Again.
At least, we have a good stock of paints for Winter…

Ashen paints developed, stock prepared for Winter.
Further will not need Craft points, but (currently) require a constant influx of animal products of high quality.


Raids, Expeditions and Diplomacy

[X] A path towards the Hunter [160/100] (2 Colonist dice) (74+12;62+12)

Our hunters left to track a different prey, this time, one of our own, lost since the fall of Johnstown.
They tracked through a path show by the Winter's Walkers legendary ancestor, following the twisted ways of the Wilds toward the mountains and evading any dangers, from various beast, to an errant Lord or, more worrying, a procession of Tribute-Trackers, too numerous to ambush and carrying captured people.
Here, where the visions of the First Walker could not help any lounger, they found tracks, like a man walking on all fours, and found a cavern.
In the cavern, there was…something that was almost no longer human. A hairy creature, it's pale skin covered by a deep crust of dried blood and deep wounds, blacks and pus filled.
The thing did not speak, only grown, and moved with great speed despite its terrible wounds. Still, it seemed to recognise words of Gaelic, and the hunters were able to make it follow them to Union without harm.
The thing, who once was Malcom Steward, is now resting, eating food and slowly recuperating from his ordeal. He still does not speak, wear clothes or even clean himself, but I have hope he may become truly human again.
For now, I have seen him crush hardwood with his bare hands and break a large bone with one bite. If all goes well, his help will be precious in Winter…
The Once-man Hunter, who was once called Malcom Steward, has finally returned to civilization after 3 Winters alone in the Wilds.
Malcolm acts like an animal for now, but should recuperate in time, and still has the strengths and instincts that allowed him to survive alone in the Wilds.
Malcolm will help protect Union (in particular in Winter). Projects unlocked to help him recuperate.

[X] Block the Wound [54/50] (1 Native die) (47+7)

The Winter Walkers traveled toward the Wound with pods of Razor Weeds, made poles from the wood near it, planted them on the grounds in a circle around the Wound and fixed the pods to the poles.
Now, we merely have to hope the Weeds will grow well…and the Tribute Takers will not come near the woods.
Razor Weeds planted near the wounds



Knowledge

[X] Forceful Reciprocity
-[X] Free the Enslaved [40/100] (1 Alexandre die) (15+4)

From the Journal of Alexandre de Montfaucon
Translated from Early Modern French

My work on liberating the poor spirits trapped inside the stones and bones tools of the devil-worshiping Tribute Takers did not progress well this season.

I spent much of my time trying to use the tales of Father Gerome in liberating souls forced into bidding by Satan, but my efforts seemed to produce no result at all, and I seemed to be unable to find any specific biddings inside the tools.

I now realize that I did not find biddings because there were none to find. The poor spirits are not akin to a man jailed, but a man made eyesless and limbless, unable to move or act.

As far as I am able to perceive, the devilish works of the Takers ensured the spirits trapped in their tools were unable to move or even consider movings, and then filled with various curses and other dark works, giving the Takers a mean to transport spiritual works and use them without risks to poisoning themselves.

To liberate the spirits, first they must be cleansed, them healed, much like a poisoned man.


[X] Heal the Wounded
-[X] We shall patch the wounds of their vessels and ensure the trees are healthy [96/DC 30/60/90] (1 Colonist die) (84+12)
--[X] Write-In: Set aside a unit of Excellent Bark to be expended in this if it is deemed beneficial.

As far as the people who once kept forests in Europe could tell me, wounds in trees normally heal themselves, they only need to be made clean of any detritus, and the bark around them smooth.
Of course, cleaning inside the Wounded was far more…hectic than usual, needing people to climb on the trees and slowly clean with small knives and brush made from turkey feathers, a long, minutious, tiring and dangerous work (at least compared to any tasks done in Union itself).
Still, it is done, I can feel the Wounded being well-cleaned of material corruption (as always, spiritual corruption is far harder to clean…) and a plaster of crushed herbs and clay applied to prevent any of Winter's poisons from using the wounds to affect the Wounded.
All and all, good work.
The Wounded will have an easier and cleaner time healing their wounds, material poison eliminated from their wounds, a plaster applied to prevent any new contaminations.
The Wounded should finish healing in Summer of next year.
Excellent Bark not used.


[X] Rites of Death [246/150] [Death] [Freed] (1 Colonist die, 1 Mourner die, 1 Failure die) (76+12;69+12;73+4)

The issue of death in Union is extremely simple : In most of the world, when a person dies, their soul leaves their body, and goes to the afterlife.
The people of Union do not have this luxury, their souls will stay connected to their body, in the reach of wicked powers and souls.
To find how to defend the souls of the fallen stay untouched, Failure convinced the Council and Assembly that we needed to ask the more learned on ghostly matters near us : The Freed.
After some quick negotiations through ghostly messengers with the Nameless Priests, Failure, the Mourners and their selected assistants left for Deadtown.
They came back at the end of the seasons, blinking after spending months living with the mostly nocturnal ghosts of Deadtown. Their, they spend their time helping the ghosts in many tasks, especially hard labor during the day, something that is extremely hard for the Freed.
From observations and discussions they had with the ghosts with doing a variety of tasks to earn their stay, they have learned that most souls bound to their body are vulnerable to wicked power because they in most case enter a state the Freed know as the Fugue : the ghosts act like sleepwalkers, endlessly repeating their memories of life, a death farmer trying to harvest his fields, his arms going through the stalks without moving them at all. In this state, a ghost can be easily used by others and manipulated. Worse, through their repetitive actions, the ghosts will slowly shed their essence, weakening themselves and attracting the attention of spiritual predators.

They have learned of two ways to put souls to rest that can be done by living beings.

The first is to ritually put the soul to rest, either in a way that can be undone, through binding the limbs of their bodies, placing carved amulets inside the body and on the eyes, and chants, or permanently, through careful mutilations of the body (in particular breaking each bones of the limb, taking away the jaw and putting nails in the eye-sockets). Our people have been asked to perform the first to help tired souls go to rest, and have learned of the seconds only as a way to punish the worst criminals among the Freed, and presented the bound body.
This method ensures the safety of the soul, by hiding them from supernatural predators and making them hard to affect and reach. It is not perfect, but if the bodies are well-guarded or buried deep enough, sufficient.

The second method is to empower through offerings, songs, remembrance of their lives and other such actions the soul of the fallen. This allows the soul to break out of the Fugue and act like normal thinking beings, the Freed call this state being Awake.
According to the Nameless Priest, an Awake soul is "as vulnerable as any other beings in this land", and can actually cooperate with others. However, being Awake is not a permanent state, and there's alway the risk of failing back into the Fugue, like a tired man falling asleep standing up.
Worse, being Awake is hard, inherently tyring to the essence of a ghost, and the more they act, the more a ghost tire. This is the reason why the Freed are mostly nocturnal, for the light of the sun does not harm them, but make their actions more tiring and failing into the Fugue easier.

Rite of Peaceful Rest and Rite of Awakening discovered. The Rite of Peaceful Rest can be forcefully used on an unwilling or corrupted soul if their anchor can be found.
Overrol divided between Set up Deadport and What are the Freed ?



The Council

[X] Give power to the Assembly [102/ DC 30/70/100] (1 Council die, 1 Personal die) (22+7;66+7)

Extract from Early Days of Union, by Dr.Achak Faber

The Assembly, the body of the assembled people of Union, had at first little real power. Of course, the combined voice of the people of Union, especially when unanimous, would not be denied by anyone in town, but in practice, most town meetings mostly consisted of the Councilmenbers debating current issues, listened to the Assembly with the respect due to the wise and learned, and only interrupted by the occasional complaint from a member of the Assembly (for some reasons, the texts mostly speak of complaints of a certain Johan against his neighbors). Once the Councimenbers had finally reached a decision (with the Captain acting as occasional tiebreaker), the assembly would show approval to the decision, and that was it.
At best, the Assembly was a way for the leadership of the Union to be aware of the proposals, mood and desire of the people of the Union (the famous "Voice of the People").
At worst, it created a situation where the Assembly was nothing but powerless spectators of the (long) debates of the Council.
To solve those issues and give more importance to the united voice of the people, a group of Councilmenbers lead by Sara Smith, in one of her rare break in her tendency to not involve herself directly in debates (mostly out of fear that the deep respect the people of Union had for her would turn her in a de-facto queen) spearheaded a series of reforms to empower the Assembly.

Choose one level of reform.

[][Reform]Nothing
-2 Morale

[][Reform] Power of veto
The reforms gave the Assembly the ability to silence at any moment a Concilmenber proposal or someone's complaints : At any moment during the meeting, if half the people raised their hands, the speaker had no choice, but to spot, and give the speaking stick to someone else, their proposal instantly killed.

Streamline political process, +1 Automatically assigned die per turn. Some very unpopular decisions may be VETO.

[][Reform] Power of decision
To the Assembly was given the right of final decision. The Council could propose, could debate, but in the end, only a vote of the Assembly could make a decision.
+ 3 Morale, +2 Automatically assigned die per turn, increase and reduce the moral cost of some options (representing either following popular will or the efforts to convince Union's people of voting for an unpopular decision).Some very unpopular decisions may be forbidden.


[][Reform] Power of Law
In one of the first examples of separation of power, the legislative power was given to the Assembly, with the Council made an executive and advisory body. In practice, the Council still had great influence, as respected people, however, the fact they needed to convince the people of Union and lacked the power of laws would have a real impact on Union's.
+6 Morale, +4 Automatically assigned die per turn, increase and reduce the moral cost of some options (representing either following popular will or the efforts to convince Union's people of voting for an unpopular decision).Some very unpopular decisions may be forbidden. A priority will be assigned to actions each turn.


Beyond the increase in power, those reforms put Union on the path of gradual change that would have great repercussions during contacts with other powers. In particular, the fact that a member of the Assembly was anyone having proven their worth during Winter, irrelevant of any other considerations…

Union is slowly stumbling on universal citizenship. Will it be crushed like others historical experiments, or will it spread and prosper ?



[X] Funerary Practices [96/DC 25/75/125] (2 Council dice) (80+7;2+7)

It should have been hard to convince all of Union to adopt one, common way to deal with the dead, with different customs and the presence of newcomers unaccustomed to the necessity of Winter.
It should have been.
Until Jonathan Dirk died in his sleep, and the family of the old newcomer, fearful of "strange practice", decided to bury him under his house, according to their customs/
Then came the haunting, the moving furniture, screams heard in the night, nightmares…the old man was a veteran, and all his memories of war dominated him to death.
The family tried to endure it for a time, fearful to even act, but in time they came to me (preventing the need to forcefully act and intrude on their home) and I was able to sing the old, tormented soul to some calm.
Now, with this clear example of why we cannot deal with the dead in Union like in any other land, and why we need to have one, common way to deal with the dead, it was far easier to set official funerary practices.

Choose the Funerary Practices of Union, you may choose as many of the following options as you want.

When a person dies, they may be…
-[][Practices] Buried and… (choose as many suboptions as wanted)
--[] Subjected to the lesser Rite of Eternal Repose (bindings and amulets)
--[] Subjected to the greater Riter of Eternal Repose (mutilations)
--[] Subjected to the Rite of Awakenings
-[][Practices] Brough to Deadtown and…(choose as many suboptions as wanted)
–[][ Subjected to the lesser Rite of Eternal Repose beforehand (bindings and amulets)
--[] Subjected to the Rite of Awakenings beforehands
–[] Brough without Rites
[][Practices] Write-In

If multiple practices are chosen, the decision of witch to take will be given to…

[][Executor] The Summer Kin of the deceased (direct family)
[][Executor] The Winter Kin of the Deceased (extended family unit/defensive clan/neighborhood)
[][Executor] Their Chosen heir/representant
[][[Executor] By the deceased themselves, interrogated by a Death Singer
[][Executor]Write-In

Who, if any, can overrule the chosen funerary practices ?

[][Veto] The Council (simple majority)
[][Veto] The Assembly (One third vote)
[][Veto] The Captain
[][Veto] Write-In

What will be the punishment for unlawful practices ?

[][Punishment] Expulsion from the Assembly/Council (1 year)
[][Punishment] Expulsion from the Assembly/Council (10 year)
[][Punishment] Hard labor (1 year)
[][Punishment] 10 lash
[][Punishment] 20 lash
[][Punishment] Lose of funerary rights (Write-In witch body will decide how the guilty person will be treated after death)
[][Punishment] Write-In



Death Singing

[X] Teach the Shepherds (1 Mourner die)

In the Wilds, half my Mourners went.
For a Season, they lived among the Shepherds, eating the plants they gathered and what meat seemed mostly untouched by humanity.
There, they used the Breathless Songs on those of the Shepherds that still had thoughts, until they could feel how the soul moved, and learn how to use their own souls as a drum, beaten by the power of their spirit and carrying the songs of their feelings.
They thanked us for this teaching, even if my Mourners told me the Shepherds seem to have little talent in the Breathless Songs, for the practice, even if it did not help them regain their memories, seems to enhance the Shepherd's abilities to retain what is left of their humanity.
One of the oldest shepherds, one utterly wolflike beyond their retained ability to speak, told us that Death Singing reminded it of something it no longer knew.

Obligation to the Shepherds finished

Sara Smith, The Mourner

[X] Tales of the Saints and Heroes [20/DC 40/80/??]
-[X] Saint Lazarus, the Resurrected, patron of the ills and cursed (1 Personal die) (13+7=20)

When I was a little girl, my father came to London for his preachings, only for the plague to come.
My family spend the Winter cloistered in a small, dark room, praying, as 1 soul in 10 was taken by the plague, and silent, masked monks and nuns walked alone the deserted streets of the cities, collecting bodies and bringing what food and remedies they could spare to the people.
This is where I first heard the words of the Book of Lazarus, part of the books that are not directly inspired by God but have been recognised by the Church of Rome and the King's Church as the work of a saint. My father, a true Reformed, did not like the Outer Canon, and never used it in his preachings.
I know some of the life of the Saint and his principles, how he was felled by a plague unknown, that devoured his flesh, and was returned to the world by the Savior.
How he thanked Christ, but asked Him what he should do now, "now that he was no longer what he once was", how the Savior tasked him with finding those "touched by greater ills" and helping them like Christ had helped Him.
Beyond, there were so many tales of Lazarus and his wanderings, almost every village having their story of some poor cursed soul being saved by the saint.
But I wanted to do, truly, what to share with the people of Union the comfort I felt hearing the cants of Lazarus being chanted by the monks, when I was terrified by the plague.
I failed, I know it. My sermons were not…bad, I still was able to help the people find peaceful contemplation and peace of mind through prayers, but I was not able to…transmit the idea and example of Lazarus, what the saint meant to people facing plagues and curses.
I will do better

Action failed, Saint Lazarus will now be at standard DC (20/40)

—--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Winter Come,
Cold its dagger,
Hunger its poisonous drug.
—----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
8 hours moratorium

Blood Links projects will be available during Spring, after Winter is done. Blood Links may have unexpected use during Winter.