This bit, you mean? Where we explicitly declare that punishment is necessary and must be carried out, but with care to what it does to the punisher, as well?
We're not going to evolve Observance by dismissing a hypothesis without evidence, or if we are, it's not going to evolve in a happy direction.
The Ymaryn don't have a historical body of knowledge of things that don't work, and we're not going to be able to skip building one.
Yes, we went against the Equal Punishment aspect of Eye for an Eye, but did not reject that punishment was necessary
Look at the options in context of Observance:
[] Examine Star Mirror (possibility of disrupting holy site, ???)
-Evidence: Babbling Man said something about Black Mirror(Star Mirror) and Sun Spear(divine weapons)
-Conclusion: Go check out the Star Mirror, maybe there's something hidden in the water.
-Provability: None. Conclusion cannot be disproved even if people find nothing here.
-Mechanics: Secondary Survey(Star Mirror) or Study Stars
-Outcomes:
--Potentially destroy the holy site in the process, with unknown social backlash.
--Potentially locate a special resource
[] Examine Bleeding Cliff (possibility of disrupting settlement activity, ???)
-Evidence: Babbling Man said something about Bleeding Vein(Bleeding Cliff) and Sun Spear(divine weapons)
-Conclusion: Go check out the Bleeding Cliff, maybe there's something wrong with the metal.
-Provability: None-negative. Conclusion cannot be disproved even if people find nothing here. People are already negatively inclined towards metal.
-Mechanics: Secondary Survey(Bleeding Cliff) or Study Metal
-Outcomes:
--Potentially damage Economy gain of settlement
--Potentially reinforce metal superstition
[] Stockpile resources for the return of the Doom Comet (+1 Stability if over 5 Econ by mid-turn next turn, ???)
-Evidence: Babbling Man said something about Sky Streak(Comet)
-Conclusion: Comet is coming, we should prepare for it.
-Provability: Yes. Simple observation of the skies will prove things:
-Mechanics: Free Grand Sacrifice equivalent if requirement made. Will lock next turn out of most military or infrastructure buildup.
-Outcomes:
--If Comet and prepared: Strongly establishes new superstition that brain damaged or otherwise insane people are a valid source of prophecy.
--If Comet and not prepared: Major unrest will result.
--If No Comet and prepared:
---If nothing else goes wrong, belief disproven. Observance upgrade event.
---If something else relating to the words(so Metal mostly) goes wrong, belief arises that the omens were misunderstood, but that he was correct. Establishes new superstition that brain damaged or otherwise insane people are a valid source of prophecy.
---If something else unrelated to the words goes wrong it's a tossup.
--If No Comet and not prepared:
---If nothing else goes wrong, belief disproven. Observance upgrade event.
---If something else, belief arises that ignoring the omens caused whatever happened. Unknown superstition gain chance.
[] This man is sick, care for him but ignore his ramblings (???)
Evidence
-Evidence: Man takes head injury, becomes Babbling Man after botched surgery.
-Conclusion: He needs further medical treatment, see what's wrong with him. Also that Carrion Eater who mucked it up should be disciplined.
-Provability: Conditional. Further medical treatment may relieve his issues. Or just kill him.
-Mechanics: Secondary Study Health
-Outcomes:
--Potentially improve surgical techniques or caring for the mentally ill.
--Establish precedent that babbling or insane people are in need of medical care, not possessed by the spirits.
Now here's the big sticking point:
-This guy is a chariot driver. Not a shaman. He has no exposure to the necessary information to come to a brain damage induced flash of insight.
--Star Mirror - He might have visited there once.
--Bleeding Cliffs - The only basis for this is that the new settlement to obtain Starmetal is the talk of the country. I.e. it's just gossip. Odds are he's just talking about literal bleeding veins, what with being a warrior.
--Comet - He is unlikely to be literate enough to comprehend astrological records. This is a warrior. Not a carrion eater or blackbird.
So basically, he's uh...actually looking at his ramblings he's basically repeating recent public concerns.
