DevilsAdvocate
Always follow the golden rule.
[X] Broken Wing Reaching Out. Looking up to the sky in wonder with wings outstretched, reaching for something he never got.
- Location
- United States
[X] Wisla Highnote, peacemaker. She was the voice of their god's teaching and wisdom. She kept the people at peace with each other.
- Location
- MN
[X] Broken Wing at Rest. Serene in his eternal slumber, his short life no less great for how it was cut short, at peace without pain.
- Location
- The World
[X] Broken Wing Reaching Out.
She is not Vail's chosen
Rockeye
Plausible Engineer
- Location
- Midwestern U.S.
Maso Quickhand is more than happy to try his hand at building a large shrine. The design he lays out is not a truly grand place to match the creations of the gods, the beauty of the world and its people, but it's still very impressive. Building it is a little tricky. To fully realize his vision for a good building, he needs a lot of sturdy, straight timbers. Getting those requires cutting up the trunks of healthy trees, not just using the smaller branches. It takes at least a full day of work to fell a solid tree with stone tools, and another two days to de-bark it, and yet more time to turn the heavy round wood into something that can be used for building.
"But the real problem is moving the big timbers around," he muses. "We have Gooma, that Malan. They do well enough for carrying the logs around to make one or two buildings but it's not enough to make this kind of constructing something every Valki can do."
He walks in circles around a felled log, considering it. The piece of wood doesn't look that huge or heavy, but he knows it would take at least ten or fifteen Valki to shift it even slightly. Getting a grip on it was really the hard part, and slowly a mental image formed in his head... He'd noticed while playing with toys as a kid that it was easier to pull something tied to a flexible plant stalk along the ground than to push it, since it would dig into the earth if you pushed.
"...Reeds? They are thin and weak, but many sticks together are strong. Many reeds together..."
He flapped excitedly into the air and flew in circles, looking for a certain kind of plant. Once he found some, he went off to his workshop like a thrown rock. His neighbors waved and called out to him in amusement. Something's ruffled Maso Quickhand's feathers again, they said, what's he going to come up with this time?
What he came up with was rope. It didn't take long for people to realize the usefulness of it, even if at first his tied-together bundles of plant fiber were weak and fell apart. He figured out ways to weave them into each other in short order, taking inspiration from the wicker-woven furniture and baskets that were becoming common among the Valki. He looked at finding better plant fibers, and treating or coating or otherwise processing them to make better rope and came up with a couple of improvements.
A good rope had a hundred uses, starting with pulling things behind you to keeping bundles of sticks together and other methods of carrying or moving things. By weaving it into nets in a similar way to baskets you could make bags for carrying things that were flexible and light, good for fruit and amulets and such even if they wouldn't hold small objects like grain. The hunters figured out that rope and sticks and a bit of cloth could make a nice temporary shelter, and you could use rope to help lift and carry things when building structures.
It was a useful invention. Maso's mother Luma tried to corner the market and secure more influence by having him train a bunch of rope-makers under her employ, but it was simply too good and too easy to make. The secret got out and while some crafters personally loyal to Luma made a lot of good rope and grew her wealth somewhat, they did not have the monopoly on it she had hoped for.
Maso was not a particularly great teacher. He's happy to ramble and rant about building techniques to someone for a while, but his mind moves from thought to thought so quickly that the logic behind his decisions and explanations does not often make sense to anyone listening to him. Often the best they can do is remember what he says to do, without necessarily understanding why. But while he has no particular skill at explaining things, the buildings he designs and has others construct speak for themselves.
Though, the grand shrine really does speak for itself. Due to the limits of the easiest and most natural ways of putting things together, most buildings were either very small, barely two or three wingspans across at the most, or made of flimsy interwoven sticks packed with mud that rattled in the wind and crumbled over time. Maso's shrine uses cleverly arranged wood timbers that rest on top of each other to form a large indoor space with room for dozens of people, a roof that you couldn't reach if two Valki stood on each others' shoulders, and a special hole in the roof that would allow a fire to be placed indoors without letting much rain and wet in.
The figure of Broken Wing was an inspiring one, reaching out and reaching forward even when he suffered. Maso Quickhand himself, hailed as a genius far and wide, very much admired the statue assembled from several smaller pieces of amber glued into place over stones, and gave speeches about its importance sometimes. It was an excellent piece of work and others were already emulating the large statue assembled from smaller stones.
Between the great mind of Malo Quickhand approving of it and the inspiring nature of a place for worshiping their legendary figures, plus how the gods seemed to be favoring the Valki with weather lately, it only makes sense that people grew more enamored with the idea that exploration didn't necessarily just mean flying to new places, but thinking about new things.
Spirit of Exploration --> Spirit of Discovery
Fly past the horizon to distant lands and think past the boundaries of current knowledge... Learning new things and seeing new places is one of life's greatest joys.
Pros: Improved chance of innovation (+4 to innovation rolls), Occasional uncontrolled exploration, Improved internal communication.
Cons: Occasional uncontrolled exploration, Increased recklessness.
Though the raising of the shrine did raise a question among the more thoughtful of the Valki. It was clearly good to worship and venerate the gods, to thank them for everything they've done. But should they only focus on the valki's own gods, or should they also pay attention to others - to Uval, Senys, and Nuum, the other gods who created the other peoples the Valki had encoutnered?
[][God] We should only worship Vail, the god of our own people.
[][God] We can praise other gods but Vail should come first.
[][God] The other gods and other peoples are the same as ours!
A large crowd was gathered in front of the shrine for the leadership selection. How leaders were chosen varies from place to place, but it's more fractious than usual in Broken Wing's Repose...
"...Gavva Leafwin. I recognize you! I hope your farm is doing well? Good morning!" Luma Quickhand smiled brightly at the man. "Who would you choose for the next leader of the Crest at Broken Wing's Repose?"
"I would choose Asil Wind-Reader."
"Oh, I must have misheard you. Surely you would like to vote for the one favored by our god Vail, who has been so generous to give you and yours a loan of fine food to strengthen you and refrained from collecting on the debt so far while you establish yourself, who has brought many blessings to the Valki? I must have misheard you, surely."
The man grimaced and chirred uncomfortably. "I- Would choose Luma Quickhand."
"Luma has gone too far now. She's a featherbrained bitch, and she's going to cause bad times. That was no proper selection at all."
"She's let her 'holy aura' go to her head. Building a good shrine was a decent idea, but everything else - finding those bones, the blessed weather these days, and her genius builder son - all that was just luck!"
"Who does she think she is to make people move on a whim and demand so much tribute. Using her debts and position like that, thinking that a few rowdy warriors will control us all..."
"More than a few people are badly annoyed right now. Even her favorite hunters seemed uncomfortable with the things she was doing. I think we have a chance to get rid of her if we can come up with a fairer way to choose the Crest."
"What would you suggest, Asil?"
"Well, the problem is that people are afraid to speak against her because they owe her, or because they're afraid of what those big hunters will do, yes? What if we come up with a way to let each person say who they would rather have in charge without revealing who they are?"
"...How would that even work? You have to speak up at some point and voices are recognizable."
"Hmm. Everyone gets a piece of wood, and in a hidden room there are three boxes with small holes. It's easy to drop a piece in the boxes but not to get it back out. You go in alone and drop the piece in whichever box is for the person you want to lead, then come back out. And then we open the boxes in view of everyone and count the pieces of wood."
"...There's got to be all kinds of ways you could cheat that."
"Well, it's better than letting Luma publicly threaten everyone into voting only for her!"
"I'm not saying that! I'm just saying we need to think about it more if we're going to propose this to deal with her or everyone will think it's stupid."
"Hmph. Well, let's think about it, and next summer we'll get everyone excited about this new method. There's no way she can object to it without looking even more unfair than she already does."
"This is a- A betrayal! Yes! A betrayal of the gods! Asil is destroying the proper way to do things with this insane performance!"
"It is fair, greedy Luma. You watched us count. You could see the boxes the whole time! You're the one who's insane if you thought you could threaten and bully everyone into following you! This poll shows the true feelings of our community."
"I am the one who made this place possible. I am the conduit of holy Vail, the creator. If you do not follow me, the weather will turn horrible again - I will have the respect I am due, or else the hunters who follow the correct leader will have to use force to change your minds!"
There were gasps at this, and everyone hesitated. Thaki, Luma's husband, was a fairly imposing hunter, if not as much of a legend as Haufi the Silent was. He looked grim, and half a dozen other hunters stood with him and Luma.
Ready to kill.
Nobody who saw it could say for sure what happened next. Perhaps Thaki struck someone. Perhaps one of the angry crowd threw a rock. But either way, suddenly everything was a chaotic storm of motion and kicked-up dust and shouting and screams of pain. The aftermath was clear, though. Luma and her seven warriors were dead, bleeding into the dirt and almost unrecognizable from the fury, and more than thirty ordinary men and women, farmers and crafters, were badly injured or dead as well. Most of those that didn't die right away became infected and suffered weeks of agony before they too perished.
Nobody was happy about how things shook out. Valki fighting other Valki was something that unsettled everyone, and went against the lessons of Wisla Highnote. This wasn't just two angry hunters getting a little too worked up and hurting each other, or even a raid on some small wanderers' nest to steal supplies or eggs... This was war in the middle of a settlement, in sight of a shrine.
Over the next few years things seemed more tense. Unstable. Many Valki were worried if such things would happen again if people were mistrustful enough of their leaders. Even though it made things worse in the short term and a lot of people were afraid it would cause more violence, the other two major settlements began using the anonymous voting idea that had been tried in Broken Wing's Repose, and various methods of anonymous voting slowly became the norm for choosing leaders for most Valki.
-1 Stability
Maso Quickhand grieved his mother's death for weeks, and felt a gut-wrenching pull whenever anyone looked at him with suspicion, as if he was going to take up his mother's insanity. Or worse - pity. He didn't need their pity.
"I'm not my mother's toy. I'm not helpless without her. I just... Loved her."
Triss hugs him tightly. He's lucky he still has her, even if his mother is gone now. "I know, my sweet. They don't understand you. You wouldn't have followed her, but you loved her. Like any mama's son would."
He sighed. "What do they want me to do, when they tell me it's good she's dead? Or that they hope I don't take after her? I just want to make things. That's all I've wanted my whole life."
"Not everything you wanted. There's me and our little girls."
Maso nods sharply. "Yeah. Sorry. Not the only thing I wanted."
Triss says nothing. She just keeps holding him, running fingers through his feathers, humming softly. Maso will keep living and move forward, no matter how his mother is remembered.
Like Broken Wing, he'd keep reaching for new things even though he was hurt and scarred. Because that discovery was part of what it meant to be a person, a Valki.
Time passes. Things felt uncertain and dangerous now, as many of the Valki weren't very happy with their leadership at the moment, but still people move on with their plans.
Planned actions this turn:
[SEC] Megaproject - Slithering River Levee. (Progress 5/6). -3 Temp Econ. Almost done--! Probable value shift upon completion...
[MAIN] More Craftsmen. +1 Wealth, -1 Econ, -3 Temp Econ
Available Actions List is here:
You have FOUR influence this turn. Please make a plan.
Influence can be used in the following ways:
Caution: Stability: 1/3. Low Stability can increase the chance of various problems. Stability below zero creates unrest. Stability below negative three creates serious problems even for a decentralized civilization.
"But the real problem is moving the big timbers around," he muses. "We have Gooma, that Malan. They do well enough for carrying the logs around to make one or two buildings but it's not enough to make this kind of constructing something every Valki can do."
He walks in circles around a felled log, considering it. The piece of wood doesn't look that huge or heavy, but he knows it would take at least ten or fifteen Valki to shift it even slightly. Getting a grip on it was really the hard part, and slowly a mental image formed in his head... He'd noticed while playing with toys as a kid that it was easier to pull something tied to a flexible plant stalk along the ground than to push it, since it would dig into the earth if you pushed.
"...Reeds? They are thin and weak, but many sticks together are strong. Many reeds together..."
He flapped excitedly into the air and flew in circles, looking for a certain kind of plant. Once he found some, he went off to his workshop like a thrown rock. His neighbors waved and called out to him in amusement. Something's ruffled Maso Quickhand's feathers again, they said, what's he going to come up with this time?
What he came up with was rope. It didn't take long for people to realize the usefulness of it, even if at first his tied-together bundles of plant fiber were weak and fell apart. He figured out ways to weave them into each other in short order, taking inspiration from the wicker-woven furniture and baskets that were becoming common among the Valki. He looked at finding better plant fibers, and treating or coating or otherwise processing them to make better rope and came up with a couple of improvements.
A good rope had a hundred uses, starting with pulling things behind you to keeping bundles of sticks together and other methods of carrying or moving things. By weaving it into nets in a similar way to baskets you could make bags for carrying things that were flexible and light, good for fruit and amulets and such even if they wouldn't hold small objects like grain. The hunters figured out that rope and sticks and a bit of cloth could make a nice temporary shelter, and you could use rope to help lift and carry things when building structures.
It was a useful invention. Maso's mother Luma tried to corner the market and secure more influence by having him train a bunch of rope-makers under her employ, but it was simply too good and too easy to make. The secret got out and while some crafters personally loyal to Luma made a lot of good rope and grew her wealth somewhat, they did not have the monopoly on it she had hoped for.
Maso was not a particularly great teacher. He's happy to ramble and rant about building techniques to someone for a while, but his mind moves from thought to thought so quickly that the logic behind his decisions and explanations does not often make sense to anyone listening to him. Often the best they can do is remember what he says to do, without necessarily understanding why. But while he has no particular skill at explaining things, the buildings he designs and has others construct speak for themselves.
Though, the grand shrine really does speak for itself. Due to the limits of the easiest and most natural ways of putting things together, most buildings were either very small, barely two or three wingspans across at the most, or made of flimsy interwoven sticks packed with mud that rattled in the wind and crumbled over time. Maso's shrine uses cleverly arranged wood timbers that rest on top of each other to form a large indoor space with room for dozens of people, a roof that you couldn't reach if two Valki stood on each others' shoulders, and a special hole in the roof that would allow a fire to be placed indoors without letting much rain and wet in.
The figure of Broken Wing was an inspiring one, reaching out and reaching forward even when he suffered. Maso Quickhand himself, hailed as a genius far and wide, very much admired the statue assembled from several smaller pieces of amber glued into place over stones, and gave speeches about its importance sometimes. It was an excellent piece of work and others were already emulating the large statue assembled from smaller stones.
Between the great mind of Malo Quickhand approving of it and the inspiring nature of a place for worshiping their legendary figures, plus how the gods seemed to be favoring the Valki with weather lately, it only makes sense that people grew more enamored with the idea that exploration didn't necessarily just mean flying to new places, but thinking about new things.
Spirit of Exploration --> Spirit of Discovery
Fly past the horizon to distant lands and think past the boundaries of current knowledge... Learning new things and seeing new places is one of life's greatest joys.
Pros: Improved chance of innovation (+4 to innovation rolls), Occasional uncontrolled exploration, Improved internal communication.
Cons: Occasional uncontrolled exploration, Increased recklessness.
Though the raising of the shrine did raise a question among the more thoughtful of the Valki. It was clearly good to worship and venerate the gods, to thank them for everything they've done. But should they only focus on the valki's own gods, or should they also pay attention to others - to Uval, Senys, and Nuum, the other gods who created the other peoples the Valki had encoutnered?
[][God] We should only worship Vail, the god of our own people.
[][God] We can praise other gods but Vail should come first.
[][God] The other gods and other peoples are the same as ours!
A large crowd was gathered in front of the shrine for the leadership selection. How leaders were chosen varies from place to place, but it's more fractious than usual in Broken Wing's Repose...
"...Gavva Leafwin. I recognize you! I hope your farm is doing well? Good morning!" Luma Quickhand smiled brightly at the man. "Who would you choose for the next leader of the Crest at Broken Wing's Repose?"
"I would choose Asil Wind-Reader."
"Oh, I must have misheard you. Surely you would like to vote for the one favored by our god Vail, who has been so generous to give you and yours a loan of fine food to strengthen you and refrained from collecting on the debt so far while you establish yourself, who has brought many blessings to the Valki? I must have misheard you, surely."
The man grimaced and chirred uncomfortably. "I- Would choose Luma Quickhand."
"Luma has gone too far now. She's a featherbrained bitch, and she's going to cause bad times. That was no proper selection at all."
"She's let her 'holy aura' go to her head. Building a good shrine was a decent idea, but everything else - finding those bones, the blessed weather these days, and her genius builder son - all that was just luck!"
"Who does she think she is to make people move on a whim and demand so much tribute. Using her debts and position like that, thinking that a few rowdy warriors will control us all..."
"More than a few people are badly annoyed right now. Even her favorite hunters seemed uncomfortable with the things she was doing. I think we have a chance to get rid of her if we can come up with a fairer way to choose the Crest."
"What would you suggest, Asil?"
"Well, the problem is that people are afraid to speak against her because they owe her, or because they're afraid of what those big hunters will do, yes? What if we come up with a way to let each person say who they would rather have in charge without revealing who they are?"
"...How would that even work? You have to speak up at some point and voices are recognizable."
"Hmm. Everyone gets a piece of wood, and in a hidden room there are three boxes with small holes. It's easy to drop a piece in the boxes but not to get it back out. You go in alone and drop the piece in whichever box is for the person you want to lead, then come back out. And then we open the boxes in view of everyone and count the pieces of wood."
"...There's got to be all kinds of ways you could cheat that."
"Well, it's better than letting Luma publicly threaten everyone into voting only for her!"
"I'm not saying that! I'm just saying we need to think about it more if we're going to propose this to deal with her or everyone will think it's stupid."
"Hmph. Well, let's think about it, and next summer we'll get everyone excited about this new method. There's no way she can object to it without looking even more unfair than she already does."
"This is a- A betrayal! Yes! A betrayal of the gods! Asil is destroying the proper way to do things with this insane performance!"
"It is fair, greedy Luma. You watched us count. You could see the boxes the whole time! You're the one who's insane if you thought you could threaten and bully everyone into following you! This poll shows the true feelings of our community."
"I am the one who made this place possible. I am the conduit of holy Vail, the creator. If you do not follow me, the weather will turn horrible again - I will have the respect I am due, or else the hunters who follow the correct leader will have to use force to change your minds!"
There were gasps at this, and everyone hesitated. Thaki, Luma's husband, was a fairly imposing hunter, if not as much of a legend as Haufi the Silent was. He looked grim, and half a dozen other hunters stood with him and Luma.
Ready to kill.
Nobody who saw it could say for sure what happened next. Perhaps Thaki struck someone. Perhaps one of the angry crowd threw a rock. But either way, suddenly everything was a chaotic storm of motion and kicked-up dust and shouting and screams of pain. The aftermath was clear, though. Luma and her seven warriors were dead, bleeding into the dirt and almost unrecognizable from the fury, and more than thirty ordinary men and women, farmers and crafters, were badly injured or dead as well. Most of those that didn't die right away became infected and suffered weeks of agony before they too perished.
Nobody was happy about how things shook out. Valki fighting other Valki was something that unsettled everyone, and went against the lessons of Wisla Highnote. This wasn't just two angry hunters getting a little too worked up and hurting each other, or even a raid on some small wanderers' nest to steal supplies or eggs... This was war in the middle of a settlement, in sight of a shrine.
Over the next few years things seemed more tense. Unstable. Many Valki were worried if such things would happen again if people were mistrustful enough of their leaders. Even though it made things worse in the short term and a lot of people were afraid it would cause more violence, the other two major settlements began using the anonymous voting idea that had been tried in Broken Wing's Repose, and various methods of anonymous voting slowly became the norm for choosing leaders for most Valki.
-1 Stability
Maso Quickhand grieved his mother's death for weeks, and felt a gut-wrenching pull whenever anyone looked at him with suspicion, as if he was going to take up his mother's insanity. Or worse - pity. He didn't need their pity.
"I'm not my mother's toy. I'm not helpless without her. I just... Loved her."
Triss hugs him tightly. He's lucky he still has her, even if his mother is gone now. "I know, my sweet. They don't understand you. You wouldn't have followed her, but you loved her. Like any mama's son would."
He sighed. "What do they want me to do, when they tell me it's good she's dead? Or that they hope I don't take after her? I just want to make things. That's all I've wanted my whole life."
"Not everything you wanted. There's me and our little girls."
Maso nods sharply. "Yeah. Sorry. Not the only thing I wanted."
Triss says nothing. She just keeps holding him, running fingers through his feathers, humming softly. Maso will keep living and move forward, no matter how his mother is remembered.
Like Broken Wing, he'd keep reaching for new things even though he was hurt and scarred. Because that discovery was part of what it meant to be a person, a Valki.
Time passes. Things felt uncertain and dangerous now, as many of the Valki weren't very happy with their leadership at the moment, but still people move on with their plans.
Planned actions this turn:
[SEC] Megaproject - Slithering River Levee. (Progress 5/6). -3 Temp Econ. Almost done--! Probable value shift upon completion...
[MAIN] More Craftsmen. +1 Wealth, -1 Econ, -3 Temp Econ
Available Actions List is here:
You have FOUR influence this turn. Please make a plan.
Influence can be used in the following ways:
- Affect Actions: One influence can change a [SEC] action the civilization plans to take into a different action. A [MAIN] action is made up of two [SEC] actions.
- See the Action List below for actions you can change the above actions to.
- Example: [SEC] Raiding Party: The Luwai at Mire Pass. --> [SEC] More Farming. (costs 1)
- Boost: One or more Influence can be used to 'boost' an action, making its results stronger or more dramatic.
- You can boost actions chosen by Affect Actions
- Good Weather: Spend 3 Influence to nudge the weather one "climate level" towards the ideal during the upcoming turn.
- Bank: Spend 3 Influence to bank one Influence (can be saved forever and spent at any time).
- Mystery Box: Invest Influence into an unrevealed mechanic. Access to a new mechanic will be gained when enough has been invested. Currently: (0/???)
- Unspent Influence will be wasted.
Caution: Stability: 1/3. Low Stability can increase the chance of various problems. Stability below zero creates unrest. Stability below negative three creates serious problems even for a decentralized civilization.
The Valki
Government
Informal Tribal Association
The leaders of the settlements occasionally come together to discuss matters of importance.
-Influence per turn: 1 + 1d3
-Civilization Actions: 2 + 1 per 2 settlement level
-Actions are chosen mostly by immediate needs and desires
Stats
Econ: 8 (5)
Martial: 2 (2)
Wealth: 1 (2)
Culture: 1 (1)
Tech: 0 (0)
Legitimacy: 3/3
Stability: 1/3
Centralisation: -3
Hierarchy: 1
Prestige: 5
Climate
Divine Weather (+2 Temp Econ each main and mid turn!)
Statuses
Currently none.
Diplomatic Relations
The Malan: Enormous bull-people seven to nine feet tall, with horns the size of a Valki's wing and immense, almost unbelievable strength. They respect strength and skill, frequently challenging each other for wealth, territory, food, and treasure, and considering refusal to give up what you were challenged for to be a grave crime.
Relations are a bit strained as wandering bands of Valki occasionally cause trouble for the Malan, out of direct control from the central settlements.
The Luwai: Lizard-people who creep through the murk and mire of the thick jungle to the north. They seem to value peace and forgiveness, are generally forgiving and expect forgiveness, and tend to view material goods as common property. They're trying to make peace with the Shuur, causing more Valki distrust.
Regular trade between Valki and Luwai keeps things civil, but there are cultural differences and it's still a bit tense.
The Shuur: Monkey-people who live in the tops of trees. They like fighting and kidnapping people, forcing them to work. They keep their word when they make a deal and seem caring to those in their own village... But have absolutely no compunctions about hurting or killing people that do not belong to their in-group.
The Valki are angry at the Shuur and see them as pointlessly evil, but don't see it as worth the trouble to go attack them.
Values & Legacies
Technology:
Completed Megaprojects
Amber Works
Cover yourself in the beauty that intelligent hands make from the world around them...
Reward: Value Split, Access to significant amounts of the Amber luxury good.
Synergy Reward: +1 Settlement
Government
Informal Tribal Association
The leaders of the settlements occasionally come together to discuss matters of importance.
-Influence per turn: 1 + 1d3
-Civilization Actions: 2 + 1 per 2 settlement level
-Actions are chosen mostly by immediate needs and desires
Stats
Econ: 8 (5)
Martial: 2 (2)
Wealth: 1 (2)
Culture: 1 (1)
Tech: 0 (0)
Legitimacy: 3/3
Stability: 1/3
Centralisation: -3
Hierarchy: 1
Prestige: 5
Climate
Divine Weather (+2 Temp Econ each main and mid turn!)
Statuses
Currently none.
Diplomatic Relations
The Malan: Enormous bull-people seven to nine feet tall, with horns the size of a Valki's wing and immense, almost unbelievable strength. They respect strength and skill, frequently challenging each other for wealth, territory, food, and treasure, and considering refusal to give up what you were challenged for to be a grave crime.
Relations are a bit strained as wandering bands of Valki occasionally cause trouble for the Malan, out of direct control from the central settlements.
The Luwai: Lizard-people who creep through the murk and mire of the thick jungle to the north. They seem to value peace and forgiveness, are generally forgiving and expect forgiveness, and tend to view material goods as common property. They're trying to make peace with the Shuur, causing more Valki distrust.
Regular trade between Valki and Luwai keeps things civil, but there are cultural differences and it's still a bit tense.
The Shuur: Monkey-people who live in the tops of trees. They like fighting and kidnapping people, forcing them to work. They keep their word when they make a deal and seem caring to those in their own village... But have absolutely no compunctions about hurting or killing people that do not belong to their in-group.
The Valki are angry at the Shuur and see them as pointlessly evil, but don't see it as worth the trouble to go attack them.
Values & Legacies
Spirit of Discovery
Fly past the horizon to distant lands and think past the boundaries of current knowledge... Learning new things and seeing new places is one of life's greatest joys.
Pros: Improved chance of innovation (+4 to innovation rolls), Occasional uncontrolled exploration, Improved internal communication.
Cons: Occasional uncontrolled exploration, Increased recklessness.
Cover Yourself in Beauty
The desire for beautiful things is what separates people from animals. Whether you create beauty or merely collect it, if you have pretty things all will be well.
Pros: Can spend Temp Wealth to increase Stability, Chance to passively generate Temp Wealth.
Cons: Increased greed.
Venerance of the Creator
Vail is the creator of the Valki. He watches over us and loves us, and he takes us from our empty shells when we die. Know this fact in your heart and trust Vail with your life, so that you can take to the sky without fear or worry.
Pros: Increased unity, Chance for Stability damage to not happen, Increased acceptance of death.
Cons: Increased acceptance of death.
Fly past the horizon to distant lands and think past the boundaries of current knowledge... Learning new things and seeing new places is one of life's greatest joys.
Pros: Improved chance of innovation (+4 to innovation rolls), Occasional uncontrolled exploration, Improved internal communication.
Cons: Occasional uncontrolled exploration, Increased recklessness.
Cover Yourself in Beauty
The desire for beautiful things is what separates people from animals. Whether you create beauty or merely collect it, if you have pretty things all will be well.
Pros: Can spend Temp Wealth to increase Stability, Chance to passively generate Temp Wealth.
Cons: Increased greed.
Venerance of the Creator
Vail is the creator of the Valki. He watches over us and loves us, and he takes us from our empty shells when we die. Know this fact in your heart and trust Vail with your life, so that you can take to the sky without fear or worry.
Pros: Increased unity, Chance for Stability damage to not happen, Increased acceptance of death.
Cons: Increased acceptance of death.
Technology:
General:
Weaving and wickerwork
Flight-carryable baskets
Rope
Agriculture:
Simple Ditch Irrigation
Construction:
Wooden frame construction
Materials:
Wood, Bone, and Stone
Resin
Weaving and wickerwork
Flight-carryable baskets
Rope
Agriculture:
Simple Ditch Irrigation
Construction:
Wooden frame construction
Materials:
Wood, Bone, and Stone
Resin
Administration:
Simple Grain Tax
Concept of Debt and Loans
Arts:
Amber Jewelry and Crafts
Carved Statues
Diplomacy:
Expeditions
Gifts
Trade
Leadership:
Tribal Council
Anonymous Voting
Simple Grain Tax
Concept of Debt and Loans
Arts:
Amber Jewelry and Crafts
Carved Statues
Diplomacy:
Expeditions
Gifts
Trade
Leadership:
Tribal Council
Anonymous Voting
Organization:
Hunting Groups
Theory:
Doctrine - Breeze
Weapons:
Spears
Dropped Stones
Hunting Groups
Theory:
Doctrine - Breeze
Weapons:
Spears
Dropped Stones
Completed Megaprojects
Amber Works
Cover yourself in the beauty that intelligent hands make from the world around them...
Reward: Value Split, Access to significant amounts of the Amber luxury good.
Synergy Reward: +1 Settlement
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- Location
- MN
[X][God] We can praise other gods but Vail should come first.
- Location
- Pennslyvania
- Pronouns
- She/They
[X][God] The other gods and other peoples are the same as ours!
I'll admit, I like a generally cosmopolitan, melting pot culture, and this seems like the way to go to achieve it. The themes of cooperation, everyone being the same, I enjoy that.
As for Maso, he is remarkably well balanced for someone who seems to be an eccentric genius! Things were going to come to a head sooner or later, and this is far from the worst outcome.
I'll admit, I like a generally cosmopolitan, melting pot culture, and this seems like the way to go to achieve it. The themes of cooperation, everyone being the same, I enjoy that.
As for Maso, he is remarkably well balanced for someone who seems to be an eccentric genius! Things were going to come to a head sooner or later, and this is far from the worst outcome.
Random Member
Gardener of Human Happiness
- Location
- Behind You
[][God] We can praise other gods but Vail should come first.
[X][God] The other gods and other peoples are the same as ours!
[X] MAIN More Craftsmen --> SEC More Craftsmen + SEC Distribute Pretty Things
[X] Boost SEC More Craftsmen
[X] Boost SEC Distribute Pretty Things
[X] Invest 1 Influence in the Mystery Box
[X][God] The other gods and other peoples are the same as ours!
[X] MAIN More Craftsmen --> SEC More Craftsmen + SEC Distribute Pretty Things
[X] Boost SEC More Craftsmen
[X] Boost SEC Distribute Pretty Things
[X] Invest 1 Influence in the Mystery Box
I am a fan of Maso, looking forward to reading more about him.
[X][God] We can praise other gods but Vail should come first.
The gods are real in this world supporting our own seems like a good idea.
[X] Plan sunrise
-[X] Boost [MAIN] More Craftsmen. +1 Wealth, -1 Econ, -3 Temp Econ
-[X] Boost Megaproject - Slithering River Levee
-[X] Invest 2 Influence in the Mystery Box
Stability drops have been rare until now so i like to wait a turn to get more wealth to spread around first.
Training more crafters will give Maso another chance to teach what he learned by increasing the amount of students he has.
[X][God] We can praise other gods but Vail should come first.
The gods are real in this world supporting our own seems like a good idea.
[X] Plan sunrise
-[X] Boost [MAIN] More Craftsmen. +1 Wealth, -1 Econ, -3 Temp Econ
-[X] Boost Megaproject - Slithering River Levee
-[X] Invest 2 Influence in the Mystery Box
Stability drops have been rare until now so i like to wait a turn to get more wealth to spread around first.
Training more crafters will give Maso another chance to teach what he learned by increasing the amount of students he has.
- Location
- St. Petersburg
Husband, surely?
[x][God] We can praise other gods but Vail should come first.
DevilsAdvocate
Always follow the golden rule.
[X][God] We can praise other gods but Vail should come first.
[X] Plan sunrise
Hope this works out..
Hey- May I ask what the other gods are doing? Like, what they are spending their influence on or how they view polytheism?
[X] Plan sunrise
Hope this works out..
Hey- May I ask what the other gods are doing? Like, what they are spending their influence on or how they view polytheism?
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- Location
- New York
- Pronouns
- He/Him
[X][God] The other gods and other peoples are the same as ours!
Cosmopolitan ho! Each of the races has value and meaning, close to the purpose and identity of their gods.
Cosmopolitan ho! Each of the races has value and meaning, close to the purpose and identity of their gods.
[X][God] We can praise other gods but Vail should come first.
[X] Plan Don't Pop The Econ
-[X] 2 Influence - Affect Actions: [Main] More Craftsmen changed to [Main] More Hunting
-[X] 1 Influence - Boost Slithering River Levee
-[X] 1 Influence - Mystery Box
Huh, looking at this they're spending their Econ into a hole, anything goes wrong with the order of actions they'd starve and stability crash
[X] Plan Don't Pop The Econ
-[X] 2 Influence - Affect Actions: [Main] More Craftsmen changed to [Main] More Hunting
-[X] 1 Influence - Boost Slithering River Levee
-[X] 1 Influence - Mystery Box
Huh, looking at this they're spending their Econ into a hole, anything goes wrong with the order of actions they'd starve and stability crash
DevilsAdvocate
Always follow the golden rule.
@Rockeye
May I ask for what exactly the three votes for worship actually mean?
I had taken it as "Only Vail is worshipped by the Valki", "Vali is the god of the Valki as their creator: But worshiping the other gods is encouraged", and "Worship all the gods"
What do they actually mean for us? Do the Valki treat the gods as a 'Divine Crest' with the third option? Do they consider Vail as their "Godly Mother/Creator" while considering the other gods also worthy of worship? Does the first create theological connections between species and religion?
May I ask for what exactly the three votes for worship actually mean?
I had taken it as "Only Vail is worshipped by the Valki", "Vali is the god of the Valki as their creator: But worshiping the other gods is encouraged", and "Worship all the gods"
What do they actually mean for us? Do the Valki treat the gods as a 'Divine Crest' with the third option? Do they consider Vail as their "Godly Mother/Creator" while considering the other gods also worthy of worship? Does the first create theological connections between species and religion?