[X][Idea] Fighting like the wind. Turn away from blows and attack from another direction. Fight so the enemy can never know where you will swoop in from.
[X] [SEC] Build New Shrine - Feathergrass Hill (0/1)
[X] [SEC] More Hunting.
[X][Idea] Fighting like the wind. Turn away from blows and attack from another direction. Fight so the enemy can never know where you will swoop in from.
[X] [SEC] Slithering River Levee
[X] [SEC] More Hunting.
[X][Idea] Aerial motions, wing-dances, that communicate information through the pattern of swoops and turns. You can see further than you can hear.
[X] [SEC] Slithering River Levee
[X] [SEC] More Hunting.
We want to build tall with plenty of mega, too frail to spread settlements now.
[X][Idea] Fighting like the wind. Turn away from blows and attack from another direction. Fight so the enemy can never know where you will swoop in from.
I am not 100% set in stone on these mechanics yet and am open to feedback and criticism on them.
Since your government is now decentralized, you have two embedded and growing settlements, and the old oligarchs who held on to all the power at first are dead by now in favor of a new, young crowd... The mechanics are changing.
You no longer have the ability to, as a king would, closely direct everything the Valki do. Instead, what you have is Influence.
Influence is the measure of your ability to steer the civilization as a whole. You've decentralized, so you will get more actions in the same time period... But these actions will all be selected automatically.
...
Basically, you're going to be the god Vail. You can subtly nudge the Valki, you can talk to them, but you cannot interfere too much.
Every turn you will get [X] + 1d[Y] Influence to spend. Initially, this will be 1 + 1d3.
Influence can be used in the following ways:
-1 Influence to change a [SEC] action the civ plans to take this turn into a different [SEC] action.
-2 Influence to change a [MAIN] action to another [MAIN]
--or to two [SEC] actions.
--or to change two [SEC] actions into a [MAIN] action.
---These costs could be different in some situations, on a case by case basis.
-3 Influence to speak a divine message to someone who worships Vail. They will probably take you seriously, but the message you send is subject toheavy veto and could have unpredictable effects.
--More complicated messages incur additional costs.
-3 Influence to nudge the weather one "climate level" towards the ideal during the upcoming turn.
-1+ (one or more) Influence to 'boost' an action, making its results stronger or more dramatic. Effects depend on what the action is, how much was spent, and a roll.
-3 Influence can be spent to 'bank' 1 Influence, storing it for later use. Banked Influence has no cap or limit. You can have over 9000 banked influence, though that will probably never happen. It can be used at any time.
-Unspent Influence will disappear.
-I am still undecided on whether Midturns will continue to be a thing. If they continue to be a thing, you will be able to use Influence to determine or at least slant the odds on the reaction the civ takes to events.
Interesting. So basically, we'll see what our civ will do, and spend influence on tilting it towards what we'd like for them to do. we CAN bank influence if we're good, or we can throw it behind actions we want to happen to make it happen with more power behind it.
...
I feel we should note that MOAR POWER is not always a good thing, and that scenes like the business owners commiting suicide en-mass a la Acadamia Nut's Science Quest can happen if we throw too much power behind making something happen. Or in other words-mind you don't push too hard and break the civ!
I will have you know I was only ever an ally of the Pyramid Faction, not a full-blown member! We only worked together because our goals weren't contradictory and we were stronger if we acted as a block rather than separate entities. Except that one time plans for Pyramid Turtles came up, we could all agree that would've been a good idea.
Speaking of which, the Valki like tall places, right? In which case building the Mountain Megaproject equivalent should be so obvious an idea I shouldn't even need to flex my influence! In fact, we shouldn't just build the Mountain just about anywhere, we should find the tallest (stable) area around and build the tallest possible building on it! And then put a giant amber jewel on top of it just because it's shiny!
[X][Idea] Fighting like the wind. Turn away from blows and attack from another direction. Fight so the enemy can never know where you will swoop in from.
On a dry plateau in a place of cliffs and mountains, two mobs of winged people wheel and turn. Small groups fly through the air, gliding forward and then turning away when the defenders advance towards them. The defenders do not pursue far - or else they would be out of position when another group makes its advance. A hundred heavy bodies flock through the sky lined with feathers, chests heaving with the effort and strain of an hours-long skirmish. The long and exhausting contest is all over a singular prize sitting in the nesting-hall, a perfect smooth and pale shape.
The constant motion, attacks scattering to nothingness before forming again in a new direction, is exhausting for both sides. It is impossible to properly defend against, but coordinating large groups to perform such maneuvers is difficult and confusing. You simply cannot plan this sort of thing in rigorous detail. Each action depends on what the opponent does to respond and how you move in response to that and so on in a branching web of possibilities. It is better not to plan such an attack in much detail, the Valki were coming to realize.
Instead, you form a small group, fly in with them, find them again when you scatter. Each group has priorities instead of specific plans. Weave around the edges and try to draw them out. Swoop in whenever they are out of position so they can't pursue the others. Do not let the enemy rest, constantly fly over and threaten to attack them so they have to keep moving. Move on the ground instead of flying, the better to remain unseen, and ensure they have to watch the ground as well as the air. Rest and watch and wait, and when you see an opportunity, go win.
The defenders grew more and more exhausted and irritated. Their opponents were unusually good at escaping unscathed. And then - hah! They made a mistake. This band of thieves lingered too long, they are exhausted and caught between two small flocks of defenders. The defenders advance on their foes, calling out angry cries. They pursue the retreating enemy, keen to finally sink their claws into the foe that has eluded them all day--
--When Amik heard shouts of alarm and excitement from behind him. The egg! They'd been tricked. The raiders they were chasing were indeed easy targets, but in letting their anger rise and pursuing them, they left the prize undefended. She shouted at her flock and turned around, but it was far too late.
In the aftermath of that game of Steal The Egg, Haufi the Quiet did not condemn Amik's leadership. The whole point of mock-fighting against each other is that someone will lose, and then they can look at who won and who lost and learn why. She had done a very admirable job, in fact - fending off the probing raids by Haufi's group without exerting themselves overmuch while his own Valki had to constantly fly to a safe distance or run back and forth to keep up their attacks. His people were growing tired and hungry, and that trick was his last gambit.
"We might need to be more careful about injuries. The cloth-tipped 'spears' aren't really safe. Killing each other is actually the last thing we want to do. Still, these games and drills aren't real fighting. They only help so much. There'll be thieves or killers from one of the most distant nests we can try our wings against sooner or later. Maybe something soft over the talons."
"I still don't understand why anyone would defend a single egg that much. Stealing eggs isn't that bad. You just steal a few back next year, or find a nest that's struggling if you really want to take care of little fledglings. And our 'egg' was actually just a rock!"
Haufi the Quiet, perhaps the best warrior the Valki have ever had, just shrugs. "True. Needed something to defend for the game, though. Imagine it was an amber statue or something."
Over time, the warriors Haufi took under his wing learn more and more about this new style of fighting, even as his own feathers grow a bit duller and his bones start to creak. The lessons spread throughout the land whenever a hunter decides they have learned enough and returns home. While he has a group of favored friends who stay with him in the mountains, Haufi sees nothing wrong with this incredibly informal style of training, and the Valki continue to have no real organized military, just bands of hunters assembling whenever martial purpose is called for.
Things are a bit tense with the horned giants of the plains, with small nests living near them and sometimes getting into trouble or disrespecting the Malan in some way or another. There is no central control, so all the important personages of Feathergrass and Amberplace can do is squawk dire warnings through travelling messengers, which only somewhat controls the most distant Valki. However, Haufi's feared conflict does not actually end up coming from them. Instead, trouble streams out of the fetid, swampy jungle beyond Mire Pass...
One of the other kinds of people showed themselves by slithering out of the swampy jungle to the north. They come in to isolated Valki homes or empty camp-buildings at night and steal almost everything. Food, baskets and clothes, spears, stone tools... Anything that is not part of the structure of a place - and even then, they will take apart buildings, stuffing the dry grass roofing into baskets and taking long timbers out of the wall, hauling everything back to their swamp!
They move mostly at night and their language is incomprehensible. News from the north is scattered and vague, but it seems these strange lizard-people call themselves the Luwai and do not hesitate to kill any Valki who try to defend their possessions. They cover themselves in mud and vegetation, the better to remain unseen.
Several times, bands of Luwai would scare some prey animal into running through the open, only to swarm over a Valki hunter that swoops down to take the kill, throwing spears and stones. A hunter who survived this treatment with a broken wing and somehow managed to get to safety recounted how they didn't seem interested in hurting him - they were arguing over who got to take his clothes, spear, jewelry, and the dozens of feathers they had painfully plucked from him, and eventually left him to recover or be eaten by some wild animal without finishing him off.
The muck-swimming lizards are troublesome and almost inevitably attack or at least try to steal from any Valki they manage to catch. However, the situation is something of an impasse. Adult Valki can take to the air to avoid the Luwai, and the Luwai can dive into the murky water where no Valki dares to follow. The open plains expose the Luwai to attack from the air, while the muck-filled swamp of trees make any Valki helpless. The nature of the land and the two peoples softens the conflict surprisingly effectively, with neither side able to really hurt the other beyond stealing things.
For the first two generations, the growing villages of Feathergrass and Amberplace both followed the lead of Feathergrass. But as time passed, the control of the wealthy and established in Feathergrass grew less absolute. While the fertile valleys and large population of Feathergrass meant that great amounts of food and crafted goods were made there, many important figures of Amberplace quickly became rich and influential from the production of amber jewelry and decoration.
Nobody really wanted to try and enforce a claim of authority over far-away villages - that sounded difficult and annoying, and besides it would be an affront to freedom and self-determination. The Crest had decided long ago that different villages of Valki should mostly do their own thing, and only make general agreements with each other about what to do.
Still, it meant that the total control of wealth and labor was no longer owned by Feathergrass. They could still influence all the outlying settlements by offering food or crafted goods, and they were still seen as sensible and wise whenever leaders between different nests met. The Valki still met and debated on matters of great import for all the people, and even the most distant listened to those from far away... Most of the time.
Government Changed
Informal Tribal Association
-Influence per turn: 1 + 1d3
-Civilization Actions: 2 + 1 per 2 settlement level
-Actions are chosen mostly by immediate needs and desires
Even as the growing tradition of hunting provided much food, only spurred on more and more by Haufi the Quiet's fighting-games, the Crest at Feathergrass pushed for a huge project: A great levee along the Slithering River, to control its path and keep it from flooding over everything quite as easily. While the weather has been kind to the flying people recently, with warm seasons and just enough rain to feed thirsty crops but not enough to cause miserable floods, the elders looked to the future for when the floods might return.
Thus the work on this began immediately, even as everyone knew it would be a project of many generations - for while one could move a hill with the crude trowles, dirt-baskets, and other tools the Valki had available, the river was extremely long and lining both sides of it with earth seemed impossible at first glance. Still, year by year more of the river was lined with earthen embankments, slow progress towards a more secure agricultural heart.
While the elders leading Feathergrass were keen to continue building the Slithering River Levee, others were not so enthused with the idea of supporting that project, seeing it as only benefiting the already crowded and rich Feathergrass lands. Amberplace wanted to focus on honing their craft, training more crafters and looking for new ideas instead of devoting time to any more immediate projects, while many of the smaller outlying nests not worthy of being called a true settlement yet seethed with rage at the lizardfolk, the Luwai, coming from the wet jungles and planned to send bands of hunters north to learn more and deal with them.
Planned actions this turn:
[SEC] Raiding Party: The Luwai at Mire Pass. -1 Temp Econ,+1 Temp Martial, Risk up to 3 Temp Martial.
[SEC] Slithering River Levee. (Progress 1/6). -3 Temp Econ
[SEC] More craftsmen. -1 Temp Econ,+1 Temp Wealth, chance of innovation.
You have TWO influence this turn. Please make a plan that uses as much influence as you would like
Influence can be used in the following ways this turn:
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.
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
Unspent Influence will be wasted.
There are other options for how to spend Influence, but you do not have enough to do them this turn so I did not include them. Since this is the first time we are doing this style of vote, feel free to ask me any questions you may have.
The Valki
Informal Tribal Association
-Influence per turn: 1 + 1d3
-Civilization Actions: 2 + 1 per 2 settlement level
-Actions are chosen mostly by immediate needs and desires
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. Little is known about them. Currently the only contact between Valki and the Luwai is occasional skirmishing.
Values & Legacies
Spirit of Exploration There is no joy greater than learning about what is over the horizon... Travel far and often, and tell tales of distant lands to whoever you may meet. Pros: Somewhat improved chance of innovation, 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
Agriculture:
Simple Ditch Irrigation
Materials:
Wood, Bone, and Stone
Resin
Administration:
Simple Grain Tax
Arts:
Amber Jewelry and Crafts
Diplomacy:
Gifts
Trade
Organization:
Hunting Groups
Theory:
Doctrine - Breeze
Weapons:
Spears
Dropped Stones
Settlement and Infrastructure:
Region: Feathergrass Hills A place of constant wind dotted with rolling hills like scattered nuts across the landscape. A great river carves through, wandering lazily and watering thirsty farmland. Settlement Progress: 1/9 Shrines: 0/1
Region: Tanglewood Edge The Tanglewood is a forbidding tangle of vegetation where flying is difficult or impossible, but living near its edge allows extracting a bounty of lumber and amber resin. Settlement Progress: 1/6 Shrines: 0/1
Unsettled Region: Feathergrass Plains (0/6) A flat place just west of Feathergrass Hills surrounded on almost all sides by hills or mountains, with much wild game. To the north, the Mire Pass marks the way to a thick jungle.
Unsettled Region: Broken Wings Foothills (0/6) Close to the place the Valki first awakened. Long, shallow slopes replace the rolling hills as you move towards the great mountains. Surprisingly warm and fertile. A sacred place.
Unsettled Region: End of the Long Tail (0/6) The Slithering River straightens as it emerges into a vast flat plain, and is renamed the Long Tail. Valki prefer living near hills and cliffs, but there is so much land out here--!
Unsettled Region: Soaring Mountains Foothills (0/3) The Soaring Mountains are a harsh and dry place, and yet something about them calls to the Valki spirit. High cliffs and sheer plateaus line the narrow passable valley beyond.
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
[] [SEC/MAIN] Build New Shrine.
S: -2 Temp Econ, +1 Shrine
M: -4 Temp Econ, +2 Shrines
-Possible Targets: Choose a Region
[] [SEC/MAIN] Explore Lands
S: -1 Temp Econ, -1 Temp Martial, Chance of new discovery
M: -2 Temp Econ, -2 Temp Martial, Improved Chance of new discovery
-Write-in target or it will be auto selected.
-Can choose a Region to try and discover new resources or features.
[] [SEC/MAIN] Raiding Parties = (Target)
S: -1 Temp Econ, +1 Temp Martial, Send up to 3 Temp Martial to attack.
M: -2 Temp Econ, +2 Temp Martial, Send up to 8 Temp Martial to attack. Improved coordination of attackers.
-Possible Targets: The Luwai at Mire Pass, the Malan in the Great Plains.
[] [SEC/MAIN]
[] [SEC] Distribute Pretty Things
S: -2 Temp Wealth, +1 Stability The cost of this action will scale with the size of your civilization.
You do get a tech list and a settlement/infrastructure list in the civ sheet now. And yes, there is no action to try and peacefully contact the Luwai because trying to make peace or trade with weird lizardfolk who steal things is a foreign concept to the Valki at the moment.
Please do not vote for 6 hours from the time of posting.
We have 5 effective econ and using 4, so depending on weather we can sit at range of 0~2 next turn. Boosting mega and crafting looks safe enough? Personally I sort of want to boost the raid but I don't want to start a war.
They move mostly at night and their language is incomprehensible. News from the north is scattered and vague, but it seems these strange lizard-people call themselves the Luwai and do not hesitate to kill any Valki who try to defend their possessions. They cover themselves in mud and vegetation, the better to remain unseen.
Several times, bands of Luwai would scare some prey animal into running through the open, only to swarm over a Valki hunter that swoops down to take the kill, throwing spears and stones. A hunter who survived this treatment with a broken wing and somehow managed to get to safety recounted how they didn't seem interested in hurting him - they were arguing over who got to take his clothes, spear, jewelry, and the dozens of feathers they had painfully plucked from him, and eventually left him to recover or be eaten by some wild animal without finishing him off.
Clearly the best way to react is to steal their eggs and raise them as our own. And I am almost not saying that just because because I want tiny lizards running around.
Maybe we could deposit some of our own uglier eggs with the Luwai instead, that might calm them down a little. Just a few eggs we won't need anyways, you know, the uglier ones.
Hrm.
I'm inclined to let our influence just go unused atm, maybe some sort of 'all is well' message to the people for now, though I figure if I HAD to spend influence it might be on boosting the levee and amber works the thought being that should effectively 'dull' the raiding that's about to happen via drawing the civilization's attention away from the raid for other things but that's just me.
