This quest is making me want to do a Civ Quest of my own. Then again, considering all the other quests I started and didn't finish...
Well, a Civ Quest can be pretty episodic since there's whole generations passing by at the time, and dealing with history and continuity and trying to plan a Compelling Arc is most of what killed my motivation for the previous failed ones... And a Civ Quest comes with a pretty fair goal/arc by itself (growth, advancement, etc)... I wouldn't have to keep track of one character the whole time just the civilization's overall values and heroes... So maybe it wouldn't peter out... The most important question to me is: Would it be fun to write?
This quest is making me want to do a Civ Quest of my own. Then again, considering all the other quests I started and didn't finish...
Well, a Civ Quest can be pretty episodic since there's whole generations passing by at the time, and dealing with history and continuity and trying to plan a Compelling Arc is most of what killed my motivation for the previous failed ones... And a Civ Quest comes with a pretty fair goal/arc by itself (growth, advancement, etc)... I wouldn't have to keep track of one character the whole time just the civilization's overall values and heroes... So maybe it wouldn't peter out...
Its making me want to write omakes
Specifically from the lowlander prespective as they fight their battles, and literal legends take to the field of war.
Gotta make the Ballad of the lowlands memeorable literature somehow.
It can be. It has a slow build up as your civ is pretty basic at first and setting up everything all at once at the beginning can be boring, but it gets more fun as your civ expands and grows into something more. Managing all of the civ info gets easier once everything is set up and you add new bits over the turns.
I also find it enjoyable to see the civ grow into its own unique culture and its history grow. I also particularly enjoy seeing the progress of both technology and time as the civ grows much advanced over a realistic period of time and the timeline such slugs onwards.
I just love how it has been over nine centuries in-universe. It makes such a nice change from quest where things take days or weeks or months or years at most and even when the quest has been ongoing for a long time, you are still stuck in the same generation at most. With a civ quest, it feels like things are actually progressing and you just stuck in one decade for the entirety of the quest.
Merntir = [MAIN] Build Palisade (North Coast Fields)
The general feeling had been tense. The refugees had been settling well enough, but there was a lot of worry about what was going on in the lowlands and whether it would come north to the People in the great bay area.
The idea of the Nightmare's Gift spreading to the People and striking down who knows how many people until society collapses was a terrifying one. While no one mentioned it out loud and in public, but even the priests were concerned about the possibility of the plague reaching the People. It was an open secret that the only recourse against such a thing happening was to hope that the goddesses themselves would intervene to save the People.
In the end, their fears turned out to be naught as the actual threat to the People arrived from the east, striking at the Merntir rather than hitting the Arthwyd from the south.
For reasons unknown to the People, the boarfolk decided to ride west and strike at the Merntir. If it was not for the magic of the All-Seeress, the People would have been caught completely off-guard.
Several of the Boarfolk Tribes, numbering over a thousand strong, have been united by one of the greats like Ymarn or Wuran or Voryn or Urth or Praden.
Forewarned both of their arrival and hostile intent, the Merntir are ready for the tribes when they finally arrived. Hunters and Cateyes duel with boarfolk warriors, divine servants versus the nomadic warriors and their mighty steeds.
The fighting goes poorly at first as not only are the giant boars of the Boarfolk far more dangerous than the regular sized boars that the People are already wary of hunting, but the boarfolk are no slouches when it comes to battle. It quickly becomes apparent that like the lowlanders, the Boarfolk Tribes are no strangers to warfare and are warriors along the likes of those in the lowlands.
The leader of the Merntirish defenders, a Cateye of Merntir origin by the name of Cadyn, is the greatest fighter of the Merntir since the pre-truth war with the Arthwyd and yet it just isn't enough. The Boarfolk leader just outclasses Cadyn when it comes to the art of war and each time Cadyn manages to gain the upper hand, the enemy leader just snatches it away with a new trick.
The war goes poorly at first as the Merntirish have little idea on how to effectively fight the fast-moving and physically mighty Boarfolk nomads. The tribes strike at the easternmost villages of the Merntir, overrunning what little defence that people could put up before taking the spare crops, slaughtering the priests in the village shrine and imposing their rule over the surviving villagers.
Never together in one great horde, Boarfolk would split up by tribe as each tribe would go their own way, sometimes meeting up with others to trade, fornicate and share news whilst always listening to their overall leader.
Some of this tribes would make the mistake of taking some of the People prisoner, taking them with them to serve them as forced labour. This was a mistake on their part that Cadyn made sure to both exploit and punish them for.
The People are the chosen of Arthryn and her daughters and she knows where all of her chosen people are. Whenever a tribe of Boarfolk would keep some of the People as slaves, Cadyn and the Merntirish fighters knew where to strike.
With hunting packs of regular hunters led by a Cateye or two, Cadyn would systemically pick off the offending tribes as the Merntirish would track them down in familiar lands before striking when the invaders were in a moment of weakness, either wiping out the whole tribe or crippling them.
It didn't take long for the nomad leader to figure out what was going on and soon the Boarfolk had stopped taking the People as slaves or at least taking them as slaves outside of the conquered villages.
***
Evalyn might have grown up amongst the People, but she was not born amongst them and neither were her parents. Her earliest memories were from when she was still in the lowlands and then the journey north as Malbyn and the Cateyes took her family amongst many others back to the People with them.
For that, Evalyn is eternally grateful to the greatest of the Cateyes like so many others for if she hadn't done what she did, then Evalyn would have most likely died in the lowlands like countless others have done in the past generation.
It is the gratitude for being rescued that made Evalyn decided that she wanted to join the ranks of the Cateyes when she reached adulthood. While she lacked the blessing of Arthryn, Evalyn had an advantage of her own. Her father was one of the Zaradysh warriors as was one of his brothers and both of them had come north with Evalyn to Greenbay.
Seeking aid from her relatives, Evalyn was able to get training the warrior ways of the lowlands. While most if not all of the northerners distained those ways as being barbaric and undesirable, Evalyn was sure that they would be useful one day, especially after growing up on tales of what life in the lowlands was like.
She took to the lessons of her father and uncle with ease, the instructions and teachings coming to her almost naturally. She was not trained to hunt animals or explore the lands, but when it came to fighting other people, Evalyn was one of the best amongst the People if not the best.
And yet that wouldn't have been enough to join the Cateyes if it wasn't for the command of the All-Seeress for the goddess instructed her priests that Evalyn was to be allowed to join the Cateyes. Even then, there had been some debate amongst the priests until Malbyn had personally stepped into declare her support for Evalyn joining the ranks of the Cateyes, her first major action since the death of her lover Cadnys.
Evalyn had long thought that joining the Cateyes would be the biggest moment in her life and while she was not wrong, she didn't realise how big that moment would be. It was normal at first, going through the usual initiation ritual in front of the other Cateyes, some priests, her friends and family and a few other watchers. Offering up some of the prey she caught to both the goddesses and the cats at the shrine, Evalyn never expected to receive the blessing of Arthryn.
Just as she did once so many generations ago when she first gave the blessing and once since when she blessed her daughter Ymarn when the younger goddess was still a mortal, Arthryn manifests before the awestruck watchers and grants Evalyn her blessing.
Even as news of Evalyn's blessing spread, messengers from the Merntir arrived in Greenbay, bringing word of the nomad invasion of the Merntir.
There was no doubt on what to do. The Arthwyd had to go the aid of the Merntir kin. It took some time, but Malbyn and her new protegee Evalyn organised an expedition. They weren't able to send every Cateye and hunters, but they got most of the former and a good number of the latter.
When the Arthwydish arrived amongst the Merntir, they found the Merntir on the verge of breaking. Cadyn and his Cateyes and hunters had done their best, but the boarfolk keep advancing. They were killingly more than they were losing, but villages kept falling and the Boarfolk tribes had more fighters than the Merntir and could afford to take loses while the Merntir were hurting with everyone that fall.
It didn't matter what he did, Cadyn kept finding himself outmatched by his nomadic counterpart.
Upon the arrival of the Arthwyd reinforcements, Curyn, the old genius of the Merntir, revealed the greatest of his inventions. Curyn had spend the last generation experimenting with some of the local poisonous plants called nightleaf.
For as long as anyone could remember, nightleaf had been avoided by the People for anyone who eat it died as their body stopped working and they lost both their sense of pain and their ability to feel anything.
Curyn had sought to understand more about the nightleaf, seeking a way to overcome it and that is what he did. By experimenting with the nightleaf and letting the hunters test his ideas and creations on the animals they hunt.
The first of his inventions is that you could turn nightleaf into a paste by grounding it up. This paste is just as deadly as the plant itself, but unlike the plant, the paste could be added to weapons by plastering the spearheads and arrowhead with the paste.
The second also involved the paste, but had a very different purpose. By adding the paste to water and boiling the water, the effects of the nightleaf was lessen, but not eliminated. The water could be given to patients to reduced their sense of pain and dull their senses.
While the hunters had no use for this, the priests found it useful as it could be used to help treat the injured and ill as their pain could be reduced or eliminated, both making other cures easier to use and reducing the suffering the afflicted.
Malbyn and Evalyn quickly made use of this new discovery in the fight against the nomad invaders. The Boarfolk and their mounts are hardy people and not easily brought down or slain, but the nightleaf poison changed that.
A weapon coated in poison could reliable bring down a giant boar or its rider if you could pierce the hide and draw blood and even then it didn't kill them, it still reduced their ability to fight back.
And it wasn't just with their arrows and spears that the People made use of the nightleaf poison. They could sneak into an enemy camp and drop some of the paste into the food supplies of the enemy. Other times they would leave some poison food out near the giant boars so that the mounts of the Boarfolk would eat the poisoned food and die.
It wasn't just poison that the People had a new trick in their arsenal. To mild surprise and gratitude of the People, Arthryn and Ymarn granted new magic to their priests and the Cateyes.
A goddess of life, Ymarn granted the power to heal wounds to the People. While it tired out the magic user and did not work on that which did not naturally heal, it could be used to heal injuries that the People suffered, something was particularly useful given the ongoing events.
The greatest of the goddesses, Arthryn taught the wielders of her magic how to boost one of their own traits, pushing it towards the natural limit that a person could reach. Doing so was tiring so while it didn't see regular use, it would prove to be very useful when a Cateye needed a quick boost when they needed to get something important done.
Armed with poison, magic and divine backing, the People began to pushback against the nomad invaders. While they failed to stop the advance of the Boarfolk as more villages feel to the nomadic tribes, they made the Boarfolk bleed every step of the way.
They couldn't match the Boarfolk and their leader in a fair fight, the People were more than capable leading unsuspecting Boarfolk into ambushes or hunting them down. While it allowed the People to kill the nomads whilst minimising their losses, it wasn't sustainable as the tribes were still able to conquer villages.
Furthermore, the Boarfolk leader was more than a match for Cadyn, Evalyn and Malbyn as he always seemed to know how to avoid their traps and outsmart their ambushes even when his fellows couldn't. On more than one occasion, even he managed to turn the tables on the People and make them the hunted and ambushed for a change.
But he couldn't be everywhere at once and when he was going up against one of the People's three leaders, the other two were off slaying more Boarfolk tribes.
***
Evalyn waits on the tree branch as the Boarfolk come riding through the forest below. Her spear is tied to her back alongside a wood and hide shield and her quiver full of poisoned coated arrows while her bow is held in her hands.
Two score of the Arthwydish wait in the treetops with her, all of them Cateyes and almost the entirety of the ones sent to aid the Merntir. Her mentor and the leader of the Cateyes, Malbyn, is also with them for today if a day that they cannot afford to go wrong.
A good hundred of the Boarfolk ride below them, the personal tribe of the Boarfolk leader Vervov. On this day, Evalyn and the rest of the Arthwydish here today seek to bring about his death. The All-Seeress revealed to them that Vervov and his tribe would be passing through this forest and the People are unlikely to get such a good chance to ambush him again.
Should he fall, then the tribes he has united shall either scatter or be picked off by the People without Vervov to save them.
As usual, it is the whole tribe and while there are many fighters, there is also the spare giant boars, the young, the old and the other non-fighters.
There is no signal given, just a divinely given instinctive urge to strike that begins the attack. The Cateyes open fire with their arrows, unleashing an unsuspecting volley into Boarfolk below.
Evalyn personally aims at the Boarman who isn't directly below, but slightly in front of her, giving her a good angle to aim at him. Her arrow strikes true and the poison coated arrowhead stabs into the beefy neck of her target.
He doesn't die instantly, his eyes widening in both shock and pain as he gurgles struggling to breathe. By the time he topples off his mount, Evalyn has already drawn another arrow and has picked her second target.
Letting her arrow fly, Evalyn changes her position, jumping to another branch on another tree, drawing a third arrow mid-jump. Landing on the branch with cat-like agility, Evalyn spots another of the Boarfolk woman this time, and fires off her third arrow at the woman.
As she does so, Evalyn glimpses Vervov, the imposing and charismatic leader of the Boarfolk. Getting a fourth arrow notched, Evalyn jumps through the treetops after Vervov, ignoring the fighting below as some of the Cateyes drop down and the Boarfolk fire back with their own bows and arrows.
Evalyn shoots at Vervov, but the nomad leader raises his shield at the last second, the arrow hitting the boarskin shield rather than Vervov.
Vervov manoeuvres away from Evalyn, putting a couple of trees between him and her. Evalyn moves in pursuit and while she can't move as quickly as the giant boars that the tribes ride upon, she can jump from tree to tree with agility that the bulky Boarfolk could never achieve.
It takes Evalyn mere moments to find Vervov again and when she does, he is engaged in battle against Malbyn. Old and grey-haired, Malbyn is still one of the People's most capable fighters and the tiredness of old age has yet to set in for her.
With Malbyn on foot, wielding a spear and shield while Vervov is on boarback with a shield of his own and a heavier combat spear whilst a handful of lighter throwing spears are strapped to his back.
Spotting another of the Boarfolk approaching the two leaders, Evalyn puts an arrow in him. It doesn't kill the Boarman and he continues to ride towards Vervov and Malbyn and Evalyn is forced to expend another arrow on the Boarman, nicking his neck his time.
As the Boarman clutches his neck before slumping and falling off the side of his mount, Evalyn turns her attention back to the two leaders fighting and she does not like what she sees. As good as Malbyn is, Vervov is proving to the better fighter whether it be due to youth, the physical prowess of a Boarman or the Boarfolk being better warriors than the People.
As Malbyn rolls out of the way of the charging Vervov, the Boarman catches the Cateye with a swipe of his spear, slashing her across the arm and drawing blood. It also isn't the only injury that Malbyn has suffered.
Evalyn leaps down from the treetops, putting her bow away in favour of her spear. As Vervov's giant boar smashes Malbyn aside with its head, Evalyn rams her spear into the nomad leader's mount before rolling past the giant boar and grabbing Malbyn's dropped spear from the ground.
Coming out of the roll and back onto her feet, Evalyn instinctively jerks to the side, barely avoiding the stab of Vervov's spear. Snarling at the leader of the Boarfolk, Evalyn strikes at Vervov.
The two of them clash, parrying with their shields, dodging out of the way and stabbing and slashing with their spears. Halfway through the fighting, Vervov's giant boar dies on him, leaving without a mount, but that doesn't leave him any less dangerous.
Vervov is a strong, imposing and unmoving, standing firm and powerful while Evalyn is swift and deadly, dodging out of the way and striking from the side. For minutes, they are equally matched before once again, Vervov is able to gain the upper hand.
Evalyn stabs at Vervov with her spear only for him to step out of the way. Before she can pull her weapon back, Vervov slams his shield down into it, splintering the wooden shaft with his strength.
Evalyn drops the broken weapon and jumps back as Vervov stabs at her. As she lands on her feet, Vervov throws his spear at Evalyn and it is only via an instinctive feeling that the Cateye raises her shield in time to block the spear.
The spear lodges itself in Evalyn's shield, partially getting through the wood. Her shield now a liability in this fight now that it has the shaft sticking out of it, Evalyn discards it as Vervov draws one of his throwing spear.
As the Boarman throws the spear at Evalyn, the chosen of Arthryn calls upon the magic of her goddess and with a mildly tiring effort, she knocks the stone spearhead of the throwing spear off-course. The throwing spear goes over Evalyn's shoulder and she and Vervov are left glaring at each other.
Without a word, the nomad leader runs off, leaving Evalyn to find another weapon and pick up the pieces.
***
Evalyn decides that they might have won the battle, but it was a loss in the greater scheme of things. They lost only a handful of Cateyes while the majority of their foes were slain, including almost every last one of their fighters.
But Malbyn was one of those that died while Vervov was one of those that survive and the numbers of the People's fighters dwindle while there are still many more Boarfolk tribes out there, numbering in over a thousand of the nomads.
While the Arthwydish that came to fight are mostly still intact, the number of fighters that the Merntir have has almost been halved whilst the eastern half of the Merntir have been conquered by Vervov and his Boarfolk tribes. Admittedly, that is the less settled half of the Merntir and a good number of those living in the conquered villages were able to flee west to the safety of the Merntir core territories.
The situation is not good and the People need to get better at fighting. In the past, the People have distained the barbaric fighting of the lowlanders and their warriors, but it is now clear that the People need warriors of their own if they are to fight against foes like Vervov and his Boarfolk.
They could train warriors such as they train farmers, hunters and other jobs that are required by the People, but that is too close to the lowlander ways for many. The People are not the barbarians of the lowlands and perhaps the solution lies in that.
The People follow Arthryn and her Daughters and it is the aid of the goddesses and their magic that has allowed the People to hold their own against Vervov and the invading nomads. The People have priests that serve the goddesses by leading the People so perhaps that they could have warriors that serve the goddesses by fighting for the People.
Evalyn feels that it is similar to the dynamic between the Cateyes and the hunters. The former are more sacred in nature and better than the regular hunters, but they are fewer in number.
She just needs to decide which option is best for the People.
Pick what sort of warriors the People will use in the future.
[] Regular Warriors. Following the barbaric ways of the lowlanders, the People will train large numbers of warriors to fight for the People. This will give more fighters for the People, but some will be unhappy at following the barbarian ways of the lowlands (+1 Temp Martial, -1 Legitimacy, Gain Value Quality Of Its Own)
[] Sacred Warriors. The People shall not follow the barbaric practices of the lowlands, but shall train warriors that serve the goddesses in sacred duty. They shall be few in number and take more resources to train, but it will make the People happier and they shall be better than regular warriors. (-1 Temp Mystic, -1 Temp Culture, +1 Stability, Gain Value Sacred War)
***
So you guys aren't winning the war. You are killing more of the enemy than you are losing, but their martial is a lot higher than yours. Malbyn is dead and half of the Merntir (admittedly the inferior half) has been conquered by Vervov while the Merntir have lost half of their Temp Martial.
It could have been worse. If it wasn't for bonuses due to divine support, the Merntir would have lost all of their Temp Martial while you would have lost most of the fighters you sent to help the Merntir.
Now you get to pick what sort of warriors the Arthwyd and Merntir will have and the manner in which they pursue war.
You also got a ton of innovations thanks to a Tech Hero, three Martial Heroes and an ongoing war.
The Arthwyd Early Ancient Theocracy Upper Centralization Limit: 6 Lower Centralization Limit: -2 Admin Strain Free Provinces: 4 Penalty Accumulation: Additional +1 Lower Centralisation required per 2 Provinces Player Actions: 2 Secondary Actions +1 Secondary Action per 2 Provinces Province Actions: 1 Secondary Action per 2 Provinces Subordinates: 1 Special: +1 Mystic per a Province Special: Free Subordinate Slot for Subordinates that share the same religion per a point of Legitimacy.
Early Ancient Palace Economy Temp Econ Damage: Event, -1 per 1 Centralisation, Wealth Generation: 1 per Dominant, Passive Policies: N/A Additional Actions: None Special: Negative Centralisation or lower than Minimum Centralisation will lead to collapse. Special: Increased polity size will raise the level of Minimum Centralisation required.
Diplomatic Relations Your opinion/Their opinion/Frequency of Contact
Caradysh = Probably Dead/???/None
Zaradysh = Probably Dead/???/None
Freak Folk = Probably Dead/???/None
Lowlander Zealots = Probably Dead/???/None
Boarfolk Nomads = War/War/Invaded
Subordinates Type/Loyalty/Dependence
Merntir = Religious Vassal/Very High/Low
Values & Legacies Chosen of Arthryn: Gain +1 to all Innovation Rolls, Agricultural Innovators: +1 Temp Econ to Farming actions,
Communal Mandate As per the words of the goddess, loyalty and kindness to one's people is of the highest importance and even when times are tough or when it is not personally beneficial, one should stick by their community.
Pros: Reduced Internal Discontent, Increased Resistance to Foreign Intrigue,
Cons: Increase stability loss from taking actions which harm the People,
Born Equal While the choices of a person and the world around them can make a person greater or lesser, everyone is born equal to each other.
Pros: Decreased social stratification,
Cons: Decreased social stratification,
Loyal Neighbours The People do not abandon their own. They stand by their neighbours and community through thick and thin and do not yield when it comes to protecting their fellows.
Pros: Increased Unity during times of crisis,
Cons: Legitimacy loss when abandoning members of the People to harm and danger,
Technologies
Carts
Straw/Reed Rope
Wicker
Agriculture
Basic Fertiliser (Primitive Compost & Manure)
Basic Irrigation
Primitive Concept of Growth Energy
Two-Field Crop Rotation
The brutal fights were awesome. Guerilla warfare, slave tracking, poisons and now this new warrior caste. This is definitely one for the epics.
Not sure which one to pick though. Leaning more on Sacred Warriors right now. Quality over quantity fits the Arthwyd's type of civ. But what does Sacred War actually means?
Did I hear warrior monks? yEEEEEEESSSS
Maybe now the guys in our society will have something to go after. Sorta like onna-bushi but reversed in gender.
Forgot that was actually a thing. You know what, fuck it. Let's go full on anime battle girls. Sacred Warrior it is then!
[X] Sacred Warriors. The People shall not follow the barbaric practices of the lowlands, but shall train warriors that serve the goddesses in sacred duty. They shall be few in number and take more resources to train, but it will make the People happier and they shall be better than regular warriors. (-1 Temp Mystic, -1 Temp Culture, +1 Stability, Gain Value Sacred War)
So long as ours are better than the Spirit Talkers I'm fine with this.
[X] Sacred Warriors. The People shall not follow the barbaric practices of the lowlands, but shall train warriors that serve the goddesses in sacred duty. They shall be few in number and take more resources to train, but it will make the People happier and they shall be better than regular warriors. (-1 Temp Mystic, -1 Temp Culture, +1 Stability, Gain Value Sacred War)
[X] Sacred Warriors. The People shall not follow the barbaric practices of the lowlands, but shall train warriors that serve the goddesses in sacred duty. They shall be few in number and take more resources to train, but it will make the People happier and they shall be better than regular warriors. (-1 Temp Mystic, -1 Temp Culture, +1 Stability, Gain Value Sacred War)
[X] Regular Warriors. Following the barbaric ways of the lowlanders, the People will train large numbers of warriors to fight for the People. This will give more fighters for the People, but some will be unhappy at following the barbarian ways of the lowlands (+1 Temp Martial, -1 Legitimacy, Gain Value Quality Of Its Own)
We need numbers if we want to fight nomads. they hit everywhere, we need to guard everywhere, not send elites to play whack a mole
[X] Sacred Warriors. The People shall not follow the barbaric practices of the lowlands, but shall train warriors that serve the goddesses in sacred duty. They shall be few in number and take more resources to train, but it will make the People happier and they shall be better than regular warriors. (-1 Temp Mystic, -1 Temp Culture, +1 Stability, Gain Value Sacred War)
[X] Regular Warriors. Following the barbaric ways of the lowlanders, the People will train large numbers of warriors to fight for the People. This will give more fighters for the People, but some will be unhappy at following the barbarian ways of the lowlands (+1 Temp Martial, -1 Legitimacy, Gain Value Quality Of Its Own)
[X] Sacred Warriors. The People shall not follow the barbaric practices of the lowlands, but shall train warriors that serve the goddesses in sacred duty. They shall be few in number and take more resources to train, but it will make the People happier and they shall be better than regular warriors. (-1 Temp Mystic, -1 Temp Culture, +1 Stability, Gain Value Sacred War)
Not sure yet, but I am totally going for paladins.
Why?
AVA ATHRYRNIA
DUES VOLT
[X] Sacred Warriors. The People shall not follow the barbaric practices of the lowlands, but shall train warriors that serve the goddesses in sacred duty. They shall be few in number and take more resources to train, but it will make the People happier and they shall be better than regular warriors. (-1 Temp Mystic, -1 Temp Culture, +1 Stability, Gain Value Sacred War)
Just feels more in character. While the Arthwyd's high population would work well with Regular Warriors, they value the lives of their people too much to treat them as a resource like that, I think.
From the original Path of Civilization Sacred War means: Those who are in violation of the laws of the goddesses must be punished
Pros: Bonuses to fighting foes with conflicting spiritual beliefs
Cons: Can become locked into fighting with foes with conflicting spiritual beliefs
Basically we get Sacred Warriors(highly trained warriors who are better than regular warriors but cost more) and we get a bonus fighting enemies of the goddesses (the boarfolk killed priests). But ending a war against an enemy who has offended the goddesses requires a very favourable treaty or else it will cost stability.
[X] Regular Warriors. Following the barbaric ways of the lowlanders, the People will train large numbers of warriors to fight for the People. This will give more fighters for the People, but some will be unhappy at following the barbarian ways of the lowlands (+1 Temp Martial, -1 Legitimacy, Gain Value Quality Of Its Own)
This is better in the long term than "Sacred" Warriors and "Sacred" War, even if it costs us Legitimacy now. All this talk of "warriors that serve the gods" will only increase the chance of stratification, and don't get me started on "Sacred War". Remember how that ended for the Spirit Talkers? They refused to bow out of their "sacred wars" because it would cost them Stability to do so, even if it was better in the long run! Quantity is where it's at! If every man is a warrior, then no warrior can use that as an excuse to place himself over others.
[X] Regular Warriors. Following the barbaric ways of the lowlanders, the People will train large numbers of warriors to fight for the People. This will give more fighters for the People, but some will be unhappy at following the barbarian ways of the lowlands (+1 Temp Martial, -1 Legitimacy, Gain Value Quality Of Its Own)
[X] Sacred Warriors. The People shall not follow the barbaric practices of the lowlands, but shall train warriors that serve the goddesses in sacred duty. They shall be few in number and take more resources to train, but it will make the People happier and they shall be better than regular warriors. (-1 Temp Mystic, -1 Temp Culture, +1 Stability, Gain Value Sacred War)
