At least now we can strike them down and keep them down as they slowly assimilate our religion.
Meanwhile, considering the lowlander gods should be pretty weak given their situation (most of their people dead, barely any shrines to their name, and facing off against the giants of our pantheon.), makes me raise the question... @Oshha is it possible for our gods to kill the lowlander gods?
"The most extravagant idea that can be born in the head of a political thinker is to believe that it suffices for people to enter, weapons in hand, among a foreign people and expect to have its laws and constitution embraced. No one loves armed missionaries; the first lesson of nature and prudence is to repulse them as enemies."
This is all of course assuming that the Midlanders did rebel, that there are resistant to the idea of worshiping the Goddess (or at the very least pretending to), and so on.
No need to start trying to kill Gods for no reason now
This is all of course assuming that the Midlanders did rebel, that there are resistant to the idea of worshiping the Goddess (or at the very least pretending to), and so on.
No need to start trying to kill Gods for no reason now
Don't worry, even without the Arthrynite Pantheon, the Arthwyd will still only be puppets directed by the whims of alien beings existing in a world beyond their comprehension.
Yes, but the newer the god is, the weaker it is. So if we kill their gods and new ones start forming they get killed while young.
Unless we have an Islam situation where a major religion forms and just spreads everywhere. But gods are a thing so maybe not? Would be very hard to say the least
I hope the Maradysh didn't kick off when their overlords, who killed so many of their fellows, just turned up and incidentally reminded them that they killed loads of their people not that long ago.
Edit: Oh dear, It's never a good thing when I'm rated insightful, I never have anything positive to say.
[X][Epic] One of the priests proves to be naturally talented with the numbers and records. (Gain an Admin Hero)
[X][Bonus] Gain Legacy Ancient Centre of Civilisation (Great Bay)
[X][SEC] Sunrise Mountain Passage
[X][SEC] Support Subordinate = Maradysh
The previous generations had been an age of legends. In the south, you had the collapse of the lowlands as they feel to both infighting, outside invasion and the Nightmare's Gift. In the north, there were the great wars of the People with the scourge Urth striking from the south with his army of the walking dead and the Maradysh whilst the Merntir spent many seasons slowly falling to Vervov and the Boarfolk Tribes before they were able to break free after Vervov's death.
It was an era of greatness and legends being made. It saw many rise to greatness while entire societies were brought to ruin. Urth was dead while the Boarfolk's brief conquest of the Merntir was nothing more than a memory held by the older generations. The Maradysh had been brought to heel by the People whilst the people of the lowlands had collapsed.
The Boarfolk Tribes would return one day and the walking dead still lurked within the Cursed Forest while new societies would rise from the remains of the old in the lowlands. But all of that is in the future. For now, the People have proven themselves to be best for it was clear to the People that they had come out of the trails of the previous age at the top of the pile.
The People were the oldest surviving civilisation around and the clearly greatest, about to triumph against all of their foes while being clearly superior to their barbarian neighbours to the south and east.
Legacy Gained! Ancient Centre of Civilisation (Great Bay): Extra Innovation Roll at the start of each turn,
***
"Are these reports accurate?" Cadlon Gwynlyn asks the up and coming Derfyl, the young priest being one of the People's rising stars.
"They are Cadlon," confirms Derfyl, "The Maradysh have finished constructing the palisades around their villages and have been training up more warriors to replace those that they lost. They are not a threat to us. Their warriors are less numerous than our own and one of them is no where near a match for a Catclaw.
Should it come to a fight, the Maradysh remain no match for us. Our Catclaws could crush their warriors and even their palisades will only slow down our warriors should we have the need to seize their villages."
"Yet it is the intent behind what they are doing and its future implications that is the trouble," mutters Gwynlyn, "Even through it is not within their ability to do so right now, the Maradysh are still preparing for rebellion and cutting themselves loose of the People."
It was all going wrong. Gwynlyn had originally hoped to strengthen ties with the Maradysh and improve the relationship between them and the People by sending supplies and aid to help the southerners.
They might be heathen barbarians, but Gwynlyn and many others had hoped that they could be brought about to the civilised ways of the People. Unfortunately, they had underestimate just how much the Maradysh hated the People and how they would react to unasked for charity.
Having formed from the lowlanders who were able to escape the collapse of the lowlands, the Maradysh are a harsh and ruthless people for they had to be in order to escape the deadly grasp of the Nightmare's Gift.
They pride themselves on being able to look after one's self and not having to rely upon others. Accepting help from someone else was viewed as a sign of weakness and offering aid to someone was considered equal to declaring that you viewed them as helpless weakling.
So when the People had shown up over the seasons offering aid to the Maradysh, it was a stinging insult in their eyes. A declaration that the People viewed the Maradysh as weak, helpless and unable to look after themselves.
Yet the Maradysh were weak compared to the People and would need help if they were to ever come close to matching the People. While that forced the pragmatic Maradysh to accept the aid that the People were offering them, they cursed the People for it and the whole situation deepened their hatred of the People.
Gwynlyn had hoped to bend relationships with the Maradysh, but instead she had just poured saltwater into an open wound. Rather than have a grateful Maradysh that liked the People better, they had one that both hated them more and had grown stronger at the expense of the People.
All in all, the whole situation had just gone poorly and the only saving grace is that the Maradysh are still far too weak to ever challenge the People on their own. Even as they hated the People, the Maradysh are not just about to pointless throw their lives away.
But show the People ever have a moment of weakness or get distracted by another threat like Urth and his walking dead or Vervov and the Boarfolk Tribes, the Maradysh wouldn't hesitate to take advantage of the situation to break free of the People.
At least that was the worst of things at the moment. The People are thriving, the Merntir have been rebuilding and more progress on the passage through the mountains has been made and is continuing to be made.
For the Cadlon of the Arthwyd, the only question now is how she is going to deal with the Maradysh for now.
How does Gwynlyn deal with the Maradysh?
[] Attempt to convert them to the ways of Arthryn and her Daughters.
[] Try to engage them in trade to offer them aid in a manner which won't offend them.
[] Try to get their secrets of wolf-taming and giant boar-riding from them.
[] Leave them be.
Priests (4) = Mood: Content, Ability: Add faction power to Stability or Legitimacy Rolls, Objective: Start the Sacred Forest Megaproject, Success/Failure: +1 Temp Econ/-
Elders (3) = Mood: Joyous, Ability: Add half of their faction power to another faction, Objective: Finish the Sunrise Mountain Passage, Success/Failure: +1 Prestige/-
Warriors (5 (6)) = Mood: Righteous, Ability: Add half of faction power to Martial, Objective: Explore the Lowlands, Success/Failure: ???/-
Farmers (1) = Mood: Happy, Ability: Add half of faction power to Econ, Objective: Build Palisade in 3 Turns, Success/Failure: +1 Temp Econ/-
Crafters (1) = Mood: Happy, Ability: Add half of faction power to Culture, Objective: Study Metal in 3 Turns, Success/Failure: +1 Temp Culture/-
***
Things are going well enough right now. Nothing is on fire and Merntir are rebuilding while progress continues to be made on the passage.
That said, you rolled positively awful with the rolls in regards to supporting the Maradysh. Combined with one of their values and the recent slaughter of 5% of their population, it has backfired on you as not only did the Maradysh no increase their opinion of you, but one of their values has caused a reduction in how loyal they are to you. To make things worse for you, you got a really good roll on how much you helped build up the Maradysh.
In the end, you managed to get them to hate you more whilst helping build them up and make them more self-sufficient.
The Arthwyd Early Ancient Theocratic Monarchy Upper Centralization Limit: 8 Lower Centralization Limit: -2 Admin Strain Free Provinces: 4 Penalty Accumulation: Additional +2 Lower Centralisation required per 1 Province Player Actions: 2 Secondary Actions +1 Secondary Action per 2 Provinces Province Actions: 1 Secondary Action per 2 Provinces Subordinates: 1 Special: -1 Temp Econ Damage 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.
Values & Legacies Chosen of Arthryn: Gain +1 to all Innovation Rolls, Agricultural Innovators: +1 Temp Econ to Farming actions, Ancient Centre of Civilisation (Great Bay): Extra Innovation Roll at the start of each turn,
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,
Sacred Defence The People do not abandon their own for it is their sacred duty to protect each other. They stand by their neighbours and community through thick and thin and do not yield when it comes to protecting their fellows for that is their duty as commanded by the goddesses.
Pros: Increased Unity during times of crisis, Sacred Warriors, Increased loyalty from religious subordinates,
Cons: Legitimacy loss when abandoning members of the People to harm and danger, increased Legitimacy loss when the threat is from those with conflicting beliefs,
Technologies
Carts
Straw/Reed Rope
Wheel
Wicker
Agriculture
Basic Fertiliser (Primitive Compost & Manure)
Basic Irrigation
Primitive Concept of Growth Energy
Two-Field Crop Rotation
What's the worst that can happen? That they eventually cut themselves loose and go to war against us?
Well, just let them do that! Stronger foes than them have tried and failed!
If they truly think they can stand alone without the aid of the Goddesses and the Arthwyd's wisdom, I see no reason to force medicine down their throats. They are not our People yet, after all.
