From Stone to the Stars

[Redium]

[X] [Pay] An elected council.
[X] [Politics] Select one Big Man to become a Bigger Man (likely Crystal Lake)
[X] [Men] Trial of Utility: a boy becomes a man when he becomes an asset to his settlement.
[X] [Women] Trial of Motherhood: a girl becomes a woman when she gives birth.

Government Upgraded: Duarchic Big Man (Archaic) -> Tribal Council (First Among Equals)

Spoiler: Tribal Council (First Among Equals)

The People are ruled by a council, made of their best. Men and women of great strength, popularity, intelligence, and ambition; they are the ones that have outwitted all of their competition. A decentralized system of government, it is highly meritocratic, and combines the best parts of overarching policy and local control, with neither quite as effective as a more specialized system. Two levels of this council exist; one at a local level, elected from all adult members of the settlement, and a second that makes decisions for the People as a whole. The second council is made up of those who have been elected at the lower level.
Pros: Development occurs organically
Cons: Decentralized government, some centralization required projects locked

The lands to the south boiled. Roiling and bubbling like sweet sap being transformed to sugar in a great stone cauldron, the south quickly bubbled over. The reports that Kaspar had of the land to the south were muddled, perhaps even unbelievable. There were tales of a kind most dark. Families turning against brother and sister, women abandoning their children and men feasting on the flesh of other men. The struggles that the People experienced seemed to be nothing as compared to chaos that was born down south.

Kaspar's mind ached as he slowly worked to separate fact from fiction. The web of lies versus half-truths or mistakes unknowingly made. Numerous refugees had streamed up from the south, begging for the People's protection. All of them were eager to share stories in exchange for food.

According to them, many of the tribes that lived there depended greatly on agriculture. Instead of wild rice like the People primarily grew, they depended most on corn. There were other grains, similar to wild rice, but that grew on land, and a flower that apparently came in a riot of colours from green and yellow, to purple, orange, and red. The freezing rain came in the middle of early planting for corn. Many of the plants were wiped out instantly. The riot flowers mostly lived and grew, but only for a single year. After that, the flowers did not bloom again. Fields of them were left in the years after, brown and dead. Bones slowly piled upon beneath the flowers, half-eaten stems trapped in desperate fingers, vainly trying to stuff empty bellies.

Little food was grown that year in the south.

It might have been something that the south could have survived. It would require extensive hunts, fishing, and other traditional techniques, but all ones that were well known. It would be a year of hardship, one without new births, one where the weak would starve, and the curse of sickness would stalk those once thought healthy, but it would have been something that could have passed. A terrible Ordeal, but one that could be overcome.

For the south, that was not an option. South Lake, the greatest, or at least most threatening, of the tribes to the south, depended heavily on slave labour. Insatiable in demand, they forced ever greater numbers to toil endlessly under fear of the scourge. They grew necessary crops to feed South Lake's burgeoning population. Many of their men and women hadn't the faintest idea how to clear land, plant, or tend to crops. They had turned everything within themselves to be warriors.

When the raining ice destroyed the crops, everything collapsed. Their slaves realized that suddenly there was not going to be enough food to get everyone through the winter. South Lake's warriors had never been shy about ensuring they would be feed — comfortably — before any of the slaves received even a scrap.

Death was clearly in the future. It could be a long, slow death from starvation over the winter, or it could be the uncertain threat that all of the slaves lived under. South Lake was capricious and brutal in stamping out dissent, breaking anyone who might rise amongst their slaves and led them against the tribe. Thus, when the revolt finally came, it was uncoordinated, bloody, and spontaneous. South Lake's farmers rose up in dribs and drabs, turning the tools of the field into weapons with which to kill their masters. A digging sick was a pale imitation of a proper war club, but when a group of dozens came for you in the night?

The response from South Lake's warriors was immediate and utterly eclipsed everything that they had done to their slaves previously. Tales carried by the few slaves that had escaped up to the north claimed that the warriors of South Lake had transformed. Taking on the shapes and skins of beasts, they devoured any who opposed them.

The purges continued for years. Another disparate group of farmers would rise up, strike down their immediate oppresses, and then end up crushed once reinforcements came. Many fled, taking off into the wilds, near to be seen again. Some, a small resistance, fled into the mountains east of South Lake. Instead of dispersing like many of those that fled north or south, they concentrated and continued their War of The Knife against South Lake. They were few in number, but they were a group of the hardest, most willful and most hateful. Nothing would dissuade them, there would be vengeance.

Seeing all of this, the Island Makers responded with absolute glee. Due to their defeats in previous years, they were unable to truly capitalize on South Lake's weakness and force them back. What they could do instead was grow and recover nearly all of their old wounds. Unlike South Lake, the Island Makes drew most of the food they ate from the waters. Fish, seaweed, and other products were more than enough to sustain and grow their numbers. They still struck viciously against any strangers that passed by them. They clearly wanted revenge for previous defeats, but those they struck down were often not the warriors of South Lake that had so humbled them. Instead, they were mostly escaped slaves, trying to make their way north, trying to reach somewhere that old, vague tales mentioned as being safe.

The entire region had descended into chaos and everything was in flux. Kaspar knew that it was better to let the south shake itself out, but that was not possible. The Island Makers had equipped a delegation and sent them up the White River to the People. There were tales of the People's war against the Hundred Bands. It was well know that the Hundred Bands fought, and lost, along the White River, but nothing was known about the powerful tribe that defeated them.

The Island Makers wanted to put that to use. They spoke of the evils of South Lake, the brutality with which they treated those they conquered. Everyone not born fully to their tribe were little more than animals decorating the landscape. If South Lake were to put down their slave revolts and recover from their wounds, they would eventually come for the People. South Lake would not be satisfied until the Island Makers worked side-by-side in their fields. With that as the only other option, why shouldn't the People work together with the Island Makers?

Kaspar could easily see where their logic fell apart. The Island Makers were ignorant. They didn't know that the People had managed to trade with South Lake for a full generation without incident. If South Lake did recover, a prospect that would likely take generations, the People could easily tempt them again with more obsidian. Eventually, South Lake would grow over confident and strike at the People, but by that time, it was likely that the People would absolutely eclipse them in strength.

On the other hand, now would be the ideal time to strike. South Lake's food stores and fields had been destroyed by freezing rain, their slaves were in revolt, and many of the ones who hadn't fled had turned things into a brutal hit-and-run war to the knife. If the People could rely on the Island Makers as allies, now would be the time to strike. The Island Makers even suggested that they were willing as to go so far to supply any of the People's warriors out of their own stores.

Should the People aid the Island Makers against South Lake?

[ ] [Raid] Yes, launch a raid! (Raid: South Lake)
[ ] [Raid] Yes, allow young men to go south and fight.
[ ] [Raid] No. This war is not the People's.

Within a few weeks of the departure of the Island Maker's delegation, Arrow Lake returned to trade. They spoke of difficulties, but not ones that had plagued the rest of the region. The mountains west of them had apparently shielded Arrow Lake from most of the freezing rain that had ravaged the south. Their crops were reduced due to the linger cold in the air, but not nearly to the degree that would likely be a problem. What did trouble them lived in the mountains to the west.

There had always been a number of small bands that made their homes among the forests, mountains, and valleys to the west, but that number had rapidly been increasing in recent years. Normally not a concern, they were sometimes trade partners, sometimes enemies. Violence had increased, and Arrow Lake had begun to worry about the security of their lapis mines. Nestled in the foothills that surrounded the mountains, their main mine was almost opposite of their main settlement. If the mine was raided, reinforcing it would be almost impossible. The soil was too poor to allow the building of proper farms and what hunting and fishing existed was as utilized as heavily as Arrow Lake could make it.

Since the People have traded with Arrow Lake for longer than anyone could remember, they though the People would be motivated in finding a solution, one that would protect Arrow Lake's livelihood while also securing an import for the People. Any help would be rewarded, Arrow Lake was quick to promise.

How do the People help Arrow Lake?

[ ] [Arrow] Break the Mountain Clans! (Raid: Mountain Clans)
[ ] [Arrow] Talk to them, maybe there's a solution there? (Trade: Mountain Clans)
[ ] [Arrow] Build them a wall. (Build Wall: Arrow Lake)
[ ] [Arrow] Let Arrow Lake solve their own problems.

Kaspar had kept as close an eye as possible on the Peace Builders. If conflict was going to arise as a result of the poor weather destroy crops, it would be from them. Miraculously, the Peace Builders had been remarkably sheltered from the freezing rain. Kaspar could hardly deduce what quirk of the spirits had saved them, but the evidence was obvious. Their settlement on the east of the Great Bay continued to grow, perhaps even swelled with the number of refugees that it was taking on from the south. Most of those were simply more of the Peace Builders, relocating away from their ravaged farmlands in the south.

A few years into the weather crisis, the Peace Builder's Skalds completely failed to return to Hill Guard. Scouting of the Peace Builder's camp showed that they were missing an enormous section of their tribe. Closer scouting indicated that it was mostly young and middle-aged men who had left the Peace Builder's camp. It was clear to all what had occurred. The Peace Builders had gone to war, taking advantage of their relative immunity to the weather. Their rivals in the south were not going to be in for a good time.

All that was left was to organize the People's response to the crisis.

[ ] [Crisis] Food, you fools! (Expand Aquaculture: Fish)
[ ] [Crisis] Build morale. (Annual Festival)
[ ] [Crisis] Take out a rival. (Raid: Peace Builders OR South Lake)
[ ] [Crisis] Appease the spirits! (Undergo Ordeal)
[ ] [Crisis] Touch base with someone? (Trade: Pearl Divers OR Northlands OR Peace Builders)

AN: There is a Vote Moratorium currently on. I will open voting after I wake up. Any votes before the threadmark will not be counted. Tag me if you have any questions you want answered.

 

[Redium]

[X] [Raid] Yes, launch a raid! (Raid: South Lake)
[X] [Arrow] Build them a wall. (Build Wall: Arrow Lake)
[X] [Crisis] Food, you fools! (Expand Aquaculture: Fish)

Kaspar slowly digested the latest piece of news coming back from the south. The People, it looks like were soon going to develop an enormous problem. They were winning far, far to quickly. Much faster than he had dared even imagine.

South Lake had been vicious and heavy handed in putting down slave revolts. If a plantation stopped working, every man would be given twenty strikes of the lash. If slaves escaped, they would be captured and eventually tortured to death. One in ten from those who remained on the plantation would then be selected and their comrades forced to beat them to death with fist and foot. If there was violent resistance? Everyone taller than a two-handed war club would be killed. Those who survived would be split up and shifted around to other plantations.

It was an... effective system, Kaspar allowed. For a little while. South Lake kept their boots tight on the throats of their slaves. There was little way for anyone to resist, to do so would mean death. Not only of yourself, but of your family, and friends. There came a time, though, when the slaves finally drowned in that fear. There was only so many dead-eyed children that a plantation could take in, children who screamed in the night as horror memorialized itself behind their eyes. Past that point, something snapped. Something broke within the slaves and madness took hold. It was an act of spite, Kaspar thought. A spite so primal, so intrinsically human, that it defied every rational instinct. The slaves knew they might die if they rebelled, but if they remained in bondage, they would never live.

More and more of South Lake's plantations stopped tilling futilely at their fields and turned their shovels and axes against their tormentors. Most of the revolts were brutally put down. Only a few managed to flee to the Mountain Clans in the east or deep into the forests of the south.

A handful remained and became something different. Calling themselves the Bond Breakers, they were a group of slaves who had quickly turned themselves into an army. Unlike most, who dispersed into the Mountain Clans only to occasionally strike back, the Bond Breakers were aggressive and always on the offense. They lost, more often than not, to South Lake. Their former masters were born and bred for war. Only the best were selected to be warriors, children will formed, quick of wit and hand. Those deemed lesser were trained as shaman, craftsmen, servants, even slaves. South Lake's warriors were the best of the best and had ever resource turned into reinforcing that.

The Bond Breakers still made them pay, drowned them in numbers and fresh flowing blood. But it was obvious that they were eventually going to lose. Losing three or four for every one of South Lake's was an impossible ratio to maintain. All of that set aside the issue of food. South Lake could feed their small population of warriors, even as some of them went hungry; the Bond Breakers could not freely feed all of the men they relied on to fight. Defeat would eventually come to the Bond Breakers.

It was at that moment that the People and the Island Makers struck and took South Lake right in the back. Distracted and off balance, South Lake's famed warriors crumpled and started to break. It was the work of years, but the People's raiders based out of the Island Maker's settlement reaped a bloody harvest. South Lake was forced to constantly disperse their great warbands and take on a dozen different threats. Raiders from the Mountain Clans, the Bond Breakers, slave revolts, and enemies nibbling at the territory from west. From the rumours that reached Kaspar's ears, there was apparently a woman that had donned the garb of war and led her tribe to a success nearly as great as that of the People's.

All of that contributed to South Lake's slow, sliding defeat. It was a good thing so much had gone wrong for the enemy or else the People would've likely lost, Kaspar thought.

The issue was simple: South Lake outnumbered the People and their warriors were more skilled than the People's hunters. The People's raiders were men and women who'd dabbled in war. Their primary profession was to hunt, to stalk beasts. All of them had known violence, tested in constant competition with others among the People, but they did not live war like South Lake. Where the People had the Fangs as the greatest amongst them, South Lake's warriors were nearly on that level. Every single one of them.

But, despite those advantages, South Lake couldn't rely on them in this war. It made Kaspar very uneasy about the next, however. The first that would be fought without him in memory.

The Island Makers and South Lake both used professional warriors; individuals whose whole life was war. They trained for it and as such could become much, much better than any mere dabbler. And despite their acceptance of violence, that's what he People were. Outside of the Fangs, violence was a side job. Something the People engaged in to show off, or to solve problems. It wasn't something that could be made a way of life. It was closer to... entertainment, than anything else. Violence was like an old, favoured buckskin cloak. Something worn with pride, but not everyday.

That thought would have to change if the People were to keep up. The difficulty was that it was logic that the People had rejected multiple times. They didn't want full-time warriors. If Kaspar forced the issue, he knew that it would make many upset. Perhaps justifiably, but upset all the same. After all, hadn't the Old Warriors of his youth nearly rebelled because the People hadn't recognized the sacrifices of a warrior and instead snubbed them? What would accepted warriors do? What would their demands be?

On the other hand, Kaspar knew what would happen to dabblers: they would die, and they would die in numbers unless they could outnumber and overwhelm their enemy. Someone who played with violence would never be the equal of someone who could great it as an old friend. They needed more people who could be akin to him in his youth. Blackswords.

Should the People reform hunter-raiders to warrior-raiders?

[ ] [Warrior] Yes, violence is an art and must be practiced to the highest degree. (-1 Stability)
[ ] [Warrior] No, violence is the right and duty of all.

Despite future worries, the war had gone far in the People's favour. One of South Lake's settlements had already been burned to the ground and a second heavily savaged. Based on Kaspar's assessment, it sounded as if the second would soon be abandoned. From what little news came from the Tribe of the West, they had sacked a third settlement. Nearly half of the known nexuses of South Lake's civilization were on fire. Many warriors of South Lake had been slain, and great portions of their farmland rendered unuseable. Many of their tribesmen and woman lived, but they were forced back into a nomadic existence. They were slowly losing the abundance of easy food that gave them an edge at being better killers and kept them a coherent polity.

It also forced South Lake to abandon many of their slaves and plantations. Most fled, trying to escape, but others stayed and even welcomed the invaders. They knew that the invaders often brought food and safety with them. Many of the new war canoes built by the People were shipped to the south, in order to help facilitate the movement of raiders and their sudden need for food. If the freed slaves went unfed, they would quickly become a problem. Resentment would build and they would lash out at the People and the Island Makers, blaming them for the problems they faced. It wasn't rational, but no one would be rational while their world burned down around them.

Organizing everything took a titanic amount of effort. Anyone less organized or a poorer speaker would've been unable to do it. The People flirted with hunger for several years in a row. It was necessary, though, if the People wanted to continue to prosecute their war against South Lake. Most of their settlements along the coast had been destroyed and their tribesmen had moved inland. The damage dealt was significant, but recoverable, and when South Lake finally recovered, it would be the People's blood they would chase.

The effort also exposed gaps within the People's chain of supply. The new war canoes required birch bark and enormous quantities of it. Not only that, but the pieces required large, fully grown trees. Combined with the fact that each tree could only be harvested once and the People were quickly running out of easily accessible trees. There were likely more, deeper in the forest, but they were increasingly difficult to access. It wasn't a problem currently, but it would be in the near future.

Interestingly, the Island Makers had encountered the same issue. In response, they had simply changed the forests on their island. Instead of taking a mix of species, they systematically cut down the young and left only birch trees. Within a few generations, near every tree was a birch. More than enough trees grew to satisfy even their titanic demand. Even when the People were forced to lean on them to met increasing demand, the Island Makers had more than enough.

It was like making their island, the Island Makers rationalized. It was enormous and oddly shaped; winding coastlines and extensive bays nearly cut them off fully from the mainland. They had turned their peninsula into a true island by moving bucket after bucket of dirt. Instead of thinking about what you should do, a tribe instead needed to gaze across generations instead.

Still, the results of organizing and feeding South Lake's former slaves were quickly rewarded. The freed slaves were quick to put the People in contact with the Bond Breakers. They knew were the ones operating on the front lines. They knew where South Lake had built their settlements, where their warriors gathered, and where their food was stored. Backed by the People and the Island Makers, that knowledge could now be exploited. South Lake wasn't destroyed, yet, but it was grievously wounded through combined effort. They were being choked, all that was left was to hold it long enough that their last supply of breath ran out.

The close association between the People and South Lake's former slaves did have side effects. Small, squirming, smelly bundles of joy. More than one of the People's hunters were named as fathers to these war children and the vast majority acknowledged the children as theirs after they were named. The People's raiders had been away from home for years in some cases. Where they would normally be married, that simply wasn't possible. The People's women who went south as raiders were reluctant to take husbands or have children. Doing so would almost inevitably mean being sent home from the front.

Solving that issue was simple. Those woman that had acknowledged children with the People would be shipped back to their new husband's settlement, along with their family. The policy caused an explosion in women falling pregnant by the People's raiders, but t hat was manageable. What wasn't manageable was when women among the Island Makers started to become pregnant as well.

It was unsurprising, but the scandal was enough that it nearly tore the alliance between between the People and Island Makers in half. Only Kaspar's personal intervention spared things from getting worse. Apparently, the Island Makers had a hierarchy, a way of determining whom should marry whom. It was similar to the People's system, but far more all encompassing. When one of the People married, they needed the consent of the longhouse in which they would live. While this usually meant their extended families, it wasn't always so. New longhouses were occasionally built and opened to new couples, others simple eloped, and figured out where they could stay. That was rare, however.

Among the Island Makers, every marriage required the support of their 'chief'. While this was in practice only nominal approval, the clan council underneath the chief, made extensive use of their abilities to arrange marriages. It was of spiritual, economic, and familial importance to the Island Makers. The fact that the People were completely willing to flout this made many deeply angry.

Something needed to be done.

[ ] [Marry] Forbid raiders at war from taking wives. (-1 Stab, hurts war effort)
[ ] [Marry] Take the resulting children from the Island Makers and raise them among the People. (Minor relations hit with Island Makers, ???)
[ ] [Marry] Pay the Island Makers off with gifts of wealth. (Variable Art damage until war ends)
[ ] [Marry] Allow hunters to be punished according to Island Maker tradition. (Fathers exiled or ritually executed, hurts war effort, -1 or -2 Stab)

East of the war, in Arrow Lake, the planned wall was slowly completed without issue. The Mountain Clans were quiet. While they had been spotted, they never came close enough to ever even pose a threat to the People's builders. Kaspar suspected that the amount of violence visited upon South Lake had forced them to withdraw their protection around the western edge of the mountains. They could turn there for food or raiding if they needed to.

Arrow Lake, after seeing how the wall was initially completed quickly determined how to turn clay into bricks and built their own wall around their central settlement. It greatly irritated the Ember-Eyes that one of their precious magics was effectively given to another tribe, but Kaspar quieted that irritation with words and vague promises. The Ember-Eyes were more than pleased with a few words to grow their egos. The fact that he, an Ember-Eye himself, had arranged for the wall to be built reduced many of the issues.

Building the wall also had unintended effects. The builders sent south had a tendency to form relationships, friendships, even have children with the tribe of Arrow Lake. Now that the wall was built, the reason that those individuals had come in contact was now no longer present. Those ties would break and then eventually fade to nothingness. Kaspar could see an opportunity there. Arrow Lake was quite grateful to the People. Lapis luzili was the prime export and something they had spent enormous effort accessing.

If he pushed, Kaspar knew that he could make those ties deeper. It would likely involve some of the People's magics to be picked up by Arrow Lake, but it would also mean that cultural and personal ties would deepen as well. That could be turned into something on a longer term, but was it worth the risk? Arrow Lake was very, very far from Crystal Lake. A full moon's worth of travel going down river. Three going upriver. The People could maintain that now, but how much was the point where they snapped? Maintaining the tribal council was extremely difficult and they could only meet a few times a year.

[ ] [Lake] Deepen ties with Arrow Lake.
[ ] [Lake] Keep working on building good will.
[ ] [Lake] Maintain trade relations, but no more.

AN: Back in business! Vote will be opened in the morning. A moratorium is currently ACTIVE. Votes after the next threadmark will be counted.

 

[Redium]

[X] [Lake] Deepen ties with Arrow Lake.
[X] [Warrior] Yes, violence is an art and must be practiced to the highest degree. (-1 Stability)
[X] [Marry] Take the resulting children from the Island Makers and raise them among the People. (Minor relations hit with Island Makers, ???)

Aeva quietly shushed her nieces and nephews playing on the edge of the longhouse. It was a futile effort, she knew, but she needed absolute silence to know if her father was even still alive. The ravages of time, it seemed, had finally caught up with the Blacksword. If it wasn't for the faint irregular breaths that came from his throat, Aeva would be convinced her father was dead. When she was born, he was already considered to be an elder. Now she was middle-aged. None of the People's elders could remember a time before Kaspar.

None.

He was the Most Ancient.

It had not been discussed, but Aeva knew that death would come for her father soon. He slept far more than he was awake most days. He might be up with everyone at dawn, but he would be asleep by the time the midday meal was finished. Walking from one end of the longhouse to the other exhausted him to the bone. There were warriors that could fight for hours and only display a fraction of the fatigue her father did. Then there were also the days where he couldn't get up at all. He was awake, but didn't have the energy to even move his hands above his head. He had to be carried to the latrine and fed by another.

A part of Aeva felt deep seated dread at the notion. Kaspar had grown so light, so much of his weight had been lost, that even she could carry him. She'd only seen glimpses of the mien that caused others to call him Blacksword. He was shriveled now. A rotten fruit found at the bottom of a basket.

Despite all of it, the People still followed Kaspar. His presence at Crystal Lake anchored everyone, even the distant settlement at the Fingers. Big Men and their lesser Slates came to see him three or even four times a year. His wisdom was known far and wide and if Aeva had to manipulate her father's appointment schedule to make it happen, she didn't feel much guilt. It wasn't that his father had slipped away like some elders did in their final years, but seeing a Legend-In-Flesh sleep for three quarters of a day left many feeling underwhelmed.

The stories that surrounded him... it almost made her snort. She remembered whispers following her father while she was a young woman. He was touched by the spirits, he was cursed by them, he had cut a black deal with one of the evil ones. He was a spirit in flesh. The rumours and innuendo had grown louder and louder over the years. More insistent.

"I need fresh air," Aeva said. The air inside the longhouse was cloying. She made for the north door and started laying out her snowshoes. The wide racket-like shoes had become increasingly popular to overcome winter snows in recent years. They were perhaps one of the only good things that South Lake had ever produced. At least, before the People's warriors liberated a few of them and then improved on the design.

"You're going out?"

Aeva turned to the woman who addressed her. "Aye," she said. "I need to be away for a moment. I feel like I haven't see the sun in weeks and haven't been able to look beyond these walls in days. I need to walk and breath in fresh air."

"It's dangerous out there. You could catch your death on the icy winds."

"I will be back," Aeva promised. "For you at the very least." She set a hand on the other woman's shoulder.

"You'll be held to that promise. Breaking it will make you a Debtor."

"Then I'd best think of a way to clear off that Debt," Aeva promised, allowing her hand to fall down to her side after a final reassuring squeeze.

The spirits danced quickly in the skies while the wind howled between the trees. Brilliant greens scattered across the night sky, arching from east to west in luminous bands. Fading to blues near their peak, Aeva could only think that the spirits were driven to a higher level of excitement than she had ever seen. She hoped that would mean that they would soon change the weather. The freezing rains of her younger years had ceased, but that had been replaced by an unending bone deep chill.

Bone deep would perhaps be an understatement, Aeva eventually admitted. She'd seen flesh and bone split and pop, literally frozen solid as a result of staying outside too long. It wasn't an unreasonable precaution to ask if someone was planning to return when they went outside. The People's food stores had been stretched enough that a number of elders had been driven out into the cold so they didn't have to watch their children and grandchildren go hungry.

The People had greatly increased the number of hunters over the past few decades. Farming wild rice and corn had been insufficient for the People's needs. Even the new plant they'd seized from the south, quinoa, wasn't hardy enough to survive the constant, chilling cold. Even as bundled up as she was, Aeva knew that she could only be out for a few minutes more. Staying on longer during the night risked death. The air was cold enough that uncovered skin would freeze in moments. A cup of water thrown into the air would freeze by the time it hit the ground. Only the hardiest could go out during the day and only for a few hours at most.

If there was any benefit, it was that it was easy to keep meat safe to eat. A slaughtered animal would freeze solid almost as soon as it was butchered and would defrost until the spring. Supplementing stored food with fresh frozen kills was easy. You needed to use an axe to separate bits off for the night's supper, but that was mere inconvience.

"Aeva!" she heard one of the scouts shout over the howling winds. "The signal fires have been lit!"

Starting in near horror, Aeva dashed to the edge of camp. The war against South Lake had continued to go extremely well. Staggeringly well in fact. South Lake had regained some ground around five or six year ago, but all of that ground was quickly retaken. They had managed to reassert themselves after a chaotic first meeting between the People and the Tribe of the West. It hadn't quite come to violence, but from all reports, it had certainly been in the air. Their leader, a woman so giant that she could not have been fully human, had quickly managed to assert authority and redirect everyone against South Lake. "If heads are smashed, should be right heads," she supposedly said.

Combined with the widespread adoption of snowshoes, South Lake had been pushed utterly to the brink. The only thing that allowed them to keep fighting was how utterly the weather had turned against everyone. The freezing cold and elongated winters robbed moons worth of raiding each season. It cut into the growing season as well, but given how many of South Lake's people had abandoned the tribe, it meant they could barely subsist off their meager stores and hunting.

Panting as she finally crested the wall, Aeva pulled up short. The People had numerous codes, ways of communicating, along the Fire Relay that united the people, but the amount of information that could be conveyed was limited. The code used was obscure enough that it took Aeva a full minute to recognize it: the divided hexagon. The symbol of the spirits. Underneath that, eight more fires burned in a line.

"Huntsmen," Aeva called out to the young man who had called out to her. "Have a team prepared. Wake the shaman. We leave at dawn."

Crystal Lake was considered spiritually significant enough to merit six fires. The worst of the snows and killing cold merited even fewer fires.

The ones who manned the fire relay were warriors one and all. Headstrong some of them were perhaps, but they were not a panicky bunch. If they were, then Aeva would have words with them. One of her father's last acts was to reform the warriors. Instead of men and women drawn by lot, they were selected and remained warriors all their lives. Good food, training, and war gave them an absolute killer instinct. People like that should have nothing to be scared of.

It was a diverse group that left downriver on the next day. Mostly composed of young men, Aeva wasn't however, out of place. Two other women, each old enough to be her mother, and a man old enough that, well, wasn't quite as old as her father, but old all the same. It was a risky journey, but the three old ones were among the tribe's most spiritually skilled. Two of them were Ember-Eyes and the third an adviser to the Fangs. They would be necessary to appease the spirits.

The younger group were escorts, warriors primarily. Normally departing in the winter would be a deeply dangerous thing. When food was scarce, it would be very tempting for some hunters to ambush unwary travelers and take their supplies. It didn't happen often, but it happened often enough that everyone knew someone who'd been killed that way. Or a young man deciding to settle grudges with a rival. That was common too.

Trained warriors, though, could destroy anyone who'd be tempted to do that. Well fed and trained in war, they were far larger than an average member of the People by the length of a hand. Combined with their ability to hunt humans, honed in the wars of the south, they were fearsome and not many willing crossed them. Plus, they were easy to control, Aeva reckoned. They were competent enough hunters, but they weren't skilled enough to fulfill their own food needs. Not of they wanted to keep their edge.

It was a good adaptation. They needed the hunters and the rest of the People for food and they were far better at violence. Easy to order and control while being good at their jobs. It was everything Aeva wanted in subordinates.

Most of the ones with her were Fangs, scouts that tended to the caravan's dogs. Mixed in with them were a new group, the Frost-Scarred. Among all of the People's warriors, they were perhaps the most touched in the head. Where others had the good sense to cower in the depths of winter, they kept up the pressure against South Lake. Almost single handedly in some cases and they paid for it. Aeva could spy the man leading the dogsled behind her; he had lost most of his nose to the cold and likely more than a few fingers and toes.

Instead of having to follow the Fire Relay all the way to the Fingers, Aeva was surprised when she was flagged down at River-Fork. When she was hustled into the shack, she wasn't unsure any more. There were only five warriors there. Six should have been present. It took a while to get them to open up, but the story they relayed was disturbing. Two of them had been hunting to the south, looking to stretch their food supplies so that they could eat more. It went against the rules, but Aeva let it slide.

In the foothills to the south, they encountered... something. The Twisted Forest, they called it. The trees there were strange. Instead of growing straight, they twisted; almost like a piece of grass bowed over by the snow. Some of the trees even curled in on themselves, spiraling down to touch then ground before curling back up to reach for the sky.

It was a cursed place, the two warriors had known that immediately. It was silent, devoid of birds and the snow was completely pure, untouched by both man and beast. Despite the obvious lack of game, something had driven the two on. At the heart of the twisted forest, they found it. A rent in the ground that disappeared into darkness. Two had looked closer, only to be chased from the cave's mouth by flying blue stars. It was just like the sky, the one warrior said. His friend had slipped and fallen into the cave's mouth. He didn't return.

Further inspection confirmed it: the Twisted Forest and Cave of Falling Stars was real. Neither Aeva nor the three other shaman she brought could identify all of the spirits involved. By they saw the trees and they could see the Falling Stars dwelling within the mouth of the cave. It was clear something was at work.

[ ] [Cave] It's clearly nothing.
[ ] [Cave] It's a mouth to the spirits' home.
[ ] [Cave] It's cursed land, wounded in a great battle between spirits.
[ ] [Cave] It's a spirit-in-flesh... and it's hungry.

When Aeva returned to Crystal Lake, she started to organize a team to begin founding a village near the River-Fork. She knew that the People would want to claim dominion over the cave. Her father, however, in one of his moments of lucidity, overruled her. "The People cannot afford another settlement," he said. "Not with this weather."

"Ignoring the site will bring trouble," Aeva responded. "Riots, potentially."

"The riots will be worse if there's no food," Kaspar countered. "We've only barely broken even, and that was after investing heavily in increasing food production."

Kaspar would not live forever, does Aeva take his advice?

[ ] [River] Settle near the Twisted Forest and Cave of Stars. (Chance of starvation)
[ ] [River] Put off the settlement for a generation. (-1 Legitimacy)

Hero Actions

Spoiler: Hero Actions

Diplomacy: Trade (Island Makers)
Martial: Raid (South Lake) -> Cultivated Quinoa
Administration 1: Manage Forests -> Cultivated Gourds
Administration 2: Manage Forests
Art 1: Trade (Pearl Divers) -> Fishing Nets
Art 2: Study Transportation -> Snowshoes
Action 1: Expand Aquaculture (Fishing)
Action 2: Lost due to climate rolls.

Tribute action: Expand Hunting, Expand Hunting -> Tamed Orkers

Automatic Actions: Trade (Arrow Lake, Northlands), Expand Aquaculture (Rice), Prepare for Ordeal

"There's not enough time..." Kaspar whispered. "The war with South Lake demands all of our attention. Reassuring and building support among the Island Makers. They're on the edge of violence with us. They've not appreciated our young men becoming friendly with their women."

"We've made amends," Aeva said. "You still don't think it enough?"

"There's nothing that drives a men to violence like the perception that his mate is with another."

"I can assure you, father," Aeva promised. "That I feel no such way."

"It's different," he rasped.

"Then despite the similarities in our attention, there is one thing that's different," Aeva allowed. "How goes your project with the orkers?"

Aeva didn't even need to look at her father to feel the smug aura radiating off of him. That was good, he was so rarely happy these days. "Others have made their name killing them," Kaspar said, "But I shall be the first to turn them like dogs have been turned from wolves. It's... slow, but progressing. We'll need to capture more."

"The fact that those juveniles were found was a miracle in and of itself. No one will find more, even if a reward is posted. Orkers are not things that often die of natural causes."

"Trade's been picking up with the Pearl Divers," Kaspar said, changing the subject. "They've shared a new design of net with us, one that will catch a lot of fish. I suspect they're trying to increase our demand for their salt. The spirits have clearly shown their displeasure through the weather and we've ever increase amounts of food. If it happens to be preserved with Pearl Diver salt?" he shrugged.

"And the war?"

Kaspar was silent for a long moment. "Either we unleash the Fangs and the Frost-Scarred, try to wipe South Lake from the world, or we try and negotiate peace. The Tribe of the West has taken their territory. The Island Makers have taken territory. The Bond Breakers have carved out a chunk of territory for themselves. Even the Mountain Clans have made moves on South Lake's territory. They're effective broken. Carrying forward our war would just end in their annihilation.

"There's a benefit to that, we won't have to fear South Lake, but there are other considerations. It may be beneficial for us to allow the south to remain divided. Let them kill each other over the scraps of South Lake's empire."

What should be done?

[ ] [War] Finish South Lake forevermore. (Raid: South Lake)
[ ] [War] Attempt to write a peace. (Pick 2 - Trade: Island Makers OR Mountain Clans OR Bond Breakers OR Tribe of the West)
[ ] [War] Withdraw your men, bring them home. (Expand Hunting)

AN: There is a moratorium currently in effect. Until I post the next threadmark, votes will note be counted.
AN2: We're not talking about your rolls for this turn. Someone's been making satanic sacrifices again.

 

[Marlin]

Time, Kaspar should be a spirit of time.

Spoiler: The legend of Kaspar

The legend of Kaspar

In the times gone past, our people lived with spirits, wearing forms more different than the ones we now have. Two great gatherings, where spirit met the heart of man, were the spirits early gifts to us for our victories against the traitor-men, whom enslaved the spirits of war, the spirits of people yet to live, and the spirits of happiness. The first gathering was a place of white clear water with strong white buildings by the shore, this was the place of the fire spirits and their bodies of stone. Greatest maker of the fire-spirit-men is Sun-Stag the spirit's shaman of summer and life.

The second gathering were the home of the wolf spirit brothers. Our people among them took two forms one that walked on two legs with the face of man, or woman, and a second that took the form of a wolf spirit.

Long ago among the wolf spirits, war had come to our people. The traitor-men had bound the spirits of war, people-yet-to-live, and spirits of hapiness to their will.

"We must fight," spoke Old Grey, the wisest of the wolf brothers. Old Grey had been to the great divide to the south where the war was greatest, the hunt constant, and the cries of the dying the loudest.

Pack Leader, the dying chief of our people after Sister went away long ago, had a different voice, "No, you have a Debt. We all have Debt. Recall all our pack. No longer will we fight to reach the lost spirits. Our Debt is too large to continue fighting with all our pack."

Old Grey growled at pack leader. Before she could issue a challenge. Pack Leader barked, "From now on only five of our best may fight the traitor-men."

Old Grey turned to her wolf form, lunging at Pack Leader in rage. For the chief's word is law, none may go against it. Pack leader faded away from our land that day.

"Who will the spirits choose as chief now. I am the strongest, the wisest among us. I fought to free our spirit friends. Oh spirits am I not the chief now?" Old Grey thought we would follow them.

The great pack of spirits would choose our chief, not just the spirits of those who lived among us. There had ben other spirits that fought against the traitor-men. With the spirits of war chained to the traitor-men's will we lost many of our fastest hunters, greatest cooks, and tricksters. The spirits of fire to the north, gave the spirits of the Sister wolf, a wolf of fire. Different from the wolf pack of Sister, this wolf studied the secrets of fire, until their wolf form took on fire as a coat of red that burned. This wolf, named Kazgar, had Debt. A Debt of the soul the spirits of fire placed to better war against the traitor-men and free their fellow spirits. Kazgar was chosen by the gret pack of spirits to lead all spirits and men.

Kazgar built the second gathering, home of the wolves, into a spirit of defiance that would strike at those who came near. Kazgar also used his fur coat of fire to teach our ancestors to speak through fire to anyone over any distance.

Kazgar had ignored the traitor-men. The traitor-men had not forgotten where they stole the mighty spirits broken to their will. The traitor-men walked to our lands with three armies. The five best warriors, not our chief though, were sent to challenge the traitor-men, ran from the armies in shame. Our best feared the strength of the traitor-men, but our best did not completely abandon Kazgar. One-Fur, one of the five wariors, told Kazgar through a message in fire the traitor-men would attack, and our best five warriors would run away.

Kazgar laughed at One-Fur, "Come home, we are safe, the traitor-men cannot reach us behind our home."

"Hmph, and She-The-Snow is your wife," One-Fur scoffed. One-Fur had been away from the second gathering too long. Once, he and Kazgar shared their hunts with each other. Now, Kazgar had turned on One-Fur. Enforcing the law of the past chief that the people owed a debt so great they must pay it before they fight against the traitor-men. Some had paid it, some ran, others had yet to pay.

"Where can you run, if the traitor-men do kill us? They will hunt you as well. We are spirits of great power. I have many gifts from the spirits of fire, but yours is a great voice when a mind that cuts is needed to lead where I am not." Kazgar the chief of the wolf spirits, had a mind, tounge, and skill that covered everything. Martial prowess that could kill a great orker, wisdom beyond the eyes of mortals, a skill at singing that amazed the four mighty spirit shamans of the seasons. Yet, Kazgar was weaker alone than with all the spirits of our land at his side. The greatest spirits of our land, the four shamans, powerful leaders of the spirits who supported Kazgar in many things throughout his life.

One-Fur, a war-spirit that never touched the grasp of the traitor-men, for he was training to take the place of the spirit's shaman of the autumn and death when the traitor-men came for his people. She-the-Snow, a bone-spirit, shaman of winter and memory. The Sun-Stag, fire-spirit shaman of summer and life. Empty-plains, a air-spirit shaman of spring and mystery.

One-Fur sighed, his friend might be too proud of the second gathering changes, too sure they will stand. There were shamans of strong wills among the traitor-men. If Kazgar and the people fell to the will of his enemy, One-Fur would be alone. Better to be chained with Kazgar and the rest than alone forever.

"I will return my chief." One-Fur replied.

===

The traitor men surrounded the second gathering, a few days after One-Fur returned to second gathering.

Three leaders of the traitor-men led the traitor-men armies. Kruk the white, Zunk the reborn, and Grasshopper the shadow.

"What are they doing?" asked a white skinned man with black marks in the shape of bears, badgers, mighty storms, and screaming eyes. The fortress of their enemy, the spirit-born stood before him. With the spirit-born bound to his will becoming the great chief of all creatures would be easy.

"The will-broken? Poisoning the enemy supply...." spoke Grasshopper the shadow, skilled in the traitor-men's means of binding spirits. Grasshopper had used his magic to break the wills of those inside the fortress. "Urghhhhagh!" Grasshopper yelled out in pain, as his connection with the spirits whose wills he broke to his will died.

"The easy way is gone," Zunk said. Grasshopper whimpered in pain, Kruk gazed at the fool, he was forced to call leader.

"At dawn?"

"At night, we break in, bind their wills and spirits. Leave none behind." Grasshoper commanded.

"You can't try to bind their wills again from here?" Even a fool can be of use to the skilled, were words Kruk lived by.

Grasshoper did not immediately reply to Zunk's question.

"A spirit is blocking me." Zunk and Kruk, looked at Grasshopper. Grasshopper broke the wills of powerful war spirits, tribes of men followed Grasshopper. None had defied the will of Grasshopper, fought and struggled, but none defied.

"Do you know where the spirit is?" Kruk eventually asked.

"Everywhere, nowhere, I would have to spend time to find it. Time that grows short the longer we stay in this land. Rest, but stay alert for our attack."

===

Kazgar would win the fight against the traitor-men. She-the-Snow, Kazgar's first wife, the other shamans, and the spirit of defience. Used magic to wait out the traitor-men, who unlike spirits needed food from their own land to eat and stay in our land. The traitor-men dropped dead until none remained. Kazgar went south with the shamans to free their chained spirit brothers. South, to the lands of more traitor-men.

In the South, Kazgar and the shamans found the homes of traitor-men long abandoned, or being robbed by other traitor-men and true-men, men who fought against the traitor-men that wanted the world to bow to the traitor-men. Kazgar disguised his group as true-men, throughout the lands of the men they wandered seeking the prison of their lost spirit people. Kazgara saw buildings that reached the stars, great cities, wise-men who could trap the power of animals inside a corpse. Along the way they aided the true-men in a war against the traitor-men.

Kazgar could not find their lost spirit people. Sun-Stag suggested that maybe the spirits were called away, or already returned. She-the-Snow suggested they return to their lands, the lost spirit people could not be found, and their people need leaders. One-Fur and Empty-Plains were against returning, but they could not deny looking anymore would not mean they will find their lost people. Kazgar refused to give up, but She-the-Snow was right his people needed their leaders.

Kazgar returned to our people without our lost people. The years passed Sun-Stag, She-the-Snow, One-Fur, and Empty-Plains moved the seasons in response to Kazgar's Debt. He failed to find our people, Sun-Stag had placed too much of the favor of the fire-spirits in his creation, Kazgar gave One-fur life as long as Sun-Stag. Kazgar's Debt was tall, clever Kazgar created new ways to gather food, make food, travel across the snow, teach man to walk with the spirits instead of cage us again. We said Kazgar had paid his debt.

We thought Kazgar would never fade.

Sister-Wolf returned to us.

"Why are you still here?" Sister-Wolf asked the withered husk like corn red wolf, who was once Kazgar the Blacksword, pride of the fire-spirits, Sun-Stag's greatest gift, and now leader of the fire-spirits. Bound to the stone of the first gathering by order of Sun-Stag whom Kazgar tricked into granting One-Fur, Empty-Plains, and She-the-Snow long life.

Kazgar could not move, the weight of his home too heavy on his body, to reply. Kazgar had failed his people, and Sister-Wolf came to collect the Debt. Sister-Wolf white as snow, with eyes of green and lightning, took a form of a man Kazgar had heard of once long ago.

Kazgar struggled to move, the form before his eyes matched what he had been told. He remembered why the debt existed it was not his debt, but the debt of the one who came before him. His eyes told him the two might be one. Kazgar's nose, old, barely useable, smelled the scent of Sister-Wolf on the form. "Old Grey," Kazgar whispered.

"Why are you still here?" Sister-Wolf/Old Grey asked, twirling a wolf necklace around his right hand.

"I have a Debt to pay." Kazgar growled.

Sister-Wolf smiled, was she going to mock Kazgar?

"Forever? All Debt can't be paid or no one would die. Nothing would grow. We all would be slaves to ourselves who should obey the traitor-men."

"I have a Debt to pay?" Kazgar asked to himself, or Sister-Wolf I don't know. Sister-Wolf didn't say.

Kazgar faded the day Sister-Wolf returned. Sister-Wolf told us this story, ending with the words. "I release you of your Debt Kazgar, you may now fade away into memory and song for all time." Then he faded away from us, again.

The End.

Note: Ahhh! I wanted to make this focused on a kind of four leaders with the power of the seasons religious pantheon. Have Kaspar added as a time god that stands at the side of the other four leaders. Yet, I got this when I tried to paraphrase Kaspar's life as a myth.

 

[Redium]

[X] [Cave] It's a mouth to the spirits' home.
[X] [River] Put off the settlement for a generation. (-1 Legitimacy)
[X] [War] Withdraw your men, bring them home. (Expand Hunting)

Kaspar was dead.

He had died quietly in his sleep. Content that he had lead the People well and with a faint smile on his face.

Aeva almost didn't believe that he was dead. She knew that he would eventually die, that was the way of the world. No plant and no animal lived forever, only the spirits of earth and stream were unending. But, Aeva thought that if someone had figured out the secrets to avoiding death, it would've been her father. Seeing his body, laying there in his personal alcove... it was unreal.

Mustering her spirit, Aeva turned to face the residents of her longhouse. While many of them were her family, there were others there. People that were important; members of her father's Slate, religious leaders from among the Holy Orders, and aspiring war-leaders. All of them peered from their own alcoves, looking expectantly at her. Now was normally the time that she would smile and tell them that their leader, the only leader that even their grandparents had ever known, was fine. Gathering his wits and strength to deal with the problems faced by the People, Kaspar would be out later in the day.

It was a lie, of course. Kaspar had been exhausted, barely able to move for years. His mind had remained sharp, but his body... wounds leaking blood so rotten it was nearly black, ranged across his back and legs. His skin had the feel and consistency of old leather. His hair was gone and for food he was reduced to mashing pre-cut pieces together with his gums. He never spoke of the pain, but Aeva always wondered if that was because his body felt nothing any more. Kaspar had become a being of mind constrained in a physical container.

All of the pain and degradation were carefully hidden. "Weakness would not be tolerated," Kaspar had always said. "The weather shows the spirits' displeasure and we've no need for the People to be anything but fully confident in their leadership." It had started small; a more comfortable chair, a system of ropes that Kaspar could use to hold himself up, to more regimented and convenient hours for him to sleep. It had grown from there, convenient falsehoods to be an enormous tree of a lie.

Now, the lie was dead and would come crashing down.

The war in the south had ended, at least for the People, but the weather remained as turbulent as it had the past few years. Or the Cave of Stars. Aeva had headed her father's suggestion there and prevented the People from settling near it. The decision was unpopular, to put it lightly. All among the People were attracted to the mysteries and wonders of the world. A door to the spirit realm... it would be a direct conduit to the spirits whom so bedeviled the People. With that, even a regular person could intercede with the spirits, something normally only possible for spirit-touched shaman. The gift of tongues, senses, and possession were a starkly limited gift.

The Cave of Stars was dangerous, but open to all. Having to give up that for a generation was a difficult pill to swallow. It was necessary, many would admit, but the People were not happy to have that lesson enforced on them. As a whole, they were used to a very wide degree of latitude. If they wanted to spend their time organizing the construction of a new settlement, why shouldn't they be able to do that? Everyone recognized that the People had obligations; to their Big Man, to their longhouse, to their family, to each other; but that obligation did not consume them. There was wiggle room available.

At least, there would be in better times. Until those better times came back, Aeva, and the rest of her Slate, would need to enforce additional control to make sure everyone got feed.

There was also the uncertain future to consider. Aeva had listened to more than a few reports from her warriors drifting up from the Fingers of a sickness. One that sapped away the accursed's strength, driving people to rest and even inactivity. Some who had been afflicted even died; starving to death no matter how generously they had eaten. The Fingers had been affected, but only minimally. The south had apparently been ravaged under the sleeping sickness' scourge. The tribes down there, weakened by war and icy weather, had proved extremely vulnerable to the curse.

It was reason enough to thank the Mountain Clans for their aggression; they had swept down into the lowlands west of their mountain range; raiding, hunting, and even settling everything they could get their hands on. Their numbers had swollen with refugees escaping from South Lake and the sudden vacuum of power caused by their near collapse had emboldened the former victims and opportunists alike to carve out their own slice of paradise. The Mountain Clan's aggressive posture had massively reduced contact between the People and the Island Makers, cutting the former off from the source of the curse.

From what scouts reported, it seemed that the Peace Builders were having similar success in their own theater of war. Despite that, they still seemed friendly with the People.

Still, Kaspar's death threw the future into doubt. There was much that could go wrong, all too easily; especially if the People panicked. They needed assurances.

"My father is no longer with us," Aeva spoke quietly. Silence reigned throughout the longhouse. Even infants and children seemed to have stilled at the momentous news. Whispers cascaded out mere seconds later, twisting and reaching like a spider's legs and carrying deadly poison.

"He has...

[ ] [Death] Ascended to the spirits!
[ ] [Death] Joined the spirits in union.
[ ] [Death] Has finished the lessons given to him by the spirits.
[ ] [Death] Has been blessed by the spirits, in their own way.
[ ] [Death] Has died. (-1 or -2 Stability)

The silence the greeted her statement was significantly less tense. Uncertain for sure, Aeva judged, but it was a silence in which stability could grow. "Terje," Aeva called out to one of the young women milling slowly around. "Inform the rest of the People; have messengers dispatched to Hill Guard and the Fingers. In two moons, my father will be interred within the Cave of Stars. Tuule, bring the salt."

Normally, among the People, funerals were relatively simple affairs. An individuals remains would be carried by pallbearers, close friends and family to be buried in their own, unmarked plots with an assortment of grave gifts. A few clay pots containing food, perhaps tools or a weapons, a few treasured possessions; it was ultimately a small affair.

Kaspar's funeral was very different. Even setting aside that he would be buried in the spirit realm, his grave was going to be rich. His bier was stuffed with funerary gifts before his remains were even placed atop it. Necklaces of teeth, bracelets fashioned of quartz, pots filled generously with scarce food, tools and weapons of bone and obsidian, seashells and wooden carvings; everything that the People valued were added. Aeva didn't ask for funerary gifts, they simply came in a massive surge of grief. Even when Aeva ordered several buckets of salt to be poured over Kaspar's remains to preserve it for the journey to his final resting place, there was no outcry regarding the immense extravagance.

The only controversy occurred when over two hundred people offered to be pallbearers for him. To be a pallbearer was a great honour, taking a small manner of the deceased's legend into yourself; providing them a final service, a final favour. Normally, it was a simple matter to find six individuals of renown or close relation to bear the deceased to their grave. There were usually not enough options to make the decision difficult. In this case, Kaspar had literally hundred of descendants to pick from and everyone outside his family with any name at all wanted to offer themselves up. Violence had quickly sprung up among the various petitioners and there was at least one who was not expected to see sunset as a result of the scuffle.

Aeva had to put her foot down and assert herself as Kaspar's only living child and a Big Man in her own right. Everyone would get an opportunity to bear her father to his place of rest, but not if they continued to behave like children.

Kaspar's journey was quiet, uninterrupted in its solemn procession. Despite the fact that it just seemed to grow. When Aeva initially left, she had taken a few dozen people with her; close family members, important supporters, and spiritual leaders. The first night that they had stopped to sleep, she noticed that there were a few more people close by. Less than a handful, all easily missed, but there were more. By dawn of the next day, there was nearly ten. On the seventh day, they were no longer even trying to be subtle. Hundreds had taken to the procession.

By the time that they arrived at the Cave of Stars, there were thousands following behind them in mourning. The bier on which Kaspar rested had been replaced, a more ostentatious one inlaid with ivory and amethyst had been provided as a gift. His old bier had been repurposed, carrying funeral gifts, that had quickly overflowed and filled up four more biers. The People seemed to take it as a challenge, who could offer the most ostentatious gifts to their Legend? Who would prove that their Excellence in the pursuit?

Every longhouse, every order, and every family, from had sent representatives to the Cave of Stars for the funeral. Only the oldest of the old and the youngest of the young were absent. Aeva had been shocked to see that the funeral's reach extended even beyond the People. A delegation from Arrow Lake had arrived, both of them bearing a gift. It was a mask, carved from a large block of lapis luzili set on a carve ivory mask that... more or less resembled her father. The carver had obviously worked from a description, never having met Kaspar, but it was close enough.

"A gift for the Honoured Grandfather," the head of the delegation said. "From Arrow Lake, Kith and Kin, to Kin and Kith. On behalf of my father, from our family to yours."

Something triggered in Aeva's memory. "Your gift is most gracious, honoured guest." The Big Man of the Fingers had married a girl from Arrow Lake. They had met while they were little more than children, working together to build walls around the Lake's mines. If Aeva recalled correctly, she was a niece of Arrow Lake's 'chief'. "Please join me at dawn tomorrow. We can share the honour of escorting my father to his final rest."

It was tradition that a body would be watched over by family and buried at dawn. Death was a change, a transformation, but it was not the end. As the sun slowly climbed in the sky, it would carry with it the spirit of the departed. Aeva spent her last night with her father well. She could not sleep and thus built a small kiln in a clearing just outside the Twisted Forest. It was small, but still burned hot enough that the two amethysts added to the blaze transformed to citrine. Perfectly shaped half-circles, they would adorn the Blue Ivory Mask's eyes. Kaspar was, after all, Ember-Eyed, first and foremost. Even if he could have fulfilled the trials to be a Fang or among the Frost-Scarred, that was not where his heart lay.

At dawn the next day, Kaspar was laid to rest. The experience had left Aeva... bewildered, she suspected was the best word. She had lead the Pallbearers, a mix of the People's Big Men, Holy Orders, and the representative from Arrow Lake. A single breath of the air within the Cave of Stars was near enough to send her to hear knees. The world wavered, shimmering as if the rock wall before them had suddenly become the night sky. A weight settled across her shoulders and ten thousand eyes seemed to press upon her. The bier on which her father rested quickly became heavy, turning from wooden to hardened stone, and then something even worse. It only bore hear father, the Blue Ivory Mask and the treasures of the People's Big Men, but it felt like she bore the weight of all the People.

The cave was quite narrow, riven with cracks that seeped deep within the earth.

Aeva's heart hammered in her eyes, the staccato joining the sharp thumping of drums and chanting from outside. The flutes and whistles behind them suddenly seemed to wail, accusing her. The pitch stretched, a single note suddenly becoming a symphony, a river of noise that threatened to scourge her mind.

The bier nearly unbalanced, almost dumping its treasured cargo, as the Frost-Scarred pallbearer dropped to his knee, panting.

Aeva herself tripped, the sudden loss of balance nearly knocking her over. Blinking rapidly, she finally managed to refocus her eyes. The pallbearers stood atop a small cliff, an internal drop to a dark, inky void. Light itself seemed to go in there to die. At the bottom of the abyss, there rested a great, black eye. Staring down, Aeva could feel it piercing her soul in return. The world suddenly came into focus, and the Black Eye... blinked.

Aeva did not recall setting her father's bier down, or pilling it high with other funerary gifts. She just remembered floating... rising up to the sunlight realm. And the Hunger that waited below.

The spirits had spoken. The message was obscure, but Aeva knew that they had spoken. All the remained was the question on what to do about it.

[ ] [Spirit] Begin Megaproject: The Hunt!
[ ] [Spirit] Found a grand shrine at the Cave of Stars.
[ ] [Spirit] Complete a Hill at Crystal Lake (Build Hill 1 & 2: Crystal Lake)
[ ] [Spirit] Expand the Fire Relay (Expand Fire Relay 1 & 2 to Hill Guard)
[ ] [Spirit] See more of The World (Explore x3)

AN: The vote is in moratorium until I post the next threadmark. Votes before that will not be counted.

 

[Redium]

[X] [Death] Ascended to the spirits!
[X] [Spirit] Found a grand shrine at the Cave of Stars.

Taavi slowly leveraged the final stone of the day into place. Mixing up a slurry of lime and water, he slowly painted over the cracks between the blocks so that they effectively disappeared. It was tedious work, especially once he considered he would have to come back on the morrow and clean the surface with a grindstone. Aeva had been clear in her vision, a great white limestone building that dominated the skyline and sealed in the Cave of Stars. She wanted the temple that the People built to be a grand thing of beauty.

The world temple was strange in Taavi's mind. He wasn't sure what made it different from a regular shrine, the word supposedly meant 'ritual place', but didn't the wise Ember-Eyes, brave Fangs, and creepy Frost-Scarred practice their rituals in shrines already? He'd asked one of the shaman assigned to the project once what the difference was, but he'd just gotten a lecture ten minutes long on spiritual matters that made his head spin. It was just like the pandemonium that had broken out among the Ember-Eyes when one of the acolytes-in-training was found to have been adding limestone to their sacred lime kilns instead of seashells. Whatever the acolyte was doing, it hadn't changed the end result.

The debate that spawned had been quiet, but intense. Virtually every Ember-Eye from across the People had returned to the Fingers in order to discuss the revelation. Taavi offered the spirits the appropriate thanks and sacrifices, but always felt that he was intruding on that realm. The spirit-touched and the shaman were the ones the interpreted the portents and signs, that was their duty. He gathered food, stacked brick, and cut stone. He was a simple man, the spirit-touched and mystery-trained could deal with those difficulties.

As he wiped the last remains of lime dust from his heads and returning his pouch of lime to his gimlet Ember-Eye supervisor, Taavi ducked side ways to allow a train of men to pass. They dragged a large block of limestone slowly up the hill, rolling it along on cut tree trunks. Each block was carried from a quarry near the Fingers back to the Cave of Stars and required ten men to move. Massive ropes were attached, wrapping around the block like the embrace of a woman. At least, that was how tight they were told to wrap them. Taavi had heard of some set ups that weren't tight enough; people had been injured when the blocks slipped, sliding off their transport logs. More than a few had their feet crushed or legs broken that way.

Still, despite those crippling injuries, there was something going on. Something big, something that someone as spiritually deft as Taavi could feel. Placing it was impossible. It was a feeling somewhere between the guy and the lung, something that radiates up the long bones from fist and foot, until it settled in as a building pressure, right behind the eyes. When the People came to start the temple and first put axes to the Twisted Forest around the Cave of Stars, they'd screamed. The trees had screamed. The sound of the twisted trees dying had been nothing like any tree that Taavi had ever heard of before.

By the time he'd cut down the first tree, he'd broken three axes. Tears had fallen from his eyes thickly enough that he could no longer see by the time he was done. He had never been party to murder like some of his brothers and cousins had, but seeing the broken trees around the mouth of the Cave of Stars had changed that impression. They had taken something beautiful, and then killed it.

There was a curse laid over their work after that, he knew. A curse that had already claimed its fair share of lives.

"Age," greeted the camp cook as he sat down for the evening meal. The middle-aged matron had settled in well among the workers at the Cave of Stars. Heavily scarred and weathered, she reminded many of the young workers of coming to sit at the feet of their grandmother. Although, based on the reams of quartz and seashell jewelry she wore around her arms and neck, she was no ordinary grandmother.

"Taavi," the woman acknowledged, spooning out a bowlful of stew. "Caribou and wild rice today."

The stonecutter was wise enough not to ask if a single scoop of stew would be all. Food was stretched and had been for many years. Everyone knew the pangs of hunger, even the people like he; shaman, warriors, and other professions who were deemed worthy of receiving tribute from the Big Man instead of having to give it.

A single look at the faintly yellow soup was enough to let Taavi know what else was in the stew: corn and squash. Both vegetables had been adopted by the People. They were sweet and grew quickly; a good compliment to the vegetable flavoured wild rice that made up the majority of their food. Personally, he preferred quinoa, but it was always rare to see that. The People had simply never cultivated it in large amounts. It grew extremely well in the cold, especially compared to several other cultivates, but it was a recent capture from their warriors.

His portion of food was quickly, mechanically, eaten. Taavi was surrounded by other workers; stonecutters, woodsmen, porters, shaman, even a few warriors, but everyone sat alone. It hadn't been like that in the past, but no one was quite willing to talk any more. Those that spoke had a tendency to be Next.

Personally, Taavi had put down half a dozen shells on Viil being Next. The bastard was young, head-strong. He had a scar from his right check that curled across his nose and departed his face just under the corner of his left eye. A legacy of misspent youth; a fight over a girl that had gotten a little too heated. When Aeva put out a third round call for additional workers, he'd leaped at the call. The stories, warnings really, that Taavi knew filtered back to the settlements hadn't bothered him a wit. Undaunted, would be the best word to describe him. He'd come in full of vinegar, edging everyone towards a fight. Even after he'd been beaten once by men far his senior, he'd simply taken it as motivation to do better and be more aggressive.

Then he'd had his first shift shoring up the mouth of the Cave of Stars.

The boy, and he was, despite the fact he'd bee recognized as a Man, had come back shaken. He hadn't slept for nearly three days after setting foot in the Cave's mouth. It took something out of you, stepping inside there, and Viil had proven particularly sensitive. Hopefully the shaman would catch him, before he journeyed too far within. Many decided to do that, especially stupid, young men. Taavi wasn't sure whether it was bravado that drove them on, or the Black Heart at the center of the Cave the pulled them in. They entered all the same, disappearing into the dark hole without a sound. Others simply laid down and died. They went to sleep one night and then simply never woke up.

It wasn't Taavi's role to deal with such matters. He was a stonecutter, not someone who was spiritually-touched. Viil would either reach out for help if he needed it, or not.

Curled up in his blankets inside one of the People's moose-skin tents, Taavi balled himself tight. There was a chill in the air that night, one sharp enough to cut through to your core like an obsidian knife; despite the fact that it was the height of summer.

When dawn broke the next day, Taavi paused in his work on the temple. A caravan of canoes were slowly making their way upriver towards them. A over-the-shoulder glance of his supervisor's birch bark scroll revealed that it wasn't a scheduled canoe either. The scribbled tally marks set in bark showed that they should have enough supplies for at least another quarter moon. Even then, that was food that could be easily supplemented locally if they had to. They wouldn't run out of limestone blocks or lime for three quarters.

"Bandits?" Taavi eventually asked his supervisor out loud. His grip tightened on the haft of a stone adze laying nearby. He'd prefer to have his spear, but those were no longer permitted at camp after that incident two years ago.

"No," Taarmo responded. "We have warriors here. There's little of value as well - we're not ready to start inlaying decorations yet. Rogues strike lone individuals, they wouldn't attack a a project like this. There's too many people, too many witnesses. All it would take is for one survivor to make it back to Crystal Lake to have the Fangs unleashed and the robbers scoured from the world."

Taavi turned back to his work, having heard the subtle dismissal. He did, however, notice his supervisor quietly grab his fire satchel before walking down to greet the newcomers. Based on how Tarmo relaxed on seeing them up close, Taavi returned to his work. You could never be too careful when it came to protecting yourself from violence, which was why he still kept one eye turned towards them. Especially since it looked like many of them carried weapons.

As the company milled through the work site, Taavi recognized Aeva, Big Man of the Lake. He'd seen her once before, at her father's funeral, years ago. He was a resident of Hill Guard, one of the earth-tenders, before her call went out to begin working on the temple. It felt strange, seeing her ago. The woman was matronly, hair beginning to grow grey at the temples with streaks peppering her hair. There was always something that seemed to wander behind her gaze.

He wondered if that was because she was half spirit. Kaspar had been a spirit. A great spirit if he remembered the shaman's lessons right, like the forest, sky, and mountains. That have to leave its mark, somewhere in blood and bone.

The others that followed alongside her were unknown to him. Vaguely, he recognized their dress from old memories, growing up at Hill Guard. They were Skalds, the warrior-singers that the Peace Builders often used as traders; the woven band of seashells hanging from a staff and flutes and drums hanging from their belts finally clued him in. They were a frequent sight in his earliest memories, but they'd been called away when he became a youth. The war the Peace Builders had been ensnared in down in the south had gone well and they'd needed warriors to keep control of the situation and consolidate their gains.

Likely the other strangers among the group were Medicine Men, the Peace Builder's elite shaman. They were quiet, silently categorizing everything they could see at the work site. Taavi suspected that the Skalds were doing it too, but they were circumspect enough that it wasn't obvious. When Aeva went and lead the party through the Doorway, down into the Cave of Stars, Taavi had to suppress a gleam of spite. Someone else would find out what it was like, to see the Cave and the Black Heart. The entire party returned, but to a man they had looked like Death had calmly greeted them.

Even setting aside the good food, the only reason that Taavi remained was that Aeva seemed to recognize the Weight of this place. She would come by once every few moons to visit the grave of her father. The corpse was eerie, immaculately preserved without rot, and it made Taavi's skin crawl to think of the Great Spirit resting there. If he worked within the cave to shore things up, he knew that eyes were upon his back. One day, Kaspar would wake and stand from his bier.

The party of Skalds and Medicine Men quickly left, before the sun had even reached noon. Taavi wondered if they would be back.

[ ] [Party] Yes, Aeva ended up encouraging Peace Builder shaman to come.
[ ] [Party] Yes, Aeva permitted the Peace Builder shaman to visit.
[ ] [Party] No, Aeva forbid outsiders from coming. (+1 Stability)
[ ] [Party] No, Aeva forbid the place to all but the spiritually aware. (+1 Legitimacy)

Actions (Pick 2 and a Tribute Focus + 1 Admin and 1 Art)

Spoiler: Actions

Annual Festival [Art] - The People deserve to party! Build morale by opening up the stockpiles and having a night of feasts, dancing, music and fun.

Expand Hunting (Dogs, Orkers, Traps, Herd Animals, Prize Animals) [Martial] - Improve upon the hunting techniques of the People. Work to increase the amount of meat that is available to consume and empower the People. A risky activity and one that requires a great investment of skill and energy, this provides the largest gains of food.

Expand Agriculture (Quinoa, Gourds, Corn) [Admin] - The People have come to realize the bounty of the world is often not enough. They need to tame it and carefully manage the foods that are so important in sating their appetites.

Expand Aquaculture (Wild Rice, Mussels, Fishing) [Admin] - Most of the People live close to a river and are able to gather one of numerous sources of food. Often much easier to obtain than food from hunting and much less risky, these sources of food are much more vulnerable to shifts of the seasons and that of the weather.

Explore (Specify?) [Wonderful World] [Martial] [Diplomacy] - There is much to be found in the world. Countless things, often placed by the hand of the spirits themselves. It is up to the People to find them.

Found Settlement (includes: Brick Wall, Shrine, Sugar Shack) [Admin] - While the People build homes where they will, often where food or resources can easily be found, these places are settled without organization or care. By founding a formal settlement, it becomes possible for central authority to exert itself before the People become too fracas. (Requires: 2 tiers of Econ and excess population. Available locations: North Bay, River Fork, River Bend, Wide River. 1 settlement possible to found.)

Manage Forests (Sugar, Timber, Medicine, Gathering) [Wondrous World] [Admin] - While the forests provide the least of the People's food, they have provided that which is most useful. Sugar is wonderous in taste and highly sought after as a trade goods. Evergreen tea soothes aching bodies and quiets headaches. There is much to be found in the unknown, perhaps rare, but of significant value.

Promote Folk Wrestling [Bellicose Bearing] [Martial] - The People are fracas and have a tendency towards physical confrontations and violence. By carefully channeling this tendency, it's possible to develop further skill at war and turn hunters into skilled and deadly raiders.

Raid (Target?) [Bellicose Bearing] [Retributive Justice] [Martial] - The hunting of beasts turns now into the hunting of men. Strike down those who oppose the People so that we may be kept safe.

Study Travel [Wonderful Word] [Art] - Invest time in learning how most effectively to travel. The world is harsh and strange, learning how to traverse it will save the People much in effort and food.

Study Fire [Art] - The greatest and most capricious of spirits, fire is of immense use to the People. The recent discovery of lime and the founding of the Ember-Eyed has spurred substantial interest in developing understanding of this forceful spirit further.

Study Stone [Stone-Skinned] [Art] - A solid and stable spirit, the People have found numerous type of stone with different properties. How these properties can be best served to support the People is unknown. Learning to work the material will likely pay enormous dividends in the future.

Trade (Arrow Lake, Peace Builders, Pearl Divers, Island Makers, Northlands) [Wondrous World] [Diplomacy] [Martial] - It is clear that the People do not hold all that is significant within the world. There are other tribes that hold interesting, useful or beautiful objects. By offering up some as gifts, things that the People do not have will be provided in return.

Train Warriors (Warriors, Holy Order) [Bellicose Behaviour] [Martial] [Admin] - The People have warriors well trained in the art of killing. By diverting more young people into these professions, preparations for war can be established. In a way, it is like knapping obsidian into a knife. An action that takes deliberation and planning, forethought, to be useful.

Prepare for Ordeal [Trial By Fire] [Admin] - The spirits test the People, always. These tests are ones that require careful preparation and forethought. The People will be prepared. A crisis well managed is a sign of spiritual favour, one that's botched causes the People to further suffer.

Tribute Foci

Defense - Walls, Defensive Structures, Trails, Folk Wrestling
Food - Agriculture, Aquaculture, Herding, Hunting
Magic - Study Fire, Study Stone, Study Travel
Megaprojects - Current Megaproject
Rural Infrastructure - Settlements, New Trails, Manage Forests
Spirits - Temples, Ordeals, Festivals
Urban Infrastructure - Temples, Walls, Festivals, Trade
War - Raids, Train Warriors, Folk Wrestling
World - New Trails, Exploring, Trade, Hunting

Megaprojects:

The Hunt [Wonderful World] [Trial By Fire] [Flat Arrow Outlook] [Martial] [Admin] (5 Actions) - The call of the hunt is a grand and beastly instinct. Long have the People felt the thrill of the chase. It is a solitary thing, one known only by hunter and the hunted. It is also an instinct out of place in this changing world.

The World, A Shield [Stone-Skinned] [Flat Arrow Outlook] [Martial] [Admin] (12 Actions) - Prerequisites not met.

The World in Miniature [Wonderful World] [Diplomacy] [Admin] (7 actions) - The world is a grand place, seemingly endless in scope. The People's exploration and search for wonders has pushed them to find a way to more effectively communicate discoveries with each other. Trail markers are a start, but they are not easily portable. More can be done.

A Temple, Grand [Art] (8 Actions) - Prerequisites not met.

Extended Projects:

Temple at the Cave of Stars [Art] [Admin] (1 Action) - The People have come a long way in creating a thing of beauty upon a nexus of spiritual power. Somewhere rituals can be completed and secret arts can be learned.

The Hill (Crystal Lake, The Fingers) [Stone-Skinned] [Admin] (2 Actions) - A hill made by man. A simple construct, but one that greatly raises the defensive value of a settlement.

New Trails [Wondrous World] [Admin] (6 Actions) - Inspired by the Fire Relay, these small trails are cut into the innumerable forests that surround the People. Serving as akin to veins in the body, they promote the free movement of goods and people.

Actions that could be locked in this turn: Trade (Pearl Divers), Expand Aquaculture (Fishing)

Automatic Actions: Trade (Arrow Lake, Northlands), Expand Aquaculture (Rice), Prepare for Ordeal

AN: This was supposed to go up two days ago, but everything seemed to go wrong. Vote is currently in Moratorium until I post the next thread mark. Votes before that will not be counted. Tag me for questions.

 

[Redium]

[X] [Party] Yes, Aeva ended up encouraging Peace Builder shaman to come.
[X] [Action] Trade (Pearl Divers) [Wondrous World] [Diplomacy] [Martial] LOCKED IN
[X] [Action] The Hunt 1/5 [Wonderful World] [Trial By Fire] [Flat Arrow Outlook] [Martial] [Admin] (5 Actions)
[X] [Art] Temple at the Cave of Stars
[X] [Admin] Expand Aquaculture (Fishing) LOCKED IN
[X] Tribute: Megaprojects (The Hunt 2/5, Expand Hunting)

With the final block of the of Temple laid down, the world seemed to stabilize. Weather that was once foul and icy began to warm. The heat was almost unpleasant after so many years of freezing winters, but it was a well welcomed change. It reminded Aeva of the stories her father told when he was young. The weather had been harsh so long that she could scarce imagine it else.

The Temple of Stars was, itself, beautiful. An enormous limestone edifice, it stood as high as the walls that surrounded each of the People's settlements. Each of the blocks was uniform, perfected, except for double sized blocks placed above each of the open windows that lined the walls. It was a new feat of construction, making a stable structure while having gaps in the middle, but it was one that Aeva was already beginning to appreciate. During winter, the windows would have to be covered by wood-and-hide panels, but that was only half the year.

The People's longhouses were always dark and dank, the only light coming from cook fires near constantly lit and the few beams of sunlight that streamed in from the smoke holes cut into the roof. The temple was the opposite of that. Large, regularly spaced openings allowed the sun to filter into the building, cascading across the whitewashed walls. A thin layer of crushed mica had been mixed in to make everything sparkle. Sunlight split, cascaded, sparkled, and shone across every surface. Arrays of amethyst, citrine, lapis luzili, and quartz, pleasing to the spirits of man, beast, water, stone, sky, and tree, were inlaid into the walls. At the far end of the temple, there lay a simple ivory door blocking off the lower caves. It had taken over ten years to collect enough ivory to form the double doors, but they were carved so intricately that they looked beyond the skill of any human craftsman. Only the knowledge that Aeva herself helped carve them dispelled that notion.

The carvings on them really were something she had thought deeply on. Now they were permanent and everyone could be captivated by their beauty.

[ ] [Dedication] Scenes of Mountains and Natural Geography.
[ ] [Dedication] Scenes of the Night, Sleep and Dream.
[ ] [Dedication] Scenes of a Surreal, Otherworldly Quality
[ ] [Dedication] Scenes of People Talking, Whispering in Hushed Voice.
[ ] [Dedication] Scenes of Elderly Individuals, Revered Gurus and Teachers.

Legacy Gained: Primordial Temple Builders!

Spoiler: Temple Builders

The first to truly turn superstitions of the spirits into religion, the People have gained an appreciation for the finer points of training religious thinkers, building religious structures, and creating the weft and weave of religion in a positive and constructive manner.
Effects: Gain Legitimacy and Stability when constructing new temples.

Legacy Gained: Religious Authority Tolerance!

Spoiler: Religious Authority Tolerance

The People are used to having a powerful and influential religion. As such, they have been forced to develop tools to deal with troublesome and meddling priests.
Effects: +1 Religious Authority Tolerance

The Temple of Stars was everything that the People's construction was not. Grand, beautiful, well-lit... it was a fitting doorway to the spirit realm. It was a doorway that drew eyes for near, far, and wide. Other tribes from the Peace Builders in the west all the way to the Pearl Divers in the east, had sent shaman, traders, and other dignitaries to gaze upon the People's wonder. Without fail, every man and every woman who braved the Depths of the Cave of Stars came back changed. It wasn't always a big change... but Aeva could see it in their eyes without fail.

Quickly gaining in popularity after its completion, hundreds of the People and countless dozens of foreigners had visited the wonder. The Cave of Stars had soon gained enough notoriety that the Northlands had deigned to send their High Shaman. One of the most important figures in their entire culture, the High Shaman was the one that defined the changing of the seasons, blessed their hunts with bounty, and defended the tribe from spiritual misfortune. The Cave had seen Skalds and Medicine Men, holy carvers of lapis, and even one of the Pearl Diver's recalcitrant shaman, but that was different. The woman being sent by the Northlands sounded like they were someone important.

As befitting someone of that dignity, Aeva was present at the temple, flanked by two lines of the People's best warriors. They were a motley crew; Ember-Eyes, Fangs, Frost-Scarred, regular warriors; women and men; young and old. None could doubt that they were among the best of the People when it came to the language of violence.

When the High Shaman appeared, she was not what Aeva expected. As opposed to her own matronly age and creaking bones, the High Shaman of the Northlands was young, little more than a teenager. Likely to young to have even borne her first child. The girl was wrapped hear-to-toe in heavy furs, charms of bone and ivory clacking and cascading with her ever movement. Her eyes were hidden, deep behind a shadowed cowl. Two of her guards stood by her sides and helped her to walk.

"Greetings," Aeva said, bowing her head. She spoke in the guttural, stop-and-start tongue of the Northlands. She was by no means good at the language, but she had a trader coach her through the basics in the lead up to the meeting. "Please come and join us. Meals have been prepared and accommodations are available for your use." In truth, the food was simple fare, and the accommodations, a converted blockhouse that used to hold the workers building the temple. Compared to how the Northlands usually lived, it would be luxury.

"Honoured Matriarch." One of the guards responded with a bow. "On behalf of the Wisdom, we shall accept your gracious hospitality."

By evening, their guests had been feed, the moon had risen, and Aeva lead them down below. The girl had been insistent on entering the Cave, despite never uttering a word. Apparently, it was against sacred tradition for a High Shaman to be seen, much less heard by outsiders. Her silence and heavy covering of furs had been a concession to this practice.

There was something in Aeva that crawled, writhed like a worm, as they ivory doors shut behind their party. The Cave of Stars had only gotten stranger the more times she had entered it. How many times had she come down to see the grave of her father? A dozen? Two? Half a hundred? It didn't matter. Each time, the Cave found new ways to test and befuddle. Once, she had even been struck dumb, rendered mute and instantiate for days at the strength of a vision. Only the fact that the vision had been immediately scourged from her mind prevented her mind from snapping like a dry twig. Only a few steps in and she could feel the world start to run, colours swimming together.

Beside her, Aeva could tell that the girl-shaman felt it too. Her spine had stretched the second the doors shut behind them and she seemed to shiver. A few steps in, one of her escorts collapsed, almost sending the High Shaman to the ground. The warrior's allies didn't even stop to pick him up, transfixed as they were on slowly moving forward.

The group passed down beside the grave of Kaspar. Even after all of these years, he was immaculate, almost like he had slept instead of dying. Each time she came to see him, she expected her father to be rotten and reduced to nothing. But he never was.

When they finally came upon the Black Heart, the Void that formed the center of the Cave of Stars, the world stilled. Aeva had looked upon the Void enough times that the oily slickness browsing through her brain barely phased her. A second one of the High Shaman's warriors dropped, his eyes rolling up into his head while he dropped bonelessly to the ground. Gifts of ivory and smoked meat were stacked before the glinting, black shimmer. Aeva's vision finally started to waver, her resistance overcome.

The High Shaman screamed.

It was a high pitched, piercing wail, like red hot knives driven into tender flesh. She dropped, limbs unable to hold her up and she writhed. Her limbs cracked, snapping, bending. She twisted over herself like a worm, dread eyes settling on Aeva.

The Big Man of the Lake couldn't think. Her guest... there was no way she could be human. Her limbs collapsed into spindly thinness and bent far more than was possible. Stretching until knees faced forwards and elbows twisted backwards, the reverse of any rightful human. The screaming continued unabated for seconds that stretched to minutes, did the girl have no need to breathe? Writing in the dirt, fingers digging trenches deep enough that her nails shattered and fingers bled, the High Shaman of the Northlands curled up, wilting like a burned flower. Rising into a half sitting position, the girl jerked. Once, twice, and then no more.

Aeva didn't have to look to know, the girl was dead. She had been Next.

+1 Prestige

Pandemonium had broken out after that, the rest of the delegation from the Northlands had survived (though one of them had been completely robbed of his wits), and they were terrified. The further gifts that they had brought for the spirits, suddenly started being offered to the People! The whispers that called them spirits and demons weren't even subtle after that. There had been tales, drifting up from the south, where the People were feared and mythologized, but they were always a thing removed.

Now it was right in their faces.

While immensely positive, and something that had already caused the People to have a bit more swagger in their step, Aeva could see how fear quickly grew among those whom they dealt with. She could see it in the smiles of Skalds coming to play before her longhouse in Crystal Lake. She could see it in the lowered eyes of the Pearl Diver traders that visited them each summer. She could also see it in the distant glances given from across hill and dale by the Northlanders.

The merest glimpse of the People's wonder had killed the most spiritually inclined shaman of the Northlands. It had twisted her body, rendering her into something inhuman. A single glance at her corpse with its spider arms and smooth, mirror-grey eyes showed that she had seen Divinity and then had her life ripped from her flesh in recompense.

The Power of the People's Magic was undeniable. From the Peace Builders, to the Northlands, Arrow Lake, the Island Makers, and even the savage Mountain Clans all acknowledged it.

[ ] [Value] As was right, the People's spiritual might was the greatest. (Value Synergy)
[ ] [Value] And they've revealed themselves as spirits of reward but also vicious struggle. (Value Synergy)
[ ] [Value] The spirits of land and stone have since been bound by mortar and wrought stone. (Value Synergy)
[ ] [Value] The spirits work in ways unknown, dappled in fear and blood. (Gain Spiritual Value)
[ ] [Value] The spirits have put the People at the center of the world, all orbiting around them. (Gain Spiritual Value)

Legacy Gained: Primordial Mystics!

Spoiler: Primordial Mystics

A great civilization, rich in Magic, the People have trained extensively in the mystic arts and the secrets of the spirits. It is a source of pride among the People to be skilled in the secret ways of the world and all put forward effort into ensuring that they understand.
Effect: Treat Mysticism as 1 higher for all purposes.

+3 Prestige

All of the tribes had been very careful in the following years, stepping lightly where the People looked. When Aeva's trade mission returned, they had been taken to the heart of the Pearl Diver's tribe to speak to their leaders. It had been a strange experience, according to the traders. Anyone, from the youngest child, to the oldest elder, could speak at their gatherings. This frequently made their meetings last hours, or even days. In order to speed things along, they had implemented a system where everyone must provide gifts of value along with their word.

The belts of shells and necklaces of pearls were a currency among the Pearl Divers. In order to speak, one must provide a pearl to the gathering. To listen required a short string of seashells. Both of these gifts were then turned to enact the council's agenda, paying for work with the fruits of the sea gifted to them. The People's fee had graciously been waved, but just once. It was another custom among them to allow anyone to speak.

Once.

After that, one had to prove their resourcefulness or their wit in acquiring the necessary gifts to speak.

This reliance on pearls had actually started to become a hindrance to the Pearl Divers. Sourcing pearls was slowly becoming harder and harder. The weather had not done them any favours, but the big draw for pearls was the People. The ivory, lapis lazuli, mica, quartz, amethyst, furs, and half a dozen other goods were in high demand among the Pearl Divers and all they had that the People were interested in were salt and pearls. Of the two, the Pearl Divers, simply couldn't manufacture enough in the stone drying fields to offset the trade imbalance. Even with the People offering twice as many goods in trade as the Pearl Divers thought the salt was truly worth, the People simply had too many trade goods.

The situation was not critical, but it was untenable, the Pearl Diver's council argued. Something would need to be done. The simplest solution was some degree of reduction in trade on the People's end. It was painful for many of their councilors to argue, but fewer luxuries would mean that pearls would be in less demand. Alternatively, the People could try and find something else that they could take and trade in place of pearls. There was a kind of dubious thought to the notion; there was very little that the People could want to barter for.

One further idea was presented as the discussion was wrapping up. One of the Pearl Diver's speakers was a trader, a traveled man that had gone as far inland as Crystal Lake. He recalled the People's temple at the Cave of Stars and the skill of building that went into it. If that was applied to the Pearl Divers' saltern, they might be able to increase the yield. They weren't sure by how much, but if worst came to worst, the People and the Pearl Divers could continue building salterns until it evened out the People's demand for salt. Even if some of that salt was then traded on... the Pearl Divers would not be upset.

It surprised the People's traders that the Pearl Divers would be so willing to teach their magic of salt, especially in helping the People build since structures. The councilmen shrugged. All of the water southwest of the Pearl Divers' southernmost holding was sweetwater, not saltwater. For whatever reason, building a saltern there did not produce any salt. Knowing how to build such a place of magic would do literally nothing for the People in their view.

[ ] [Pearl] Nothing. How is this the People's problem?
[ ] [Pearl] Expand the Pearl Diver's salterns with the People's Stone magic.
[ ] [Pearl] Cap the amount of trade permitted to the Pearl Diver's traders.
[ ] [Pearl] Encourage the People's traders to find something else they can trade for.

The People's temple had also had interesting effects, one that was relatively small, but invaluable: it kept the People informed. The temple was a dominant draw, pulling traders and pilgrims from the great Veri Lake in the south, Rahu Bay in the west, or Valge River on which the Fingers lay. Not only did these traders and pilgrims carried goods, but they also carried information. Most of it was uninteresting dross, but there were three points of interest.

First, the Mountain Clans had aggressively assaulted all of their neighbours, searching for food, plunder, and land. They had fallen on the Bond Breakers, wounding them severely, and leaving them open for a devastating resurgence from South Lake. The Island Makers had pushed back the Mountain Clans with little effort. Arrow Lake has massacred a large war party. A group of Mountain Clans raiders had laid siege to the walled settlement at Arrow Lake. Futilely as it turned out, but they had stubbornly remained in place long enough that winter crept up on them. They were forced to retreat and Arrow Lake harried them all the way back into the mountains, reaping enormous casualties.

Second, the Peace Builders' war in the south continued to go extremely well for them. There had been seven tribes that competed for the lands to the south, but two of them had since been completely dominated by the Peace Builders. Their population and lands had swollen precipitously. This was not unprecedented, the wars of the south had occasionally had one tribe come out ahead, but they were always torn down by rebellion, or a short-lived alliance between the other tribes.

It was different this time. The Peace Builders had somehow managed to convince the region to a temporary truce. Time to recover from the ravages of the weather and the cursed sickness, scourge of the spirits' rage. This had given them time, time they were putting to good use. Their Skalds slowly taught the children of the captives they had taken during the war, turning them to the Peace Builder's side with their tales, teachings and values. The two tribes that they had dominated were slowly disappearing, rotting under the Peace Builder's dominion like a fugus would to a fallen log.

Third, another, unknown tribe had been found in the west. On the other side of Rahu Bay, a new tribe had moved into the area, dominating a small island at the confluence of three of the great lakes of the region. They were strange, completely unlike the tribes of the region. Truthfully, the only reason that they were relevant was because of their location. The rivers they operated on were perhaps a quarter moon's travel from the proposed site for the North Bay settlement. If the People didn't move on that soon, it may not be available much longer. If this new River Tribe took it, that would mean that Rahu Bay would become contested by three powers.

The influx of knowledge had just made Aeva's head spin. There was so much going on and the world seemed to becoming a larger and larger place. Since the world was no longer willing to make sense, Aeva focused on an area in which it surely did: the Hunt.

Hunting for their food had been a major source of sustenance in the last few decades. The long and freezing winters had simply prevented the easy growth of plants; agriculture had stalled. Many in the south had starved, but the People were prepared. Every adult could string a bow and every child knew how to set a trap. Agriculture was a new and untested source of food, something that no one could yet fully trust.

So the People hunted, again and again and again, for years on end. Combined with the weather, something strange happened: the number of beasts got smaller. Hunters suddenly realized that they were taking home fewer kills and the kills they did make were small, juveniles. The People had then started to range further and further in search of increased prey. Everywhere they looked, from the hills and valleys, to the trackless forests of the world, they were empty of prey. According to the elders, there was perhaps a tenth of the prey that there should be.

That information sent a shock wave through the People. What would happen the next time the weather turned against the People? With nine-of-ten animals dead, the People wouldn't be able to feed themselves. If another nine-of-ten of those that remained died, would there even be enough animals in all the world to fill it?

Even working with the People's long-time furred friends did little to help. Their sensitive noses simply couldn't pick up on trails that weren't there. The only possible bright spot had been with the orkers. The great ornery beasts were too tough to die. There was little the People had to do but set them out to pasture in the spring. By winter, they would come back to be fed and kept warm, usually with a few little ones dutifully following along. If the People completely held off on eating orkers until there was another weather crisis, there still would not be enough meat to go around. Something would have to be done to rectify the situation. The People had to rethink how they hunted.

Checking over the resources available, Aeva noted that she had the resources for two more tasks.

Pick two:
[ ] [Action] Check on the Northlands. The Cave of Stars did kill their High Shaman. (Trade: Northlands)
[ ] [Action] Touch base with Arrow Lake. Maybe they could be helped with the Mountain Clans? (Promote Folk Wrestling)
[ ] [Action] Gather information to interfere with the Peace Builders growing hegemony of the southern lands (Trade: The South)
[ ] [Action] Learn more about these strangers to the west, the River Tribe. (Trade: River Tribe)
[ ] [Action] Smash into the Mountain Clans and make them pay for attacking Arrow Lake and the Bond Breakers. (Raid: Mountain Clans)
[ ] [Action] Reinforce the People's defenses. (The Hill: The Fingers 1/2)
[ ] [Action] Reinforce the People's defenses. (The Hill: The Fingers 2/2)
[ ] [Action] Stay home and farm. (Expand Agriculture: Quinoa)

AN: Vote is in Moratorium. I'll post an updated map, leader board, answer questions, and open the vote when I wake up tomorrow. The front page is mostly updated. Now that you have symbolic tally, I was thinking of turning the Civilization Statistics section into a tally with stylized indicators to show a bit of the math I use to keep track of things. Thoughts? Do people want to see a bit of that or focus exclusively on narrative?

 

[Redium]

[X] [Action] Check on the Northlands. The Cave of Stars did kill their High Shaman. (Trade: Northlands)
[X] [Action] Stay home and farm. (Expand Agriculture: Quinoa)
[X] [Value] The spirits of land and stone have since been bound by mortar and wrought stone. (Value Synergy)
[X] [Pearl] Expand the Pearl Diver's salterns with the People's Stone magic.
[X] [Dedication] Scenes of Mountains and Natural Geography.

After the debacle where the Head Shaman of the Northlands died, Aeva had made sure to reach out far more extensively to the People's northern neighbours. Her father had courted cordial dealings with the northerners and that was something that she was keen to continue.

It was obvious that the the Northlands had not taken the death of their High Shaman well. By traveling to the People's temple, she was implicitly under the People's protection. The fact that she died inside the temple, what could be considered the heart of the People's temporal and spiritual power made the situation worse. It implied either a negligence or careless disregard for the woman the Northlands considered their most holy.

The traders Aeva sent forth were loaded down with gifts; salt, gemstones, sugar, pearls, obsidian, bone, and seashells. It was an appreciable amount of wealth, even for the People with their wide-ranging trade contacts. For those who lived a harsh and nomadic existence, scrapping at thin soil and following the endless herds, it was probably more than the entire tribe had seen in their collective lifetimes. A mix of the pretty and the useful.

When the gifts arrived, the traders' reception was poor. They had almost immediately been greeted with violence; arrows, slings, and javelins raining down upon the caravan. The People's traders were warriors one and all, a sensible precaution in a dangerous world, and were easily able to repel the ambush. Despite, obviously, being unwanted, the group decided to proceed. When the Northlanders came for them the second time, the People nearly broke and ran.

They were like demons, one of the the traders eventually reported. They came shortly after dawn, striking while the People were breaking camp, man-beasts that fought with thrown javelins and long stabbing spears. They looked like caribou, but with the head of a man protected by an enormous rack of antlers. They were fast, racing in and out of the trails that the Northlanders had carved in their wanderings, whooping and shouting. Screaming their victory. It was impossible for the People's archers to get a bead on them, by the time they could draw a bow, another man-beast would be on top of them. The People's spears served well enough, keeping them away, but it wouldn't turn the tide. Javelins and arrows eventually found their marks, downing warriors until they would never rise again.

It was pure fluke that gave the People victory. One of the man-beasts charged too close and struck down one of the Fangs assigned to the caravan, and spooked her dogs. They lost their minds, howling and leaping up at the man-beast with all the savagery of wolves. The man-beast reared up, dumping its top half on the ground. That seemed to set of a chain reaction; wolves called out in sympathy from the forests all around the battle and the man-beasts vanished.

As the whoops finally died down, the trade caravan slowly pulled itself together. The bravest of their number slowly approached the fallen man-beast and was horrified by what he saw. The man-beast wasn't dead. Instead, it was rutting in the dirt, unleashing unearthly twin-toned screams. The... thing had been broken in half, its back and head sheared off from its body. It was a lethal wound, instantly fatal. Despite that, the man-beast screamed and screamed and screamed.

It was not going to die. Whatever it was, it was no living thing.

Faint shouts were heard on the horizon and the People's wolves let out a slow, rumbling growl.

Terrified, something snapped within the trade caravan. They broke. They turned their backs and fled, leaving the gifts with which they had been entrusted, and abandoning their dead. All that they stopped to take with them was their canoes and a minimum of supplies.

Bone-deep frustration swelled up from the depth of Aeva's soul once she finally heard the story. Even she, by no means as astute as her father, could tell that the utter failure of the gift of recompense would mean trouble. She tried to put together a second attempt, but her efforts quickly fell apart. By the time she had another gift of wealth ready, the first caravan had spread tales of their experiences at the man-beasts far and wide. Embellished heavily, they quickly took route as dark rumours; implications of evil spirits, possession, and deeds of fell black magic paralyzed the People.

There would be no second caravan. Aeva could not muster the passion to crush the rumours and she lacked the familiarity with the Northlands' magics to dispute the rumours with rhetoric. All that she could do was pound on the fact that the Northlands' High Shaman had walked within the Cave of Stars and been struck dead on the spot for her blasphemy.

Aeva's fears were soon justified as tales of fires burning in the hinterlands around the Fingers reached her ears. The Northlands had come south and they came in force. Out lying farms, hunting lodges, and other small outposts were falling before their might.

War had returned to the People.

Debilitating Belief Gained: Murder of Man-Beasts!

Spoiler: Murder of Man-Beasts

Heavily have the People suffered at the hands of the Northlands' strange warriors. A mix of man and beast, these fearsome creatures are of a type that are clearly not human. Famed for their ability to fade into and traverse the forests faster than a human would find possible, they are the bane and fear of the People. Already, clan matriarchs begin to tuck their grandchildren into bed at night with stories of the demonic man-beasts and their propensity to steal away naughty children.
Effects: Morale penalty for facing Northland ???? doubled, research into ???? slowed.

Leaning on her connections, Aeva put out a call for aid among the People's trade partners. She did not expect much, and to be honest, she was not disappointed. Arrow Lake sent a small rabble that called themselves warriors. The gesture was likely more than most could expect of a foreigner tribe, but their purpose was obvious and transparent. So far, the Fingers had absorbed the brunt of the Northlands' fury and their traders had seen that. If the settlement there were to fall, Arrow Lake was the next closest. The rabble were there to serve more as a tripwire, assessing the People's condition, than true aid. There were reports of losses from raids from the Mountain Clans, but it sounded like the clans had been bloodied, although not, perhaps, by Arrow Lake.

The Pearl Divers offered nothing to the People, despite the fact that the People's workers worked side-by-side with them in expanding their salterns. It was more than a little slap to the face, despite their offered logic, and it tempted Aeva greatly to recall their workers. All of them were fit and young; the People that would be necessary to win a war. Not to mention the number of Ember-Eyes that had been dispatched to oversee the project. On the other hand, the Pearl Divers were not wrong when they suggested that they could face raids as well. There was a river the drained into Wide Lake, east of the Fingers that went all the way back to the Northlands. That could easily serve as an artery for raiders to strike them instead.

Should the People pull their workers back from the Pearl Divers, freeing up young men, skilled labour, and Ember-Eye overseers?

[ ] [Recall] Yes
[ ] [Recall] No

What came as a complete surprise to Aeva was the reaction of the Peace Builders. They were driven forward by the Skalds. The warrior-singers had heard of the People's plight, and let it be known to all throughout their wanderings. They spoke of friends they had made, family, kith and kin, among the People; spreading their stories of hardship and loss. It started small, but before long, the tribes of the Peace Builders had begged to be allowed to answer the call. They had surged out of their holdings in the south, in numbers that strained belief. They brought nearly as many warriors as the People could field, and they did that without stripping their southern garrisons! Each and every warrior that came before the People was bright eyed and righteous, filled with the belief that they needed to defend their cousins in the People.

It shocked Aeva, leaving her deeply wary at how effectively the Peace Builders could motivate their populace through use of the Skalds. Their warriors were professional, she could tell, but they would not match up against one of the Fangs or Frost-Scarred. Even an Ember-Eye that had turned their gifts to war would defeat likely defeat one of these southern warriors. What they had, beyond the numbers, was fanaticism. Each and every warrior from the south was ready to die, all of their own will, and on the words of the Skalds.

When the Peace Builders finally fell on the Northlands, they smashed them. It was almost mocking, how easy the Northlands' man-beasts were crushed underfoot. It affirmed the spiritual curse laid upon the People for their profane breaking of the Northlands and their man-beasts. All of the loses that the People had experienced in the earliest stages of the war were reversed. The momentum was even enough that the People's and Peace Builders' forces were able to capture the lake at the southern border of the Northlands' traditional territory.

Actually moving beyond that point was likely to be difficult. The Northlands were crisscrossed with numerous trails and the Northlanders knew them like the back of their hand. The depth and speed with which it allowed them to maneuver was unparalleled. What few temporary dwellings they did had were well spread out and could be moved with only minimal preparation. War was always difficult, an endless, deadly hunt, but the Northlands' man-beasts and the endless trails made the situation far, far more difficult than it had any right to be.

While many resented the necessity of 'being saved' (even if Aeva knew they could have eventually pushed back the Northlanders with time and casualties), it gave the People time to consolidate their borders and consider the advancements of the last few years. The Cave of Stars had taught the People many lessons. Not only in managing large works of stone and the beauty of the World, but in the nature of the spirits.

Value Upgraded: Stone-Skinned -> Terrestrial Fetich

Spoiler: Terrestrial Fetich

Every location is one that is touched by the spirits and imbued with a special character. It is through crude and laborious work that these places can be augmented and turned into fonts of spiritual strength. This spiritual strength can be turned to productive purposes and harnessed fully by the People.
Pros: Artificial structures more effective and augment bonuses from terrain, improved Natural Wonders
Cons: Increased ritualization, Building costs increased

Value Synergy Detected: Wondrous World + Terrestrial Fetich. Combine Values?

[ ] [Value] Yes
[ ] [Value] No

The People had always been willing to shape the land, to better put it to use protecting themselves. It was, perhaps, one of the most important things that the world could be manipulated for, but it wasn't the only one. The People carved rows into the earth for crops and tended plants along the riverbank as well. The interior of many places was trackless in many places, yet untouched in any meaningful manner due to lack of trails, but the People's hunters were comfortable moving beneath tree and over root.

The bounty and spiritual power present in those areas could be enhanced, producing larger bounties of food, defended areas, and other benefits. All that was required was for the People to modify and reinforce what was already there. It was a task where there were many ways to do it, many of them wrong. It was up to the People to find the solution that was most effective.

Actions (Pick 2 and a Tribute Focus + 1 Admin and 1 Art)

Spoiler: Actions

Annual Festival [Art] - The People deserve to party! Build morale by opening up the stockpiles and having a night of feasts, dancing, music and fun.

Expand Hunting (Dogs, Orkers, Traps, Herd Animals, Prize Animals) [Martial] - Improve upon the hunting techniques of the People. Work to increase the amount of meat that is available to consume and empower the People. A risky activity and one that requires a great investment of skill and energy, this provides the largest gains of food.

Expand Agriculture (Quinoa, Gourds, Corn) [Admin] - The People have come to realize the bounty of the world is often not enough. They need to tame it and carefully manage the foods that are so important in sating their appetites.

Expand Aquaculture (Wild Rice, Mussels, Fishing) [Admin] - Most of the People live close to a river and are able to gather one of numerous sources of food. Often much easier to obtain than food from hunting and much less risky, these sources of food are much more vulnerable to shifts of the seasons and that of the weather.

Explore (Specify?) [Wonderful World] [Martial] [Diplomacy] - There is much to be found in the world. Countless things, often placed by the hand of the spirits themselves. It is up to the People to find them.

Found Settlement (includes: Brick Wall, Shrine, Sugar Shack) [Terrestrial Fetich] [Admin] - While the People build homes where they will, often where food or resources can easily be found, these places are settled without organization or care. By founding a formal settlement, it becomes possible for central authority to exert itself before the People become too fracas. (Requires: 2 tiers of Econ and excess population. Available locations: North Bay, River Fork, River Bend, Wide River. 1 settlement possible to found.)

Manage Forests (Sugar, Timber, Medicine, Gathering) [Wondrous World] [Admin] - While the forests provide the least of the People's food, they have provided that which is most useful. Sugar is wonderous in taste and highly sought after as a trade goods. Evergreen tea soothes aching bodies and quiets headaches. There is much to be found in the unknown, perhaps rare, but of significant value.

Promote Folk Wrestling [Flat Arrow Outlook] [Martial] - The People are fracas and have a tendency towards physical confrontations and violence. By carefully channeling this tendency, it's possible to develop further skill at war and turn hunters into skilled and deadly raiders.

Raid (Target?) [Flat Arrow Outlook] [Retributive Justice] [Martial] - The hunting of beasts turns now into the hunting of men. Strike down those who oppose the People so that we may be kept safe.

Study Travel [Wonderful Word] [Art] - Invest time in learning how most effectively to travel. The world is harsh and strange, learning how to traverse it will save the People much in effort and food.

Study Fire [Art] - The greatest and most capricious of spirits, fire is of immense use to the People. The recent discovery of lime and the founding of the Ember-Eyed has spurred substantial interest in developing understanding of this forceful spirit further.

Study Stone [Terrestrial Fetich] [Art] - A solid and stable spirit, the People have found numerous type of stone with different properties. How these properties can be best served to support the People is unknown. Learning to work the material will likely pay enormous dividends in the future.

Trade (Arrow Lake, Peace Builders, Pearl Divers, Island Makers, Northlands) [Wondrous World] [Diplomacy] [Martial] - It is clear that the People do not hold all that is significant within the world. There are other tribes that hold interesting, useful or beautiful objects. By offering up some as gifts, things that the People do not have will be provided in return.

Train Warriors (Warriors, Holy Order) [Flat Arrow Outlook] [Martial] [Admin] - The People have warriors well trained in the art of killing. By diverting more young people into these professions, preparations for war can be established. In a way, it is like knapping obsidian into a knife. An action that takes deliberation and planning, forethought, to be useful.

Prepare for Ordeal [Trial By Fire] [Admin] - The spirits test the People, always. These tests are ones that require careful preparation and forethought. The People will be prepared. A crisis well managed is a sign of spiritual favour, one that's botched causes the People to further suffer.

Tribute Foci

Defense - Walls, Defensive Structures, Trails, Folk Wrestling
Food - Agriculture, Aquaculture, Herding, Hunting
Magic - Study Fire, Study Stone, Study Travel
Megaprojects - Current Megaproject
Rural Infrastructure - Settlements, New Trails, Manage Forests
Spirits - Temples, Ordeals, Festivals
Urban Infrastructure - Temples, Walls, Festivals, Trade
War - Raids, Train Warriors, Folk Wrestling
World - New Trails, Exploring, Trade, Hunting

Megaprojects:

Artificial River [Terrestial Fetich] [Admin] (6 Actions) - Prerequisites not met.

The Dam [Terrestrial Fetich] [Admin] (6 Actions) - Inspired by the feats of ingenuity demonstrated by a large, but common, rat, the People have decided to emulate their creations on a more massive scale. By blockaded a river, it would be possible to accumulate an enormous amount of water, something that could easily be put to use.

The Hunt [Wonderful World] [Trial By Fire] [Flat Arrow Outlook] [Martial] [Admin] (2/5 Actions) - The call of the hunt is a grand and beastly instinct. Long have the People felt the thrill of the chase. It is a solitary thing, one known only by hunter and the hunted. It is also an instinct out of place in this changing world.

The World, A Shield [Terrestrial Fetich] [Flat Arrow Outlook] [Martial] [Admin] (12 Actions) - Prerequisites not met.

The World in Miniature [Wonderful World] [Diplomacy] [Admin] (7 actions) - The world is a grand place, seemingly endless in scope. The People's exploration and search for wonders has pushed them to find a way to more effectively communicate discoveries with each other. Trail markers are a start, but they are not easily portable. More can be done.

A Temple, Grand [Terrestrial Fetich] [Art] (8 Actions) - Prerequisites not met.

Extended Projects:

Extend Fire Relay (Hill Guard) [Terrestrial Fetich] [Wondrous World] [Admin] (1 Action) - The Fire Relay has served as the backbone of the People's communication and movement between The Fingers and Crystal Lake for longer than memory. With the recent founding of Hill Guard, the vaunted relay no longer stitches the People from one end to the other. This oversight must be corrected.

Raise Temple (Crystal Lake, The Fingers, Hill Guard) [Terrestrial Fetich] [Wondrous World] [Admin] [Art] (2 Actions) - A ritual place where the spirits and those they touch can work. Special facilities for magic, resources, teachings and the spirits themselves are included.

The Hill (Crystal Lake, The Fingers) [Terrestrial Fetich] [Admin] (2 Actions) - A hill made by man. A simple construct, but one that greatly raises the defensive value of a settlement.

New Trails [Wondrous World] [Admin] (9 or 12 Actions) - Inspired by the Fire Relay, these small trails are cut into the innumerable forests that surround the People. Serving as akin to veins in the body, they promote the free movement of goods and people.

Actions that could be locked in this turn: Expand Hunting

Automatic Actions: Trade (Arrow Lake, Northlands, Pearl Divers), Expand Aquaculture (Rice, Fishing), Prepare for Ordeal

Note: You are At War with the Northlands. The Peace Builders have offered a full, unconditional Alliance. Arrow Lake has offered a limited defense pact. The Pearl Divers are watching their borders.

AN: A Moratorium is in effect! All votes before the next threadmark will not be counted. I will answer questions tomorrow, but if people could pare them down to fewer essential ones, it would make turn around faster. Tag me for any new questions.

 

[Redium]

[X] Plan Win the War
-[X] [Recall] No
-[X] [Value] Yes
-[X][Action] Raid (Northlands)
-[X][Action] Expand Hunting (Dogs)
-[X][Admin] The Hunt -> Primitive Herding
-[X][Art] Study Travel -> Summer Dog Sleds
-[X][Tribute] Megaprojects (The Hunt, The Hunt)

The war, had not gone well.

At first, it seemed like it had. Aeva had known that the Northlands were much more thinly peopled than the lands to the south. They were primarily herders up there, following the caribou as they moved across the lands. It was a hard life, one which bred a certain resilience and familiarity with violence into every man and woman who managed to live. 'Every man an archer', the People had once said of the Northlands. The herds of caribou and moose that they followed numbered in the thousands. Trying to hunt one was like trying to hunt a single left of a tree. One mistake could easily bring the entire tree down on your head.

Now, the People knew the truth; the Northlands were as much man as beast. The whispers about them had only intensified in recent years. Claims that went so far as to the relations between the Northlanders and their caribou was fundamentally different from how the People related to their dogs. Instead, they said, that the relations between the North and their beasts was more akin to the relations that occur only among people.

The Peace Builders had not heeded these warnings. Even when Aeva herself warned their commanders that there was more to the man-beasts than met they eye, the People were ignored. The foreigners were perhaps right to ignore the People's worries, when they had initially smashed into the Northlanders, they had cast them aside. Upon arriving, they had turned the tide against the northern man-beasts and solidified the defensive borders. Perhaps not a dramatic reversal, but a significant one.

It seemed to solidify the Peace Builder's confidence. They and their spirits were righteous, punishing those who trespassed against sacred laws. Skalds from all over the Peace Builder's holdings had whipped their warriors up into a frenzy. They were powerful and they were going to set the world to rights.

They were wrong.

It had started innocuously. The People and the Peace Builders had slowly made steady ground, pushing up through the twisting hills of the Northlands' traditional range. It was slow going, but with the river to secure their supply lines, the People made progress. Each one of their warriors had a dedicated ration of food, this was something that did not change in war or peace and could be easily budgeted for. The Northlands, on the other hand, depended on their hunters and herders to fight. Every day that they fought, was a day that they would have to deal with hunger due to failing to look for food.

The war was slow going, but it was steady. When the Northlanders' war cries finally faded into the distance and the counter raids receded, it buoyed the People's spirits. The Peace Builders took it as a sign of impending victory; the Northlanders had been weak, unable to stop the advance, and now they'd taken enough casualties that all they could do was flee. "We must follow them!" the leading Skald of the Peace Builders had advocated. "They run, breaking before our power and might. Now is the time to strike!" They would strike that night, before the Northlands had time to move their camp.

But the People were not convinced. Under Aeva's leadership, they had become used to a more methodical method of war. One based on organization, planning, and objectives. It had not met the success of the Peace Builders, but it was an undeniably winning strategy. The People's warriors heeded their caution. It was what was needed when one was fighting spirits.

It caused many of the Peace Builders to call the People cowards, but their barbed words were a small price to pay considering what it let them avoid.

It was on that night that he finally acted. The Ivory-Blood Chief.

When the People went forth on the next day, they found the Peace Builders. Their central force was huddled in a clearing, eyes wide with terror and their numbers visibly reduced. All of their weapons were close at hand, even those who were sleeping did not release their great war clubs. All around them, the rest of the Peace Builders' war party stood as tall as the trees. They were impaled, massive ivory tusks speared through their bodies from end to mouth. It was clear that the impaled had died... screaming.

When the Northlanders showed themselves next, they attacked with a fury that up to that point the People had never seen. They were lead by a resplendent figure, his chest armoured in fine strips of dark wood and bearing an enormous ivory tusk studded with obsidian. A glowing amulet of bone hung from his neck with matching armlets threaded so tightly along his limbs that they clacked with every breath. Teeth like pointed fangs, the man-beast cackled when he fought, revelling in blood and slaughter.

He fought in close, ivory tusk stabbing out, impaling lone warriors and crushing past bone and wood armour with the force of a galloping man-beast. The lucky died instantly. Those unlucky were dragged away, disappearing into the night only to end up impaled on a tusk by dawn the next day.

Worse, the Ivory-Blooded Chief had sent part of his force to raid and harass the People's supply lines. Only a few caravans were broken, but it was enough that the People and the Peace Builders would fear hunger. That was the moment that it became obvious: the raid was lost.

Retreating burned at the pride of the People and the Peace Builders did not take it better. For them it was much worse. Many of their warriors refused to leave and stayed behind to face the Ivory-Blooded's echoing cackle.

The raid was a disaster, by Aeva's reckoning. The Ivory-Blooded Chief had not been able to force the People from their temporary camp at the border of the Northlands' territory, but they had stymied every advance and reaped a vicious toll in blood. Augmenting that perception was the lone messenger the Ivory-Blooded Chief had sent. A warrior from the Peace Builders, he had been utterly broken. His flesh shredded then crudely healed, bones broken and then twisted before being set, his face disfigured; all that was untouched were his ears and his mouth. "You murdered and defiled my sister," the messenger had said, passing on his former captor's words. "A curse upon you and your children and children's children. Blood and vengeance will be mine."

It had been a minor miracle that the People were able to stop the Ivory-Blooded Chief's advance. The People's forests were often trackless, virtual unknowns, and without trails. It hadn't quite seemed obvious to her before, but the well trailed lands of the Northlands allowed their man-beasts an unmatched strategic depth. It was easy for them to hit and then run, stymieing all efforts to advance against them. The lack of trails within the People's land meant that the Ivory-Blooded Chief's man-beasts were even more hemmed it. On the whole, Aeva would've judged having more trails to be beneficial.

What really saved them, though, was their knowledge of The Hunt.

The People had been close to panic in recent years over the sudden loss of animal populations around them. Everyone knew intellectually that the weather likely meant the animals suffered and fewer were born. But to have it be severe enough that they could not be found? That was different. What about the next time the People needed to rely on the hunt when the weather turned against them? Countless questions dominated the People's councils and campfires.

It seemed The Hunt, a thing of time immemorial, may no longer exist. That was the moment that drove Aeva back to her old friend of organization. She and her Slate kept extremely careful track of the People's hunts across many years. They tracked every rabbit, every fox, ever deer, moose, wolf, and orker that was slain. It was a laborious process, but it eventually revealed a pattern; the World moved in cycles. It was not a static thing, it was a system.

After the harsh weather of the last few years, many plants had died. This in turn meant that the creatures that feed on them; deer, moose, rabbits, raccoons, and badgers, would soon starve. This meant that the predators which relied on them; wolves, bears, cougars, and foxes, would suddenly find themselves starving in turn. The key observation was that these transitions were offset by a year. If the plants died, a year later the herbivores would die and a year after that the carnivores.

Despite these constant, osculating die offs, no animals seemed to permanently disappear from the forest; eventually, all would return. Checking the numbers a second time, Aeva realized that the die offs seemed to predict, perhaps even spark, enormous booms in population. When the carnivores died, the herbivores would boom in population until they exhausted the plants and the carnivores came back in force. The three were clearly interrelated, osculating in some great cosmic harmony.

Now that they knew the chorus, taking advantage of it would be easy. Instead of becoming dependent on wildly swinging populations of prey, the People could use the knowledge gleaned to level out the wild swings, creating a more predictable and stable source of food. It would also allow them to turn it against their enemies. It wouldn't be quite as useful against professional warriors who usually had some degree of support from home, but against hunters or herders? They were expected to supply themselves with food on campaign and the easiest way to acquire food was by hunting. Something that you now knew the secret magic of. Turning the forest from a placid place filled with pleasant herbivores to a dark terror of teeth and fangs was now possible.

Megaproject Complete: The Hunt

Spoiler: The Hunt

A primal activity, the People have looked beyond the age old history of blood and death. Hunting is not a simple story with a beginning and an end, but a chord held in harmony with the world's great symphony. As long as the People remember their humility and their place in the symphony, there will always be a place for the People in the world of beasts.
Effects: Expand Hunting action upgraded to Manage Hunting and reveals the safe hunting cap. Defensive attrition increased.

How should the People commemorate this project?

[ ] [Reward] Raise Temple: Hill Guard 1/2 + 2/2
[ ] [Reward] Annual Festival x2
[ ] [Reward] Manage Hunting x3
[ ] [Reward] Explore x5
[ ] [Reward] Raise Warriors (Holy Orders) x2

Values Combined! Wondrous World + Terrestrial Fetich -> Supernal Symphony!

Spoiler: Supernal Symphony

The spirits have placed countless wonders across the world and it is the People's responsibility to find and safeguard these locations. Through laborious toil, these fonts of spiritual power can be augmented and empowered, turned into sources of power available to the People. It is through measures like this that the People and their spirits can work together and remain strong.
Pros: Wonders have greatly increased effect, effects of natural resources and terrain are boosted by artificial intervention
Cons: The People must augment applicable terrain or lose Stability, increased cost and ritualization

Empty Honour Value Slot Detected! Where should a new Value be taken from?

[ ] [Value] Peace Builders
[ ] [Value] Pearl Divers (-1 Stability)
[ ] [Value] Arrow Lake (-1 Stability)
[ ] [Value] Northlands (-1 Legitimacy)
[ ] [Value] Develop Internally

It was the People's obligation to uphold such harmony and as far as Aeva could see it was a work in progress. One that would likely take far longer than her lifetime. Still, it was her role to see the People succeed, despite the dunderheadedness of some of those that sought to petition her.

After the situation with the Northlands had stabilized, many of the warriors involved has returned home. They were hardened men and tough women, Aeva could tell. Many of them never quite seemed to relax, eyes always darting to and fro, or bursting from the depths of sleep in the middle of the night, ready to kill. It was a matter of time before problems would arise, Aeva knew.

When it finally did, it was spectacular.

As she sat in high council, the Big Men of both Hill Guard and The Fingers beside her, Aeva wondered how it had come to his. Looking down, she could see her great-grandnephew staring back defiantly despite the binds that secured him almost from head to toe. Priit was a boy, seventeen years old, if she remembered correctly. He shouldn't have been able to do this.

"What have you to say for your actions?" the Big Man of the Hill asked him.

"My actions were without mistake," Priit responded. "I acted as Justice demands. I acted with full knowledge of my actions. I have not erred in my Outlook."

"And those things led you to spill the blood of the People?" the Big Man of the Fingers asked, incensed. He had lost friends due to Priit's actions, potentially even kin.

"I did not kill anyone who did not deserve it," Priit said. "The only ones to die were those who died to preserve my life."

"How many were dead by the end, Priit?" Aeva asked, breaking her silence for the first time. The boy focused on her, and he was a boy despite the trials he faced. His stare was the same as the other warriors, distant but sharp. "How many were wounded or maimed?"

"I acted to bring a thief to justice," Priit said. "The fact that others would shelter a criminal in defiance—"

"She was no thief, boy!" the Big Man of the Fingers bellowed. He was half out of his seat, great club in hand.

"Do it," Priit whispered. "Do it you cowardly old fuck."

The Big Man of the Fingers nearly did, knocking Priit to the ground and raising his club to crush the boy's skull. It was only the symphony of full throated growls that stopped him. Aeva shivered as all of the Fangs and their canine companions watched intensely.

The situation was tense and violence threaded through the air. Why couldn't Priit have done something differently, Aeva wondered? Because he was a boy, no matter how young he was once he passed his trials.

Priit had been a prodigy, scouted for the Fangs at nine and becoming a full member of their order at thirteen. He had spent most of the next four years on the front lines against the Northlands, distinguishing himself. A skilled warrior, he had come to fame two years into his fight when he directly engaged the Ivory-Blooded Chief. The man had brained Priit with his spear, concussing and nearly killing him. Despite that, Priit's wolf-companions had rallied and chased the Ivory-Blooded Chief off, but not before the chief dropped his ivory spear. Priit had taken it up after that and wielded the weapon to acclaim, and frustration on the part of the Ivory-Blooded Chief.

It had been during his recovery after that, that Priit met a woman. Their courtship was brief, but intense, and had left a child growing within her. Priit had missed the birth of his son due to the intensifying war and only came to know him recently. It was then he decried the boy, claiming that the child was not his son and that the woman had strayed. That was followed almost immediately by a fight where he beat the man he alleged to be the father, a simply farmer, half to death; perhaps even more. Aeva was uncertain if the father would recover fully from his broken bones.

That was normal, to be expected among the People. Fights over women were extremely common. Not, perhaps, necessarily approved of, but it wasn't something that the People's leaderships concerned itself with. In the grand scheme of things, Priit had been merciful; many would've simply killed in his position.

Where Priit had taken it further, however, was decrying his former paramour as a thief. She had received part of his ration as his wife and mother of his child, traded on his growing reputation, and ingratiated herself into his extended family. All of that was unjust and she continued it even after the child was born and she knew it was not Priit's son. (How the woman was supposed to know that, Aeva did not know, but both of the other two Big Men agreed with Priit's assertation of lack of paternity. No matter how grudging it was from the Big Man of the Fingers.)

From there, the situation became murky. Priit claimed that he went before the woman's longhouse, demanding that she and the representatives present themselves and go before the Big Man to resolve his claim of food theft. Of all crimes, food theft was nearly the most serious; something that was potentially worthy of death. At that point, many of the men of the longhouse attacked him, likely to cover their complicity in food theft.

The survivors from the longhouse claimed that Priit simply attacked them from nowhere. They were only defending themselves.

What was not in dispute was the fact that Priit single-handedly savaged everyone who opposed him. More than two dozen men. Priit smashed everyone that opposed him aside and the wolves following on his heels laid low everyone who managed to bypass his spearpoint. When the last of his opponents was put down, he took his 'wife' and 'child' to go before the Big Man of the Fingers. The initial fight wasn't exactly quiet and quickly drew spectators. That escalated the situation and turned it into a general riot.

It wasn't until the Big Man came with warriors to crack heads together that the fighting actually stopped. From what Aeva had heard, the Big Man had nearly smashed Priit's skull on the spot for disturbing the peace. Many were injured and some were dead, his kith and kin among them. The only thing that had stopped him was the Fangs closely circling around one of their own. Nothing had been said, but the Big Man realized that acting without consulting the other Big Men would end... poorly.

The entire situation made Aeva's head ache. Priit was a stupid boy. He had not been wrong to fight the man who'd lain with his wife. That was well enshrined within the People's precedent. He had also not been wrong to demand before his wife's longhouse that they present themselves to resolve a grievance. The only question was: Had Priit really been crazy enough to assault an entire longhouse, easily one hundred people, on his own? Even if he was, there was precedent in his favour. As a fully blooded warrior, it was his duty to execute justice on those who had wrong the People. If the longhouse's residents stood in his way, then he could strike them down. The only people who had been injured before the general brawl were young men; his violence had not been indiscriminate. He may very well have been acting in self-defense and with due diligence in his duty.

The problem was, there was no easy solution. Aeva couldn't determine whether her great-grandnephew was telling the truth, or the longhouse's residents. No one could; the facts supported both sides. Aeva wished it hadn't been so ambiguous and come up for Triumvirate review. The Big Man of the Fingers clearly wanted skulls to be smashed for the deaths in his settlement. Aeva was tied to this by bonds of family and the Big Man of Hill Guard was firmly in her pocket. No matter how she ruled, people would be unhappy, seeing either nepotism or injustice.

Supporting her great-grandnephew would come across as nepotism. Punishing him would alienate the warriors and especially the Fangs as they saw one of their own punished for fulfilling their duties. And then there were the concerns about the Northlanders; Priit was a profoundly skilled warrior. He was better than any save, perhaps, Kaspar had been at his prime. Losing him would hurt the war effort.

What should be done?

Should Priit be punished? (All options cost at least -1 Stability)

[ ] [Priit] No, he acted in accordance with precedent and his personal duty.
[ ] [Priit] Yes, his actions lead to tragedy regardless of intent.
[ ] [Pritt] Yes, he is clearly lying and went looking to fight, not to fulfill his duty.
[ ] [Pritt] No, he only defended himself.
[ ] [Pritt] Aeva would not vote against her family and abstains. (Vote deadlocks, -1 additional Stability)
[ ] [Pritt] Aeva would not vote against family and abstains alongside the Big Man of Hill Guard. (Big Man of the Fingers convicts.)
[ ] [Pritt] Aeva attempts to lean on her connections to solve the matter privately. (Chance of additional -1 to +1 Stability)
[ ] [Pritt] No, the boy is too important of a warrior to sacrifice.

How severely should he be punished? (You can vote for this, it won't matter if you do not vote to punish Priit)

[ ] [Punishment] Death. (-1 Stability)
[ ] [Punishment] Exile. (???)
[ ] [Punishment] Make Priit a Debtor. (-1 Stability)
[ ] [Punishment] Extract immense fines from Priit. (-1 Legitimacy)

How do the Big Men rule on Priit's allegation of food theft?

[ ] [Theft] The woman was no thief. A woman can always expect support from her husband.
[ ] [Theft] The woman was a thief. Taking food from a family with which your child shares no blood is done under false pretenses and a crime.
[ ] [Theft] The woman was not yet a thief. She would have only stole food once Priit officially ended their relationship.
[ ] [Theft] The woman was a thief, but not of everything she is accused. All of the initial gifts given were hers, but what she asked for later was theft under false pretenses.

AN: Voting is currently under moratorium and will be until the next threadmark is posted. Tag me for any questions.

 

[Redium]

[X] [Reward] Raise Temple: Hill Guard 1/2 + 2/2
[X] [Punishment] Extract immense fines from Priit. (-1 Legitimacy) -> Trait Gained: Weregild
[X] [Theft] The woman was not yet a thief. She would have only stole food once Priit officially ended their relationship. -> Trait Gained: Divorce
[X] [Value] Northlands (-1 Legitimacy) -> Value Gained: Brothers of my Blood
[X] [Priit] Yes, his actions lead to tragedy regardless of intent. (-1 Stability) -> Trait Gained: Consequential Punishment

The first few years after the end of Priit's trial had brought the People nearly to the brink of ruin. It was the trial, Aeva knew. The trial and its manifestly unjust outcome had turned the spirits' eyes from the People. There was no other explanation what had occurred.

The Northlanders continued to press the People and the Peace Builders, savaging their warriors and spilling their blood by the bucket full. It was a situation exasperated by the plummeting morale among the warriors as well. Many of the warriors had given years of their lives, their health, their friends and in some cases their deaths to stop the enemy. It was an unending war against things that were as much man as beast, things that could prove themselves brethren to the spirits.

Warriors on the front knew that better than most. They said that strong men would lay down at night to sleep and simply wake up dead. Others remembered the man-beasts stalking their dreams, hunting and killing them as they did in the daylight, but worse. They were twisted things there, reveling in their inhumanity. Macabre parodies, twisted in ways that were impossible. It robbed man of sleep and of energy, leading them to be slaughtered during the waking dawn. It was a hideously effective magic.

Morale among the warriors quickly collapsed in the face ceaseless war. After the Ivory-Blooded Chief managed to slip a group of man-beast raiders past the People's front lines, the front itself collapsed. The warriors eventually reformed along the banks of the Great River, near the furthest extent of settlers from the Fingers. New front lines were eventually established, but it was a net full of holes. The out lying settlements surrounding the Fingers burned. The loses were small, but each one was kith or kin; a painful loss.

The People simply lacked the infrastructure of trails that would've allowed them to outmaneuver the man-beasts of the North. Trying to find them, let alone fight them, was like striking smoke. Even the new summer dog sleds were ineffective. Without trails, they couldn't be used!

These losses were only compounded when some of the People's warriors simply broke. Instead of fulfilling their duty, they broke and ran. Some disappeared permanently, others went so far as to go bandit and started preying on the People. So many warriors were tied up tracking Northlanders through empty, trackless waste that hunting down bandits became a distinctly secondary concern. After all, if a bandit was smart, they wouldn't kill or burn those they robbed. If they did that, there wouldn't be anyone for them to extort next year.

Rapidly, the People began to lose faith in their warriors. It seemed that nothing could be done to stop the Northlanders, the People were weak and they were strong. No matter what the People seemed to try, they and the Peace Builders were systematically pushed back. The man-beasts they fought against were simply too mobile to be easily pinned down. When they could be, it was usually a slaughter in the People's favour. But those moments were rare.

That was when something strange happened, something that had at first been quiet. Everyone in the People knew of the importance placed on Blood Oaths and Brotherhood among the Northlanders. It was said that the Ivory-Blooded Chief himself was Blood Brother to the tribe's former High Shaman. It was a bond that mimicked, but also transcended family. Clearly, it was a practice greatly favoured by the spirits. How else could be People and the Peace Builders be beaten by numbers notably inferior to their own?

It started small, but soon everyone was sealing pacts and deals in blood.

Value Gained: Brothers of my Blood!

Spoiler: Brothers of my Blood

The People have learned to look beyond family. A man can always count on his brothers for support, but brotherhood is not a concept so limited as family. Oaths sworn in blood are just as binding as the water of the womb and can be trusted without suspicion due to the sanctity of such bonds. To break them would be unthinkable.
Pros: Increased social cohesion, especially among the People's elites, increased generation of Heroes in defensive wars
Cons: The People's word is their bond, Increased nepotism

It was a practice the warriors reported seeing among the man-beasts of the north. When some were captured, they would nearly always refuse to surrender. None among them would betray the blood sworn brotherhood of warriors. In many of their darkest moments, the warriors of the People turned to the practice as well. Many broke, some ran, and others turned to brigandage, but that only solidified the hardened core of what remained. The core fell back, but on they fought.

Wasn't it like the Ember-Eyes said? A common stone of amethyst could be transformed into citrine through careful cooking in a kiln. The process was magic, adding fire to stone in order to trap in light. Could not people be transformed in such ways, by application of heat and pressure?

Perhaps that was how Priit saved them. The boy had been brutally mistreated in the estimation of most warriors. He had done his duty, only for the Big Men to savage him from on high. Even the punishment; six lifetimes worth of food, one for everyone who had died in the riot he'd spawned, was deeply unusual. The punishment was too much, many thought, an abuse of the Big Man's power. A criminal Debtor would not have been given such a step price for their freedom. Even if some of the People thought Priit was punished correctly, how was he to be treated. Was he a Debtor? Was he otherwise a normal member of the People?

The Big Man of the Fingers took the latter finding since it allowed him to punish Priit further. After all, under the precedent set by the Three Big Men, a warrior could be fined for harming the People in the course of his duties. Priit, by focusing on paying off his fine through hunting, was obviously negligent in aiding the war effort. If he had focused on the war effort... well it held to reason that the boy was being negligent by failing to pay his fines.

That hypocrisy was obvious to Aeva, but what could she do? Contradict the laws and punishments that she handed down? It was an obvious problem brewing, but Aeva ended up being unable to respond to it.

Trait Gained: Consequential Punishment!

Spoiler: Consequential Punishment

The People have decreed that all actions which lead the People to harm must be punished. One need not intend to harm the People, one simply needs to just make it so. Acting within the bounds of law or duty offer no protection when a convict is ruled against by their local Big Man. Doing nothing and allowing harm to befall the People is also no defense. The only defense against these charges are to always be lucky, be on your best behaviour, or on the good side of the judge.

Priit hunted diligently while the war front slowly collapsed around the Fingers and his fines piled incomprehensibly high. Day in and day out, he diligently hunted, allowing ever more of his take to be taken from him. Even to the point where it started to become a danger he would starve, he hunted.

Trait Gained: Weregild!

Spoiler: Weregild

In the old days, it was thought that only blood could wash out blood. Now, the People know better; recompense can come in many forms; labour, baubbles, food, it just needs to be enough to assuage the hurt and pay restitution to victims.
Effects: Instead of physical punishment, criminals may pay off their offenses with excess wealth.

Only once the Ivory-Blooded Chief broke through the warrior's crumbling defense to set eyes upon the Fingers did Priit's plan become clear.

It was said that the Ivory-Blooded Chief knew only despair when his warriors stopped along the nexus of the Valge and Great Rivers. Crossing over the waters with their man-beasts while under fire from the People's archers was impossible. Beyond that, a wall greater than some trees he'd seen enclosed the People's entire settlement. Assault was impossible. All that he could hope for was to turn his fury against the outlying concentrations of the People, slaughtering and burning farms and sap distilleries.

It was at that moment that the spirits finally turned against the Northmen.

Priit returned and he returned with blood and fury. He came at the head of the Fangs and their snarling wolves, stalked from the shadows by countless toothy beasts. The Fangs had unbalanced the careful relationship between herbivores and carnivores, causing a boom in the latter's population and then slaughtered all the herbivores they could find. It made starvation inevitable for the booming population of carnivores, causing them to turn... mean. The population grew desperate and the Fangs whipped them forward with promises of blood and tantalizing gifts of meat.

The man-beasts of the North panicked and cohesion disintegrated in the face of countless hungry fangs. Some of them split off, vanishing into the forests pursued by cougars and wolves. Others became paralyzed, clumping up into large groups only to be cut to ribbons by arrows and thrown spears. The Northlanders simply couldn't respond.

It was in that moment that Priit found the Ivory-Blooded Chief. The two fought for the second time and they would fight to the death.

The Ivory-Blooded Chief was a fearsome opponent, a killer of men that was personally responsible for the deaths of more warriors than any other single cause. Priit was still young, seasoned by a few more years, but before the true prime of his life, weakened and underfed. Priit had further proven himself an inferior warrior in their previous clash. It was obvious who should have won.

Priit fought like a cornered wolf. Viciously and with teeth bared, he struck out with every dirty trick that he'd cultivated over years of dangerous hunts. His obsidian-ivory spear moved with all the force of a falling star and the pack of dogs that followed at his heels were blood-bonded, the envy of many Fangs. Against that, all the Ivory-Blooded Chief could do was frantically backpedal, slowing trying to gain control of his lower half while the beast parts of him quivered in senseless panic.

It almost came as a surprise when Priit's spear found his enemy's heart in a single, unexpected thrust.

(+1 Prestige: Enemy Hero Slain!)

Screaming his vengeance, Priit rallied the People's and Peace Builder's forces and smashed as many straggling groups of man-beasts as they possibly could. Countless numbers of them were cut down. Many were lost or trapped by the suddenly hostile, carnivorous world that seemed to surround them. The land was unfamiliar to them and there simply seemed to be nowhere to escape to. The mop up of enemy forces was closer to hunting beasts than something warriors were necessary for. The starving, fanged beasts feasted heartily on blood and offal.

Some of the Northlanders were even captured, so exhausted by running that they could not resist. After that, it was quickly revealed that the Northlanders hadn't become man-beasts, they simply rode them. It was... an interesting idea, the People thought. Given the small stature of the Northlanders (a Northlander man was closer in size to a twelve-year-old boy than a man), it wasn't something that the People could really put into practice. The few animals, caribou, that they had captured, had a tendency to collapse under the increased weight, or aggressively buck anyone who climbed on them.

Status Resolved: Murder of Man-Beasts! (+1 Prestige)

It was high off that indisputable victory that Priit swept into the Fingers. He walked directly to the center of the settlement and called out the Big Man for his cowardice and incompetence. He charged that the Big Man had harmed the People by interfering with the business of warriors. It was a comment easily laughed off, especially when the Big Man of the Fingers ordered the young man seized.

Until the order was not followed. None of the warriors that flanked the Big Man moved in response to his orders.

Priit had been clever, organizing the pursuers after the Northlands to contain most of the Big Man's fervent supporters. There would be no help coming. The Big Man was powerless.

"Not so fun is it now?" Priit had asked, "You impudent old coward."

The Big Man of the Fingers died less than a second after he drew his war club and attacked. Priit knocked the Big Man from his feet and brought the but of his spear down on his enemy's face until it was finely crushed.

"Prepare a message for the Fire Relay, we need to plan how to finish this war. The leader of the Peace Builders has informed me they will be pulling out, only a few of them will stay behind." The young conqueror sighed. "Summon the other Big Men. We need to meet."

How does Priit plan to end the war?

[ ] [Priit] With blood! (Raid: Northlands) (+1 Stability)
[ ] [Priit] With... eh, peace. (Trade: Northlands) (-1 Stability)
[ ] [Priit] In an informal truce. (Raise Warriors: Holy Orders)
[ ] [Priit] With a party! (Annual Festival)

It was with trepidation that Aeva made her way back to the Cave of Stars. Priit, the new Big Man of the Fingers, had summoned her and the Big Man of Hill Guard for their annual conference and to discus the status of the ongoing hostilities with the Northlanders.

It seems the problem child had come home to roost, she mused. Priit had, at least, been proclaimed as the Big Man by all of the residents of the Fingers. There was little that she could do to dispute that. A Big Man was raised internally by those they organized and ruled over, very few limits to their power existed but reason and practicality.

When she arrived, Priit was already present, leading a small delegation. The People he chose to show off were interesting, Aeva noted. Whispering in his year was a young man, from the Peace Builders, if she placed his accent correctly. Flanking them were a number of women, one who was obviously of the People with her blonde hair and light eyes, a woman of the Peace Builders, and even a girl of the Northlands, based on her extremely small stature.

It was an extremely diverse collection. In fact, many of his guards were the same. Warriors of the Peace Builders, the People, and there were even a precious few Northlanders mixed in with them. Aeva would bet her life that they were newcomers that had married into the People. The only question was what message was Priit trying to send by showing them off? Based on how she'd heard he'd near single handedly beaten back the Northlanders, he should have had his pick of guards and supporters.

"Greetings, Great Grandaunt," Priit bowed slightly. He sounded respectful, but the smirk on his lips was a little bit too wide. "The Triumvirate have much to discuss."

"Indeed," Aeva agreed, sitting down softly. They were inside the brightly lit Temple of Stars, its windows thrown open wide while the sun slowly set. The twinkling walls were cast into a warm orange light with a fire glowing in the middle. One of the temple's cooks tended to it, searing meaty morsels and seasoning a cauldron of pumpkin-rice soup. "How goes the war against the north?"

"Well, much better under my leadership," Priit said, "Under my predecessor, the Northlands had made it to the shores of the Fingers. Nearly one in three of our farms, sugar shacks, lumber and hunting cabins were burned out. It's hard to say how many of the Northlanders we've slain, but their loses were significant. Extremely so."

The young man seemed to hesitate for a moment. Warring within himself until the Peace Builder warrior at his side laid a hand upon his shoulder and offered a reassuring squeeze. Priit started, a warm look over taking him, until his eyes turned into hard, burnt flint.

"The war in the North goes well," Priit said, picking up where he left off, "But I believe it is inappropriate for you to be asking such. This is a meeting between Big Men, and that is something you cannot be."

The fire snapped, a log cracked in half and sent a cascade of sparks up into the air.

"You would question my right to sit here?" Aeva asked quietly. "No Big Man can question the ascension of another." Officially at least, a Big Man was selected by each settlement. In practice, it was done all the time, but never so blatantly.

"Under our oldest traditions," Priit agreed. "You." He pointed to the Big Man of the Hill. "What are the requirements to speak at a public gathering?"

"Since the People ended the Long Walk, those with wisdom, cunning, influence, and resourcefulness were allowed to speak," the Big Man started, uncertain. When Aeva said nothing, he continued: "Under Kaspar-In-Flesh," Aeva nearly rolled her eyes and the divine title of her father, "This was clarified. The meetings were opened to all adults. Men are recognized when they give more to the People than they take, women are recognized when they have children."

"Is this not a gathering?" Priit asked. "Each of us speak for an entire settlement. This is the purest possible distillation of a gathering. It should uphold our traditions, not flaunt them."

Priit's argument was hardly foolproof, but even to Aeva's eye, it carried a hint of earnestness to it. Combined with his recent, crushing victories and the skull of the Ivory-Blooded Chief he'd welded to his banner, Priit was poised to become a leader. Particularly among the warriors.

There was just enough there, that it could tear the People apart on the cusp of victory.

"Why, Priit?" Aeva whispered, just low enough for her counterpart to hear. "Why would you do this? There's no need for this."

The young conqueror's eye flashed. "I do this so you can't hurt us - me - again, Great Grandaunt."

Status Gained: Faction Strife (Priit's Warriors)!

Spoiler: Faction Strife

A powerful faction has formed within the People, feeling that their needs have gone unmet and unheard. They plan to work together in order to address these wrongs, regardless of what it may cost. The pain of ignoring this long festering issue is now too great for it to simply be bandaged over.
Effects: Legitimacy is capped at 2 for the duration of the Strife, unique options available every phase.
Resolve Condition: Increase ???, Reform ????, or reduce Priit's support through ???
Failure Condition: Civil War

How does Aeva respond to Priit's challenge?

[ ] [Aeva] Step down publicly. Aeva has enough experience to know who will replace her, she may rule through them. (Instantly resolves Faction Strife, +1 Legitimacy and +1 Stability)
[ ] [Aeva] Crush his faction with violence. (Current Chance of Victory Estimate: Very Small)
[ ] [Aeva] Paper Over the Cracks. (Build Temple: Crystal Lake 1/2)
[ ] [Aeva] Assert Privilege: Aeva was appointed to her position by Kaspar and she shares his divine blood. (???)
[ ] [Aeva] Rally Against Outsiders. (Raid: Northlands) (+1 Stability)
[ ] [Aeva] Ignore him. (???)
[ ] [Aeva] Claim the Case is different: Aeva's situation is different from that of other childless women. (???)
[ ] [Aeva] Argue the Old Rules: Aeva is old enough to have been recognized as an adult before the Trials of Adulthood were implemented. (???)

AN: Moratorium is in effect until the next threadmark tomorrow morning!