I'd guess that Mystery Cults are better at training/replacing a lot of people quickly in exchange for creating isolated pockets of society within our own civilization while apprenticeships are going to be slow as hell to grow but would take longer to become their own minigroup?
Priit would personally skin anyone who abused a Debtor alive. He would flay them in the town square and pour salt in the wounds; it would take days for them to die. You do have protections for Debtos, dependent on how the Big Man treats them, but Priit would be very against abuse and Alloo would drive some further sympathy into his head.
The Peace Builder warriors who stayed behind have helped you quite a bit. Currently, about 10% of your population can be trained as warriors and called up to fight at any one time. Over time, this is going to go down as equipment costs increases and the unit cost of each additional warrior goes up. This 10% is heavily concentrated within the male 15-45 bracket; of them, you lost about 1 in 3 men. Even taking into account the mortality from childbirth and the deaths of female warriors, you have 3 marriageable women for every two men. Polygamy is super common this generation; virtually every family has a son with at least two wives. You also absorbed a large influx of Peace Builder warriors. Right now about 15% of your warriors were born Peace Builders. 5% of the People over all.
So, firstly, do we get a choice between picking up apprenticeships or mystery cults?
Secondly, when you mean mystery cult, do you mean something similar to the Holy Orders but more mundane, or is it something more?
Finally, will these changes necessarily change our economic system now that we are changing the way people are trained or will this be a specialized category?
So, essentially actions that increase our stability are essentially those that our population would approve of it we took them, but that they are not necessarily the best options, just ones that mesh the most and are easiest to take?
Everything is magic. You don't have any concept of non-magic phenomena. Everything has a dualistic spiritual and physical cause. Somethings are more magical than others; weather, sickness, birth and death, etc.
Sort of? Socialites tend to be at their most violent when they are horticulturalists/early agriculturalists. Every one is horrifically murder happy, but outside of South Lake, Bond Breakers, and Mountain Clans (in roughly that order) you are the most violent on an intra-tribal level.
How will this war alongside the Peace Builders be fought in terms of our outlook on it? I know that we will likely have to fight it now considering the sentiment and the fact we are allied with them. But how will we be able to influence and make decisions about the overall nature of the war?
For example, will our war leaders be able to make independent tactical decisions?
Will we be able to choose how large of a contingent to send, such as a moderate one due to the fact that we will likely have to fight off the Mountain Clans?
As for fighting the Mountain Clans, as they are collapsing and will likely have no central leadership to appeal to, or any central site to raid, how exactly will we fight this war against them aside from sending warriors out to protect our borders?
That will come up in 18.0; you've run across a new Status type: Spiritual/Technical Advisors. Basically, it has a chance of converting their cultural Values to yours each turn. It also allows the society to instantly replace one of their values with yours by choice and not have to role randomly.
As it seems like we're slowly drawing them into our orbit via soft power and either converting them from an ally/trading partner into a vassal/target for integration.
Do we have any new conscious decisions we can make regarding this special status?
Six: Nihkuko, Alloo, one Arrow Lake member (mostly for political reasons, Priit doesn't consider him as close as the other five) and three of the People; one from each settlement.
Alloo will affect the options that you would get from vassalization. You'd have options about how exactly vassalization works over the next few phases.
Seeing as this will be decided in the next turn, I just have one question. Can vassalization eventually lead into integration down the line? I mean, I'm assuming as vassals we'll likely retain trade ties with them, if only to keep them afloat, as well as restrict their ability to make decisions somewhat. But does vassalization mean tribute also as well?
It's unintended. They want to stop, but the south is a Thunderdome with five possible enemies for them to fight. It's the crab bucket mentality writ large.
So essentially endless wars until the other tribes are dealt with then?
I'm curious, so long as we send a force to aid them in their wars in the South do we need to do more to contribute? As it seems like they'll be fighting these wars forever until someone becomes King of the Hill, and I don't think even we can make that much of a difference especially with the recent losses taken.
Less than you think. The Skalds are fantastic on social control. The Peace Builders are also far more polygynous than you. Many more of their men die in combat so the ratio of young women to young men is much higher. Basically every warrior in the Peace Builders could have a second or third wife if they wanted; most regular men have a better than not chance of having a second wife too.
Is this reflected as a specific trait or value for them then? Because this seems like something that would likely affect the course of their civilization rather sharply.
25% is good enough for me. Do any other tribes have any values that have comparable effects to ours? As it seems like we tend to fuse values a lot more.
The costs have been halved (+25% to 12.5%), but that's it. You still have to take an action marked Supernal Symphony every turn to avoid a Stability Hit.
So, essentially, we will be writing up our own Stone Age Code of Law then? How much leeway will we have with that? I doubt you will let us write a Code of Law that goes against the People's current values too strongly through imposing harsh costs, but how much power do we have in deciding this MegaProject, and considering that it is an administrative one, how long term is it?
Priit would personally skin anyone who abused a Debtor alive. He would flay them in the town square and pour salt in the wounds; it would take days for them to die. You do have protections for Debtos, dependent on how the Big Man treats them, but Priit would be very against abuse and Alloo would drive some further sympathy into his head.
So, seeing as the vote is now closed. How would you see us taking them in as debtors go?
I mean with Priit in charge, it's understandable that he wouldn't let abuses take place considering his history of being abused, so I don't think the Northland debtors would've resented us too much.
I'm just curious what the Northlands being taken in as mass debtors would look like.
You got +1 for fighting the Northlands and +1 for winning the war so handily/serving to uphold Retributive Justice/Flat Arrow Outlook. Acting in accordance with your Values is popular and tends to give Stab.
It wasn't anything on your part, I was just double checking which plants should be available to Not!Canada. I was just checking to see what would be available for future development.
Good news: you can make wine, brandy, and maple sugar/syrup! You have a large variety of fruits and berries available to preserve.
Bad news: spices are going to be very rare. The only flavours you have are: maple, licorice (fermented balsamroot), artificial vanilla (beaver butt glands), fireweed (not tobacco despite the name) tea, and mint (wintergreen/evergreen). Europe alone has 2-3 times as many native spices. Second, you are very hard up for root vegetables until you eventually pick up the potato. Third, you have very few edible greens: aside from fiddleheads, the most common is dandelion. Honeybees also went extinct in the New World before human habitation.
So, essentially actions that increase our stability are essentially those that our population would approve of it we took them, but that they are not necessarily the best options, just ones that mesh the most and are easiest to take?
Almost always at least somewhat bad options in fact, though rarely the worst option unless you migrated into a new region or encounter a major state transition(like Bronze, Iron, Age of Sail, Industrialization).
Event triggers are when environmental, technological or social factors push for changing the way things are done.
By taking the +Stability/+Legitimacy option you're saying "where we are now is fine", and in the game of civilizations, you evolve or die. Choosing stasis is bad, but often you don't have a choice because you NEED stasis or you'd collapse.
But it doesn't mean change is always good. You can make things better or you can make things superbly worse. Like we did with the legal decision.
Its one of those things thats actually great right now because it means our elites are rewarded with wives which pushes specialization and innovation.
It'd burn us later on as artisans and intellectuals become more important and having your important social elements be lost to some stupid dispute becomes a straight poisonous value until we adapt a coping mechanism or shed it, but we can't shed it because it's literally a foundational social value and we'd see a lot of people answering the change with a lot of stabbing.
We've developed one coping mechanism in Weregild for instance, which allows high value individuals to buy their way out of a stabbing spiral.
Other such cultural coping mechanisms include strict social hierarchy systems. Caste systems are very good at limiting the damage for instance
We might be able to. Our walls and hills gives us an advantage here because we don't have to face the risks of conflict as badly, so theres a chance that some of them offer to BECOME Debtors to at least make sure they are fed.
But a lot of them are likely to be distrustful because thats the type of people who best survive their civ collapsing.
So essentially endless wars until the other tribes are dealt with then?
I'm curious, so long as we send a force to aid them in their wars in the South do we need to do more to contribute? As it seems like they'll be fighting these wars forever until someone becomes King of the Hill, and I don't think even we can make that much of a difference especially with the recent losses taken.
Defunct is like the Northlands are right now. They can't do ANYTHING, their martial capacity and their economic ability is basically non-existent, but they're still extant as a culture and their government still sort of exists.
Collapse meanwhile means they don't function or identify as one culture anymore. They break up into multiple successor states, which contains partial or mutated social values, and no continuity of government.
Eh, its possible to find some plant with flavoring and breed for stronger flavors. That said, you really get spice diversity in hotter climates, because plants in warmer climates spend more resources defending themselves from fungus and parasites(many spices are literally biological weapons used in protecting the producing plant).
Strategic effect wise, you need plant diversity to develop a strong civilization via agriculture. Or you'd simply need too much hunting and herding supplement to ever get really dense.
Take the Forestry option for new forest products.
Also agricultural protein is extremely important. Meat is just too expensive to produce as you convert to grain based staples.
I'd just like to note that i have since flipped on the idea of building a new settlement on the island if it opens for reasons entirly unrelated to our previous debate.
Or, to put it more clearly, I realized that with a 1.25 multiplier, we're gonna need a minimum of 4 settlements for that to be most useful.
[X] [Victory] Take the Northlanders under the People's wing. (???)
[X] [Adult] Adulthood has grown beyond hunters and mothers. Let people be recognized by others in their profession.
"They've not fled back to the south?" Priit asked. "You're certain?"
"Yes, sir," the young scout said. Boy, more like, Priit thought privately. His skin was smooth and unweathered, hands still uncalloused. He was too young to be a warrior. Even a hunter, but that's what he was. It left a bad taste in Priit's mouth when the young were drenched in blood and he didn't know why. Was violence not Glorious? "We noticed because of the Hunt. The animals southwest of the Fingers became unbalanced."
Which was when they found them; refugees, descending down from the southern mountains and crossing where the Valge River narrowed, studded with islands. The group they found there was tired, hungry, desperate. Many of them had been thin, half starved. Many of them bore wounds, half healed bloody cuts and great mottled bruises from recent struggle. Based on how quickly they were reported to circle up and draw weapons, Priit suspected that much of the violence was from outsiders.
"That was when we pulled back, sir," the youth said, finishing up his report. "We didn't stay long and we weren't pursued beyond the point where they were making sure we were gone."
Waving the young man away, Priit tried to order his thoughts. They were like hammers clashing in his head, driving him to move.
There were more of them, from the Mountain Clans, streaming down to the island narrows of the Valge River. There had always been some, but they were a mere handful. They had always been small, subsisting primarily off of the People's trade with the Island Makers, either raiding it, or much more frequently, offering their own meager goods in order to prop up their scarce rations. It seems that the Mountain Clans had never quite managed to unearth the secret of cultivating gourds, corn, or rice. What skills they had with hunting also seemed wildly in appropriate in the low lying regions surrounding their mountain range.
Pests was what they were. Irritants, things to be ignored, rather than something that actually affected the decision making of their neighbours. What little contact they had was usually in the form of small, low-intensity raids; they came seeking young women and food, primarily the latter. The Mountain Clans had swollen, years ago, due to the wars of of the south while his great-great-grandfather was still Kaspar-In-Flesh. Their resources had stretched beyond the point where their mountains could support and they had been forced to start taking what they had needed.
That was a mistake.
Oh, it had worked, for a while, but it doomed them. The Mountain Clans were a hardy folk, but they lacked the professional warriors that most of the lowlands had ended up adopting. As soon as a born warrior engaged them, they would lose. Their only hope had been to strike while their opponent was off balance and escaping to the mountains before they could be intercepted. Supposedly, the Mountain Clans had seen some success preying on a tribe far to the south in years gone by, but that time had ended.
Now, they were driven out of their mountains, not by the feared Stonecrushers of the Island Makers, but by the inhumanly blessed militias of Arrow Lake. At first, Priit hadn't believed the reports. Several of warriors of Arrow Lake had even told him to his face, that they had secured crushing victory after crushing victory against the Mountain Clans. Arrow Lake's militias were pathetic; ad hoc groups chosen by lot and sent against the enemy. They were weaker, slower, smaller; worse in every way compared to the professional warriors of the other tribes; but they won. Despite every conceivable strain of logic, they claimed to have won an unending chain of victories longer than even his great-grandaunt had been alive.
It was impossible. It should have been impossible. When even Aeva, distant as she was at Crystal Lake, remarked on how Arrow Lake had changed, he stopped ignoring the signs. Sure, she had gone on about how remarkable it was that their production of lapis luzili skyrocketed, but that was just a symptom of fundamental change.
It was only when he took advantage of an opportunity to travel down there and visit some of his ostensible comrades from the War of the North that he saw the poison which had seeped into their souls. It was a simple routine mission of trade and good will like the People had always done, and he wasn't truly required, but he was curious. What he saw filled his belly with fire.
Dozens of men and women, even some children, dug in the shallow sandy soil of the mountains that surrounded Arrow Lake. Underneath the gaze of harsh-eyed taskmasters, they dug for the brilliant blue stones that were the tribe's main trade good. When one of the workers paused to stand up straight and stretch out aching muscles, the task masters were there, hardwood cane in hand and discipline in mind.
The workers were on the ground again soon after, rooting through the soil again with their digging-stick. Women and children too, on the rare occasions they stopped. A closer look showed numerous molted bruises fading from blue to green and yellow-brown. None of them were free of injury.
Priit felt his grip on the blacksword at his waist tighten enough that the ash haft let out a groaning crack.
The realization cast a pall over the entirety of the trade mission. When a group of raiders returned to Arrow Lake, surrounding an empty-eyed, emaciated group, Priit looked to the elders of the tribe. It was the way things were to be, they said at last. Most Ancient? Her title should instead be Most Cowardly. Arrow Lake was ruled by the elders, and they simply countenanced atrocity. They watched as men were rounded up and sent up to the mines while women and young mothers were pushed around by a group of madly grinning raiders. Warriors bearing stout canes came out to enforce discipline before distasteful things could occur in front of him, but he did not need much imagination what was happening just out of sight.
How could the tribe that he once fantisized about running away to have fallen so far?
His anger did not go unnoticed. The Most Ancient herself tried to justify what he was watching. "Do the Twin-Souled People not have Debtors?" she had asked.
If Priit had been a younger man, he knew how that conversation would've ended. Instead of a polite agreement, followed by an explanation of the rules of being a Debtor and the protections that should be involved, it would've ended with his blacksword swinging straight through the Most Ancient's body. He only had twenty companions with him, but Priit estimated they likely could've recovered their canoes and escaped into the night without too much trouble.
He wasn't that younger men, however. Leadership, responsibility; it had changed him. As a young man, he crushed skulls and tore out throats; reveled in it, like his hounds did. Hate and rage had been an old and comforting cloak, one he could easily pull around his shoulders when he was lost or scared. He couldn't do that now. Ten years of leadership had changed him. Transformed him. Wasn't that what the Ember-Eyes always went on about? Transformation through the Crucible? He snorted at that wisdom.
There was something that the Ember-Eyes were good for, he had to acknowledge. Their efforts among the Pearl Divers over the last generation had lead to the creation of two new slaterns, doubling the Pearl Diver's capacity to produce Salt. The new level of production was enough to fulfill the People's demands for the substance with some left over. That little bit left over was enough to be traded on to the People's other trade partners, which sparked a booming demand in them. It was enough that the Pearl Divers asked for the Ember-Eyes to stay with them longer and build more Salterns.
Aeva had objected somewhat, saying that salt was displacing the People's maple sugar as the food preserver of choice. If the People were to help the Pearl Divers, they should invest in further managing the forests around them to cultivate more maple trees and produce more sugar. The worry mostly went over Priit's head. The People were still going to be the intermediaries of the Pearl Diver's salt. If tribes failed to trade for their sugar, they would trade for salt. What was the issue?
Allow the Ember-Eyes to stay with the Pearl Divers for another turn?
[ ] [Salt] Yes
[ ] [Salt] No
The Ember-Eyes who spent time with Pearl Divers were, of course, in full favour of the proposal. It expanded their remit and brought them in contact with new tribes and forced them to innovate new techniques. There was event word of a discovery, far to the south of the Pearl Divers' easternmost settlement. It was more rumour than fact, but the Ember-Eyes reported a beach that was made entirely of Black Sand. Beyond that, there were rumours of a place where the sand was the colour of blood and sang when walked upon. It was a place obviously beyond the People's reach, but it had sparked a greedy lust in the hearts of many. They wanted it all.
While interesting, there was little that Priit could do about those far of places. What he found far more interesting were the reports that the Ember-Eyes made about their impact on the Pearl Divers.
Status: Magical Advisors
The People have begun providing advisers in their most esoteric arts to an external faction. Being in close contact with the People's spiritual leaders, these foreigners pick up many tidbits of lore, but they also pick up on other, more fundamental philosophies as well.
Effects: Each turn a faction is reviving Magical Advice, they may take one additional Art action with bonuses to technology gain in areas where their advisers excel. Additionally, they also have the chance to randomly take on one of their Adviser's Values each turn, with the chance growing each turn without a new value gained. The recipient may elect to choose any of the Adviser's Values and gain that automatically.
Their insight on the Pearl Diver's status was deeply interesting.
Pearl Diver Values
Social:
Retributive Justice: (Taken from the People)
Bring Me the Horizon: Whenever the Pearl Divers lose Stability, gain Econ and a free Explore action. For every 3 Stability lost, gain a new settlement. Vastly speeds cultural divergence. Honour:
The Other Quality: Conscript workers to fight in war! Gain bonus Martial for high Econ!
A Word, A Bond: Individual feel a deep desire to abide by their word. Increases internal stability. Need to honour external obligations if it wouldn't threaten the tribe. Spititual:
Fruitful Family: All members of the tribe desire to have large families, increasing Econ and expansion speed. Increased nepotism.
Whole Hearted: The tribe believes that all hearts should be whole. All fulfilled and in accord. Increased social unity, increased united effort, discordance is shunned.
The Ember-Eyes had embedded themselves within the heart of the Pearl Divers. It wasn't much now, but it could prove useful in the future.
That was, of course, if the People solved their little problem. After Aeva's refinement of the Trials of Adulthood, clarifying that Kaspar-In-Flesh had meant merely that problems had started to crop up. By delegating authority from the Big Man towards a looser confederation of skilled teachers had left many in confusion. In order to be recognized, apprentice learners had to have the majority of members of their craft acknowledge them as a peer. That in turn often meant working with, learning from, and showing off to countless other craftsmen. That quickly lead to a proliferation of skill amongst all of the People's skilled workers.
While obviously a good thing that was already starting to pay dividends, there was one complication: the People were quickly becoming too skilled. There was so many techniques; things from pottery that could be applied to masonry, how the Ember-Eyes and woodcutters could better support each other, or how fishermen could boost the crops of rice growers; that interlaced. The downside was that there was suddenly a boom of interrelated information that had to be remembered. Many people who once thought themselves masters had ended up scrambling for years.
Those who were just learning, however, were completely lost. It took significantly longer to understand all of the connections, the different techniques, and how they could be best applied. It often took too much time. Outside of those with very large families or friend networks willing to support them, they could not spend enough time away from finding food in order to learn. The problems were severe enough that they had nearly caused a food short fall and starvation one year. Too many people were focused on learning, refining their skills, taking in Debts and planning to pay them off later with the fruits of their labours.
The chaotic system also often produced the wrong type of specialist. There were far too many stonecutters and potters while lumberjacks and fishermen were too rare. It was a fluke, chance circumstance, but one that would need to be accounted for in the future.
Aeva had pushed the Big Men to crack down after that. Based on what she estimated, the People were simply not capable of allowing people to pursue learning indiscriminately. The chaos simply left the People too vulnerable to unexpected disruptions; all it would take is for one unexpected disruption or an excess of Debt for the People to suddenly find themselves without food. Someone people needed to collect food in order to ensure that everyone was feed. They needed potters and woodcuters, stonecutters and traders just as much, but only a few. Reform would be needed.
How should the People reform their teaching practices?
[ ] [Teach] Empower the Big Men. Given them the ability to formally direct the labour and resources of others.
[ ] [Teach] Develop a group whose responsibility it is to ensure enough specialists are trained without wasting food.
[ ] [Teach] Delegate authority to longhouse leaders, make them responsible for organizing and training labourers.
[ ] [Teach] Have teachers take apprentices by finding promising children, like the Holy Orders do.
[ ] [Teach] Discourage taking Debt for education so that another food bust will not sneak up on the People.
[ ] [Teach] Limit the amount of skill needed to be an adult, numerous dilettante can serve just as well as a specialist.
[ ] [Teach] Do nothing yet.
Lastly, there was the situation with the Northlands.
Priit had decided, at long last, to take them under the People's wing. It had been a hard choice, one that seemingly went against his every instinct. He was a killer, someone that ended threats. Everything that he had learned growing up, from the slow strike-and-counter-strike of war on the northern front, to the mess that was his great grandaunt's opaque politics, his near death at the hands of the Big Man he'd ended up slaying in defense of his own life, and the trials that came after it. All of it was a series of struggles that nearly ended him, only for him to succeed.
Despite being one of the Fangs, he felt a connection to the underlying thoughts behind the Ember-Eyes. Contemplating the mysteries that they studded, even if he didn't understand the magic behind it, calmed him. Not as much as attending to the needs of his pack, or working with his Blood Brothers, but it the dark moments of the night where he had only his thoughts, it could help.
Still, Alloo prevailed on him, and he could not deny her desire to protect family. He had expected that working with the Northlands and integrating them into the People would be nigh impossible. There was bad blood on both sides and a generation of war. Warriors who had been stalked for hours, even days, through the thick underbrush of the northern lands. People who had been wounded; whose family and friends were hunted down, isolated and murdered; who had declared feuds that could only be washed out with blood.
Everything... went well. At first, the tension was thick enough that it could've been cut with a knife, but Alloo came through. A few whispered words were enough to gather a collection of her family, friends, and their Blood Brothers. By some miracle, they were an enormous faction; the largest that was left in the Northlands tribe. They had been unable to take the field against the People and Alloo once they knew that the People held her. They had to withstand ridicule and calls of cowardice, but they preserved. Someone needed to follow the herds and hunt game in order to feed the tribe. It was as valid a way of supporting the war and the calls of cowardice quickly trailed off after they dragged back the carcasses of numerous mammoth and orkers.
When Alloo returned with food donated by the People, enough so that no elders would be forced to starve and no children would be lost to hunger, she became akin to a goddess. The lack of food wouldn't have annihilated the Northlandres, but it would've reduced their numbers to the smallest they had ever been.
Alloo was known and respected amongst the People. Not to the degree of Priit, or even Aeva, but she was perhaps Priit's most well known subordinate. Someone he respected, which caused others to respect her in turn. When Priit backed her, many of the People were at least willing to give the Northlanders a chance to talk. After all, with the war now over, had Justice not been served?
Once the knives were set down and the axes buried, it suddenly turned out that the People and the Northlands had a lot in common! Their appreciation of Justice, demands of Excellence, appreciation of the natural world, and views on violence were largely in accord. It became immediately obvious that the People and the Northlanders agreed at least as much as they disagreed!
That spark of friendship was then fanned into a flame by the advice of Alloo and Nihkuko. Priit had never been the best about talking through his problems, but both of them assured him that closer connections could easily be built. The only questions was, how should that be done?
[ ] [North] Work the Northlands' hunters into the People's training program.
[ ] [North] Encourage the People to marry into the Northlands' who are desperately in need of more husbands.
[ ] [North] Increase trade, far past the point that it was historically to keep ties fresh.
[ ] [North] Put the People's shaman in with the Northlands as advisers or leaders to their new High Shaman.
[ ] [North] Try and take the Northlands into the People fully, adopting them through new Blood Ties.
[ ] [North] Keep the relationship simple, just continue subsidies for them.
The final message of the year came late at night, crossing the People's network of fire relays. The Peace Builders were embroiled by war, Aeva had signaled, and they called for aid.
Actions (Pick 2 and a Tribute Focus + 1 Admin, 1 Martial, and 1 Art)
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?) [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) [Supernal Symphony] [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) [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 ((Mountain Clans, Arrow Lake, Pearl Divers, Island Makers, Peace Builders, Enemies of the Peace Builders)) [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 [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 [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 [Supernal Symphony] [Admin] (6 Actions) - Prerequisites not met.
The Dam [Supernal Symphony] [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 World, A Shield [Supernal Symphony] [Flat Arrow Outlook] [Martial] [Admin] (12 Actions) - Prerequisites not met.
The World in Miniature [Supernal Symphony] [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 [Supernal Symphony] [Art] (8 Actions) - Prerequisites not met.
The Sisters Three [Supernal Symphony] [Admin] (6 Actions) - Prerequisites not met.
A Field of Gold [Supernal Symphony] [Admin] (6 Actions) - Prerequisites not met.
Extended Projects:
Archaic Charcoal Kilns (Crystal Lake, Hill Guard, The Fingers) [Supernal Symphony] [Admin] [Art] - The Ember-Eyes have discovered a secret of wood and fire. By carefully burning it, they can render it blackened and fragile. Somehow, this makes fire burn far hotter. How is it the elements dance when burning wood is not the same as wood cooked by fire?
Extend Fire Relay (Hill Guard) [Supernal Symphony] [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) [Supernal Symphony] [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) [Supernal Symphony] [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: ???
Automatic Actions: Trade (Arrow Lake, Northlands, Pearl Divers), Expand Aquaculture (Rice, Fishing), Prepare for Ordeal, Manage Hunting
Special Options for this turn: Raid (Mountain Clans), Trade (Mountain Clans), Raid (Enemies of Peace Builders)
Note: Failing to Raid the (Enemies of Peace Builders) will result in Stability loss and aggravate Priit's Warriors! Failing to take a [Supernal Symphony] action will cost 1 Stability! Can Double Down at cost of 1 Stability on an action by adding a sub tag to that specific action.
AN: Moratorium is in effect until vote is unlocked. Vote will be done by plan. Front page is not up-to-date (Stability and Legitimacy should be the same) and Leaderboard will be finished tomorrow.
The realization cast a pall over the entirety of the trade mission. When a group of raiders returned to Arrow Lake, surrounding an empty-eyed, emaciated group, Priit looked to the elders of the tribe. It was the way things were to be, they said at last. Most Ancient? Her title should instead be Most Cowardly. Arrow Lake was ruled by the elders, and they simply countenanced atrocity. They watched as men were rounded up and sent up to the mines while women and young mothers were pushed around by a group of madly grinning raiders. Warriors bearing stout canes came out to enforce discipline before distasteful things could occur in front of him, but he did not need much imagination what was happening just out of sight.
How could the tribe that he once fantisized about running away to have fallen so far?
If Priit had been a younger man, he knew how that conversation would've ended. Instead of a polite agreement, followed by an explanation of the rules of being a Debtor and the protections that should be involved, it would've ended with his blacksword swinging straight through the Most Ancient's body. He only had twenty companions with him, but Priit estimated they likely could've recovered their canoes and escaped into the night without too much trouble.
Their efforts among the Pearl Divers over the last generation had lead to the creation of two new slaterns, doubling the Pearl Diver's capacity to produce Salt.
[X] [Teach] Empower the Big Men. Given them the ability to formally direct the labour and resources of others.
[X] [North] Encourage the People to marry into the Northlands' who are desperately in need of more husbands.
IDK bout the rest to tired, need to work in the morning. 'Night
When it comes to matters of Trade, I'd listen to the Admin Hero instead of the Martial Hero. Other than that, I'm undecided on anything else. Definitely want to Raid and expand the Fire Relay though.
[ ] [Teach] Delegate authority to longhouse leaders, make them responsible for organizing and training labourers.
[ ] [North] Encourage the People to marry into the Northlands' who are desperately in need of more husbands.
[ ] [Salt] Yes
Giving households greater autonomy and oversight over thier families is far more efficient and most importantly, less prone to tyranny and corruption than handing it over big men or comitties, or making artisans a select cast.
And as shown before, familial ties and strength is a force of cohesion and security against the trepidations of the wider socio political spectrum, and strengthening it will also assist with incorporating any newcomers as blood bound or as blood Kin.
Now, they were driven out of their mountains, not by the feared Stonecrushers of the Island Makers, but by the inhumanly blessed militias of Arrow Lake. At first, Priit hadn't believed the reports. Several of warriors of Arrow Lake had even told him to his face, that they had secured crushing victory after crushing victory against the Mountain Clans. Arrow Lake's militias were pathetic; ad hoc groups chosen by lot and sent against the enemy. They were weaker, slower, smaller; worse in every way compared to the professional warriors of the other tribes; but they won. Despite every conceivable strain of logic, they claimed to have won an unending chain of victories longer than even his great-grandaunt had been alive.
It was impossible. It should have been impossible. When even Aeva, distant as she was at Crystal Lake, remarked on how Arrow Lake had changed, he stopped ignoring the signs. Sure, she had gone on about how remarkable it was that their production of lapis luzili skyrocketed, but that was just a symptom of fundamental change.
It was only when he took advantage of an opportunity to travel down there and visit some of his ostensible comrades from the War of the North that he saw the poison which had seeped into their souls. It was a simple routine mission of trade and good will like the People had always done, and he wasn't truly required, but he was curious. What he saw filled his belly with fire.
Dozens of men and women, even some children, dug in the shallow sandy soil of the mountains that surrounded Arrow Lake. Underneath the gaze of harsh-eyed taskmasters, they dug for the brilliant blue stones that were the tribe's main trade good. When one of the workers paused to stand up straight and stretch out aching muscles, the task masters were there, hardwood cane in hand and discipline in mind.
And they solved the problem of professional warriors by making their entire tribe professional warriors, with slaves to do the harvesting. It is a significant advantage, not as big as professional warriors against hunters, but it gives reserves and elites together.
The realization cast a pall over the entirety of the trade mission. When a group of raiders returned to Arrow Lake, surrounding an empty-eyed, emaciated group, Priit looked to the elders of the tribe. It was the way things were to be, they said at last. Most Ancient? Her title should instead be Most Cowardly. Arrow Lake was ruled by the elders, and they simply countenanced atrocity. They watched as men were rounded up and sent up to the mines while women and young mothers were pushed around by a group of madly grinning raiders. Warriors bearing stout canes came out to enforce discipline before distasteful things could occur in front of him, but he did not need much imagination what was happening just out of sight.
How could the tribe that he once fantisized about running away to have fallen so far?
His anger did not go unnoticed. The Most Ancient herself tried to justify what he was watching. "Do the Twin-Souled People not have Debtors?" she had asked.
If Priit had been a younger man, he knew how that conversation would've ended. Instead of a polite agreement, followed by an explanation of the rules of being a Debtor and the protections that should be involved, it would've ended with his blacksword swinging straight through the Most Ancient's body. He only had twenty companions with him, but Priit estimated they likely could've recovered their canoes and escaped into the night without too much trouble.
He wasn't that younger men, however. Leadership, responsibility; it had changed him. As a young man, he crushed skulls and tore out throats; reveled in it, like his hounds did. Hate and rage had been an old and comforting cloak, one he could easily pull around his shoulders when he was lost or scared. He couldn't do that now. Ten years of leadership had changed him. Transformed him. Wasn't that what the Ember-Eyes always went on about? Transformation through the Crucible? He snorted at that wisdom.
There was something that the Ember-Eyes were good for, he had to acknowledge. Their efforts among the Pearl Divers over the last generation had lead to the creation of two new slaterns, doubling the Pearl Diver's capacity to produce Salt. The new level of production was enough to fulfill the People's demands for the substance with some left over. That little bit left over was enough to be traded on to the People's other trade partners, which sparked a booming demand in them. It was enough that the Pearl Divers asked for the Ember-Eyes to stay with them longer and build more Salterns.
Aeva had objected somewhat, saying that salt was displacing the People's maple sugar as the food preserver of choice. If the People were to help the Pearl Divers, they should invest in further managing the forests around them to cultivate more maple trees and produce more sugar. The worry mostly went over Priit's head. The People were still going to be the intermediaries of the Pearl Diver's salt. If tribes failed to trade for their sugar, they would trade for salt. What was the issue?
The Ember-Eyes who spent time with Pearl Divers were, of course, in full favour of the proposal. It expanded their remit and brought them in contact with new tribes and forced them to innovate new techniques. There was event word of a discovery, far to the south of the Pearl Divers' easternmost settlement. It was more rumour than fact, but the Ember-Eyes reported a beach that was made entirely of Black Sand. Beyond that, there were rumours of a place where the sand was the colour of blood and sang when walked upon. It was a place obviously beyond the People's reach, but it had sparked a greedy lust in the hearts of many. They wanted it all.
Haematite! Iron ore! Admittedly in the lowest quality form, but also the easiest to experiment with form.
I would second the Ember-Eyes...well its too far to actually take.
Status: Magical Advisors
The People have begun providing advisers in their most esoteric arts to an external faction. Being in close contact with the People's spiritual leaders, these foreigners pick up many tidbits of lore, but they also pick up on other, more fundamental philosophies as well.
Effects: Each turn a faction is reviving Magical Advice, they may take one additional Art action with bonuses to technology gain in areas where their advisers excel. Additionally, they also have the chance to randomly take on one of their Adviser's Values each turn, with the chance growing each turn without a new value gained. The recipient may elect to choose any of the Adviser's Values and gain that automatically.
Social:
Retributive Justice: (Taken from the People)
Bring Me the Horizon: Whenever the Pearl Divers lose Stability, gain Econ and a free Explore action. For every 3 Stability lost, gain a new settlement. Vastly speeds cultural divergence. Honour:
The Other Quality: Conscript workers to fight in war! Gain bonus Martial for high Econ!
A Word, A Bond: Individual feel a deep desire to abide by their word. Increases internal stability. Need to honour external obligations if it wouldn't threaten the tribe. Spititual:
Fruitful Family: All members of the tribe desire to have large families, increasing Econ and expansion speed. Increased nepotism.
Whole Hearted: The tribe believes that all hearts should be whole. All fulfilled and in accord. Increased social unity, increased united effort, discordance is shunned.
-Bring Me the Horizon - Aka "explode me". This will expand until technological limits, then shatter into subsidiary cultures. The trait is self-deselecting.
-The Other Quality - Great in the Iron Age. Counterproductive in the Bronze
-A Word, A Bond - A very strong value, I think its one that we want for stability purpose.
-Fruitful Family - Coupled to Bring Me the Horizon, it'd spread their genotype far and wide, which is very good for success in times of plenty, but also forces them to be viciously expansionist as they go.
-Whole Hearted - Communalism. Powerful value overall, but requires Stability raising values to support it. It couples with Bring Me the Horizon to accelerate any explosions they encounter.
That was, of course, if the People solved their little problem. After Aeva's refinement of the Trials of Adulthood, clarifying that Kaspar-In-Flesh had meant merely that problems had started to crop up. By delegating authority from the Big Man towards a looser confederation of skilled teachers had left many in confusion. In order to be recognized, apprentice learners had to have the majority of members of their craft acknowledge them as a peer. That in turn often meant working with, learning from, and showing off to countless other craftsmen. That quickly lead to a proliferation of skill amongst all of the People's skilled workers.
While obviously a good thing that was already starting to pay dividends, there was one complication: the People were quickly becoming too skilled. There was so many techniques; things from pottery that could be applied to masonry, how the Ember-Eyes and woodcutters could better support each other, or how fishermen could boost the crops of rice growers; that interlaced. The downside was that there was suddenly a boom of interrelated information that had to be remembered. Many people who once thought themselves masters had ended up scrambling for years.
Those who were just learning, however, were completely lost. It took significantly longer to understand all of the connections, the different techniques, and how they could be best applied. It often took too much time. Outside of those with very large families or friend networks willing to support them, they could not spend enough time away from finding food in order to learn. The problems were severe enough that they had nearly caused a food short fall and starvation one year. Too many people were focused on learning, refining their skills, taking in Debts and planning to pay them off later with the fruits of their labours.
The chaotic system also often produced the wrong type of specialist. There were far too many stonecutters and potters while lumberjacks and fishermen were too rare. It was a fluke, chance circumstance, but one that would need to be accounted for in the future.
Here our elitism takes a bite. Everyone wants to be the very best, so trades where you CAN'T be Best at drop dramatically in popularity.
Our art and crafts are going to become trending trade goods more easily though.
How should the People reform their teaching practices?
[ ] [Teach] Empower the Big Men. Given them the ability to formally direct the labour and resources of others.
Early Kingdom. Centralize to a proto-palace economy so that they can avoid something like this doesn't happen by chance. Greatly strengthens nepotism in exchange.
[ ] [Teach] Develop a group whose responsibility it is to ensure enough specialists are trained without wasting food.
Develop formal teachers. This is a good idea down the road, but I don't think we're economically ready for this yet, teachers are horribly expensive in food production as people who don't produce anything at all, only teach.
Probably want to wait for bronze age to make this work out.
[ ] [Teach] Delegate authority to longhouse leaders, make them responsible for organizing and training labourers.
Increase hierarchy and lower centralization, which gives local nodes more fine control of management. Normally a good idea. But in the current mood it's going to transition such that longhouses will try to monopolize certain trades within them, allowing them to trade their crafts exclusively rather than produce food.
See the near starvation incident for hazards.
[ ] [Teach] Have teachers take apprentices by finding promising children, like the Holy Orders do.
Reinforce elitism and nepotism, the teachers pick the best potential artisans out of the common population, to be taught the best. This is efficient in food utilization, though as these skills are NOT physically obvious the teachers will just pick apprentices based on politics and personal inclinations.
Effective...but remember this is basically saying that skilled artisans can choose who to gain voting rights, disenfranchising the rest.
[ ] [Teach] Discourage taking Debt for education so that another food bust will not sneak up on the People.
Doesn't solve the problem, just pushes it around.
[ ] [Teach] Limit the amount of skill needed to be an adult, numerous dilettante can serve just as well as a specialist.
Weakens elitism, but ensures higher voting rights(ALL the others say that only the best of the best in their trades earn the right to be an adult). This is the 'fairest' one here, and practically speaking, we don't need every mason or potter to be perfect. For most things, they just need to be good enough.
[ ] [Teach] Do nothing yet.
Want things to go boom?
[ ] [North] Work the Northlands' hunters into the People's training program.
Merge their hunters with our warriors, ensuring that we can't raise arms against each other in the future, with Blood Brothers on both sides.
[ ] [North] Encourage the People to marry into the Northlands' who are desperately in need of more husbands.
Brings us the closest in the short term, but in the long run the effects will fade as the men moving north will assimilate into their culture.
[ ] [North] Increase trade, far past the point that it was historically to keep ties fresh.
Trade ties makes us closer, but fundamentally the North don't HAVE much to trade other than ivory and furs, which they have limited maximum outputs of.
Trade balance will stress things down the line.
[ ] [North] Put the People's shaman in with the Northlands as advisers or leaders to their new High Shaman.
Culturally convert them. We have a strong advantage here in having a temple on a natural wonder, so the future generations are likely to continue to stay impressed at least through the Bronze Age.
[ ] [North] Try and take the Northlands into the People fully, adopting them through new Blood Ties.
This is...difficult. The Northlands are far and wide, forging such ties would be potent, but we'd be unable to support them and vice versa should things come to crisis.
[ ] [North] Keep the relationship simple, just continue subsidies for them.
Status quo.
Anyway my proposed vote:
[ ] Plan Raising Spirits
-[ ] [Salt] Yes
-[ ] [Teach] Have teachers take apprentices by finding promising children, like the Holy Orders do.
-[ ] [North] Put the People's shaman in with the Northlands as advisers or leaders to their new High Shaman.
-[ ] [Action] Expand Agriculture (Quinoa)
-[ ] [Action] Expand Hunting (Herd Animals)
-[ ] [Admin] Manage Forests (Sugar)
-[ ] [Martial] Raid (Enemies of Peace Builders)
-[ ] [Art] Raise Temple (Crystal Lake)
-[ ] [Tribute Focus] Spirits
Reasoning breakdown
-[ ] [Salt] Yes
We should pick Yes unless we can't afford to increase Sugar production.
-[ ] [Teach] Limit the amount of skill needed to be an adult, numerous dilettante can serve just as well as a specialist.
This is the only option up there which doesn't have us remove the ability to vote or speak at council for 30% of our population because they can't become a master craftsman to be recognized as an adult.
-[ ] [Teach] Have teachers take apprentices by finding promising children, like the Holy Orders do.
On second thoughts, the apprenticeship system is still around in the Iron Age because it works. It lets teachers train high quality artisans while they continue to be productive(and indeed, increase productivity, as the apprentices will be able to take over the lower skill portions of the process as they mature, generating slave-like 'free' productivity paid in skills and basic upkeep.
-[ ] [North] Put the People's shaman in with the Northlands as advisers or leaders to their new High Shaman.
This leverages our Temple and Holy Site advantage to culturally tie them to us. As a nomadic people, shaman advisors and their shamans making a pilgrimage to our holy places is a lasting and potent influence.
Need food diversity. Progress to locking in Quinoa is a good start.
It also helps pay for the economically expensive Temple raising.
Herd Animals over the other option to take advantage of Northlands skills with herding. See if we can domesticate a couple of other critters.
-[ ] [Admin] Manage Forests (Sugar)
Make sugar to keep up with the Pearl Divers salt. Probably want to lock this in as well, our sugar production hadn't been expanded in generations.
-[ ] [Martial] Raid (Enemies of Peace Builders)
Mandatory.
-[ ] [Art] Raise Temple (Crystal Lake)
We need this or Raise Hill to preserve Aeva's Admin tech.
But Raise Temple also ups Stability and Legitimacy, which we want.
-[ ] [Tribute Focus] Spirits
I want our tribute to progress on Temple, but they might overflow Temple if we take Megaproject(and then go build the wrong thing). Thus, Spirits, where overflow goes to Festivals and Ordeals to boost Stability.
I am thinking of the following actions
Admin:
Extend Fire Relay (Hill Guard) [Supernal Symphony] [Admin] (1 Action)
One action to get our communication network completed
As art action:
Archaic Charcoal Kilns (Crystal Lake, Hill Guard, The Fingers) [Supernal Symphony] [Admin] [Art]
Better kilns lead to stronger pottery and are needed to work metal later.
how many actions are needed for this?
martial:
Raid ((Enemies of the Peace Builders)) [Flat Arrow Outlook] [Retributive Justice] [Martial]
needed to prevent a stability drop
Found Settlement (includes: Brick Wall, Shrine, Sugar Shack) [Supernal Symphony] [Admin]: Wide River
We are planning to integrate the northlands we should create a settlement in the place between us and them(and the Pearl Divers)
Manage Forests (Sugar)
I want a new food action and i think getting more sugar
It was only when he took advantage of an opportunity to travel down there and visit some of his ostensible comrades from the War of the North that he saw the poison which had seeped into their souls. It was a simple routine mission of trade and good will like the People had always done, and he wasn't truly required, but he was curious. What he saw filled his belly with fire.
Dozens of men and women, even some children, dug in the shallow sandy soil of the mountains that surrounded Arrow Lake. Underneath the gaze of harsh-eyed taskmasters, they dug for the brilliant blue stones that were the tribe's main trade good. When one of the workers paused to stand up straight and stretch out aching muscles, the task masters were there, hardwood cane in hand and discipline in mind.
The workers were on the ground again soon after, rooting through the soil again with their digging-stick. Women and children too, on the rare occasions they stopped. A closer look showed numerous molted bruises fading from blue to green and yellow-brown. None of them were free of injury.
Priit felt his grip on the blacksword at his waist tighten enough that the ash haft let out a groaning crack.
The realization cast a pall over the entirety of the trade mission. When a group of raiders returned to Arrow Lake, surrounding an empty-eyed, emaciated group, Priit looked to the elders of the tribe. It was the way things were to be, they said at last. Most Ancient? Her title should instead be Most Cowardly. Arrow Lake was ruled by the elders, and they simply countenanced atrocity. They watched as men were rounded up and sent up to the mines while women and young mothers were pushed around by a group of madly grinning raiders. Warriors bearing stout canes came out to enforce discipline before distasteful things could occur in front of him, but he did not need much imagination what was happening just out of sight.
How could the tribe that he once fantisized about running away to have fallen so far?
His anger did not go unnoticed. The Most Ancient herself tried to justify what he was watching. "Do the Twin-Souled People not have Debtors?" she had asked.
Yeah, this is going to be a problem for us sooner or later. Did the Arrow Lake Tribe develop slavery just recently or have they always had it?
Regardless I don't think it's the right time for us to confront them on it as we already have enough problems as it is. Hopefully their military continues to only be lucky militia so that we can potentially deal with them later another route if need be as I don't know if we have other avenues aside from cutting off trade.
There was something that the Ember-Eyes were good for, he had to acknowledge. Their efforts among the Pearl Divers over the last generation had lead to the creation of two new slaterns, doubling the Pearl Diver's capacity to produce Salt. The new level of production was enough to fulfill the People's demands for the substance with some left over. That little bit left over was enough to be traded on to the People's other trade partners, which sparked a booming demand in them. It was enough that the Pearl Divers asked for the Ember-Eyes to stay with them longer and build more Salterns.
Aeva had objected somewhat, saying that salt was displacing the People's maple sugar as the food preserver of choice. If the People were to help the Pearl Divers, they should invest in further managing the forests around them to cultivate more maple trees and produce more sugar. The worry mostly went over Priit's head. The People were still going to be the intermediaries of the Pearl Diver's salt. If tribes failed to trade for their sugar, they would trade for salt. What was the issue?
I think both Aeva and Priit are right here. Salt is something we really need, and as a trade good having more of it to trade with our neighbors will obviously give us leverage. At the same time, we really need to make sure we don't lose our maple sugar/syrup production knowledge, and we really should've locked in maple production a long time ago so I see no problem with doing both.
The Ember-Eyes who spent time with Pearl Divers were, of course, in full favour of the proposal. It expanded their remit and brought them in contact with new tribes and forced them to innovate new techniques. There was event word of a discovery, far to the south of the Pearl Divers' easternmost settlement. It was more rumour than fact, but the Ember-Eyes reported a beach that was made entirely of Black Sand. Beyond that, there were rumours of a place where the sand was the colour of blood and sang when walked upon. It was a place obviously beyond the People's reach, but it had sparked a greedy lust in the hearts of many. They wanted it all.
The People have begun providing advisers in their most esoteric arts to an external faction. Being in close contact with the People's spiritual leaders, these foreigners pick up many tidbits of lore, but they also pick up on other, more fundamental philosophies as well.
Effects: Each turn a faction is reviving Magical Advice, they may take one additional Art action with bonuses to technology gain in areas where their advisers excel. Additionally, they also have the chance to randomly take on one of their Adviser's Values each turn, with the chance growing each turn without a new value gained. The recipient may elect to choose any of the Adviser's Values and gain that automatically.
Essentially, this seems like a way for us to assimilate another civilization through diplomacy and cultural exchange. So long as we provide them magical advisors, there's a chance that over time their values will switch over to ours enough that we could assimilate them and merge with them if we wanted to. Though we're a long ways away from that.
Social:
Retributive Justice: (Taken from the People)
Bring Me the Horizon: Whenever the Pearl Divers lose Stability, gain Econ and a free Explore action. For every 3 Stability lost, gain a new settlement. Vastly speeds cultural divergence. Honour:
The Other Quality: Conscript workers to fight in war! Gain bonus Martial for high Econ!
A Word, A Bond: Individual feel a deep desire to abide by their word. Increases internal stability. Need to honour external obligations if it wouldn't threaten the tribe. Spititual:
Fruitful Family: All members of the tribe desire to have large families, increasing Econ and expansion speed. Increased nepotism.
Whole Hearted: The tribe believes that all hearts should be whole. All fulfilled and in accord. Increased social unity, increased united effort, discordance is shunned.
Bring Me the Horizon seems like a very powerful trait as it seems to mitigate stability loss through splintering rather than outright collapse. I'm not sure if that's totally a good thing or bad thing.
The Other Quality is probably something that could only work for them as they seem to be an economically focused civilization, though I am guessing we would still crush them as is.
A Word, A bond seems to be a great way to ensure stability.
Fruitful Family obviously increases their population growth and expansion.
While Hearted. Seems to be a very communal trait geared towards social stability. I'm not entirely sure how well that work for us considering how violent and divisive we are.
That was, of course, if the People solved their little problem. After Aeva's refinement of the Trials of Adulthood, clarifying that Kaspar-In-Flesh had meant merely that problems had started to crop up. By delegating authority from the Big Man towards a looser confederation of skilled teachers had left many in confusion. In order to be recognized, apprentice learners had to have the majority of members of their craft acknowledge them as a peer. That in turn often meant working with, learning from, and showing off to countless other craftsmen. That quickly lead to a proliferation of skill amongst all of the People's skilled workers.
I take it that her argument didn't totally sway Priit as we still have Priit's Warriors as a faction?
So from the way this is currently worded only the majority of their peers need to recognize them as a peer in their chosen craft, but to be a peer does that mean a master in your craft?
While obviously a good thing that was already starting to pay dividends, there was one complication: the People were quickly becoming too skilled. There was so many techniques; things from pottery that could be applied to masonry, how the Ember-Eyes and woodcutters could better support each other, or how fishermen could boost the crops of rice growers; that interlaced. The downside was that there was suddenly a boom of interrelated information that had to be remembered. Many people who once thought themselves masters had ended up scrambling for years.
Those who were just learning, however, were completely lost. It took significantly longer to understand all of the connections, the different techniques, and how they could be best applied. It often took too much time. Outside of those with very large families or friend networks willing to support them, they could not spend enough time away from finding food in order to learn. The problems were severe enough that they had nearly caused a food short fall and starvation one year. Too many people were focused on learning, refining their skills, taking in Debts and planning to pay them off later with the fruits of their labours.
The chaotic system also often produced the wrong type of specialist. There were far too many stonecutters and potters while lumberjacks and fishermen were too rare. It was a fluke, chance circumstance, but one that would need to be accounted for in the future.
What caused people to trend towards the wrong type of careers/specialists as most of these don't seem to be food producers directly, so do they simply barter or are they given a stipend or something?
Aeva had pushed the Big Men to crack down after that. Based on what she estimated, the People were simply not capable of allowing people to pursue learning indiscriminately. The chaos simply left the People too vulnerable to unexpected disruptions; all it would take is for one unexpected disruption or an excess of Debt for the People to suddenly find themselves without food. Someone people needed to collect food in order to ensure that everyone was feed. They needed potters and woodcuters, stonecutters and traders just as much, but only a few. Reform would be needed.
Despite being one of the Fangs, he felt a connection to the underlying thoughts behind the Ember-Eyes. Contemplating the mysteries that they studded, even if he didn't understand the magic behind it, calmed him. Not as much as attending to the needs of his pack, or working with his Blood Brothers, but it the dark moments of the night where he had only his thoughts, it could help.
Still, Alloo prevailed on him, and he could not deny her desire to protect family. He had expected that working with the Northlands and integrating them into the People would be nigh impossible. There was bad blood on both sides and a generation of war. Warriors who had been stalked for hours, even days, through the thick underbrush of the northern lands. People who had been wounded; whose family and friends were hunted down, isolated and murdered; who had declared feuds that could only be washed out with blood.
Everything... went well. At first, the tension was thick enough that it could've been cut with a knife, but Alloo came through. A few whispered words were enough to gather a collection of her family, friends, and their Blood Brothers. By some miracle, they were an enormous faction; the largest that was left in the Northlands tribe. They had been unable to take the field against the People and Alloo once they knew that the People held her. They had to withstand ridicule and calls of cowardice, but they preserved. Someone needed to follow the herds and hunt game in order to feed the tribe. It was as valid a way of supporting the war and the calls of cowardice quickly trailed off after they dragged back the carcasses of numerous mammoth and orkers.
When Alloo returned with food donated by the People, enough so that no elders would be forced to starve and no children would be lost to hunger, she became akin to a goddess. The lack of food wouldn't have annihilated the Northlandres, but it would've reduced their numbers to the smallest they had ever been.
Alloo was known and respected amongst the People. Not to the degree of Priit, or even Aeva, but she was perhaps Priit's most well known subordinate. Someone he respected, which caused others to respect her in turn. When Priit backed her, many of the People were at least willing to give the Northlanders a chance to talk. After all, with the war now over, had Justice not been served?
Once the knives were set down and the axes buried, it suddenly turned out that the People and the Northlands had a lot in common! Their appreciation of Justice, demands of Excellence, appreciation of the natural world, and views on violence were largely in accord. It became immediately obvious that the People and the Northlanders agreed at least as much as they disagreed!
That spark of friendship was then fanned into a flame by the advice of Alloo and Nihkuko. Priit had never been the best about talking through his problems, but both of them assured him that closer connections could easily be built. The only questions was, how should that be done?
Yes, this will both allow us to increase our share of the salt trade for influencing our neighbors as well as allowing our magical advisors to continue advising them so that we can bring them peacefully into our sphere.
[ ] [Teach] Empower the Big Men. Given them the ability to formally direct the labour and resources of others.
[ ] [Teach] Develop a group whose responsibility it is to ensure enough specialists are trained without wasting food.
[ ] [Teach] Delegate authority to longhouse leaders, make them responsible for organizing and training labourers.
[ ] [Teach] Have teachers take apprentices by finding promising children, like the Holy Orders do.
[ ] [Teach] Discourage taking Debt for education so that another food bust will not sneak up on the People.
[ ] [Teach] Limit the amount of skill needed to be an adult, numerous dilettante can serve just as well as a specialist.
[ ] [Teach] Do nothing yet.
The first option is tempting for me as it seems like one that will nudge us enough towards centralization that we can finally shift our form of government for a more central one. Though this option is risky in that we would probably need a very good administrator to manage this.
The second option seems good in theory, but in practice I don't think it's viable as while teachers are nice I don't our current economy can support them, especially how we can barely support ourselves right now.
The third option seems like it would benefit certain families and longhouses more than others as obviously some will be more well off than the rest, and nepotism would most likely take root with this one.
The fourth option is interesting. It will certainly keep our elitism high but at the downside of bottlenecking who can become citizens and who cannot. Then again, considering how well the holy orders work I don't think this option is necessarily a bad idea.
The fifth option seems too half-hearted and unlikely to work.
The sixth option will likely resolve the issue of newer trainees being swamped and having to accrue too much debt to become a specialist or acknowledged as a peer. But at the same time it will likely deal a significant blow to our elitism value which has served us well so far, and I'd be loathe to lose it.
Doing nothing would be idiotic as it will just let the issue fester.
Keep in mind though that we have these options available this turn as per QM. I personally think that the apprenticeship is likely the fourth option while the mystery cult is probably the second option.
[ ] [North] Work the Northlands' hunters into the People's training program.
[ ] [North] Encourage the People to marry into the Northlands' who are desperately in need of more husbands.
[ ] [North] Increase trade, far past the point that it was historically to keep ties fresh.
[ ] [North] Put the People's shaman in with the Northlands as advisers or leaders to their new High Shaman.
[ ] [North] Try and take the Northlands into the People fully, adopting them through new Blood Ties.
[ ] [North] Keep the relationship simple, just continue subsidies for them.
The first option seems like a good way of controlling the martial growth of the Northlanders while at the same time, potentially giving us insight into their cavalry if we train together.
The second option would have our men move north to join the Northlands and leave the People. I don't think we should do that as we have enough manpower problems as is and we're about to start a way. While good short term benefit who knows how long it would last.
The third option seems...impractical. As even before we traded with them, they never really had much to trade with us last time. Having such a huge trade deficit will likely hurt and strain our relations down the road.
The fourth option seems interesting as it would allow us to influence them slowly over time through our already closer culture. Considering how we would be advising them in issues such as this, this seems to be the option that would slowly assimilate them into us in the long run. Hopefully we get domesticated mammoths from them then.
The fifth option seems to be a little too hasty right now. I don't think we have the stability to take them directly into us. Nor am I sure how we would incorporate them considering they're usually so mobile and spread out.
The last option is unlikely do anything specific. As it's just keeping the same old system, that may not garner as much will for us over time.
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?) [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) [Supernal Symphony] [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) [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 ((Mountain Clans, Arrow Lake, Pearl Divers, Island Makers, Peace Builders, Enemies of the Peace Builders)) [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 [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 [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 [Supernal Symphony] [Admin] (6 Actions) - Prerequisites not met.
The Dam [Supernal Symphony] [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 World, A Shield [Supernal Symphony] [Flat Arrow Outlook] [Martial] [Admin] (12 Actions) - Prerequisites not met.
The World in Miniature [Supernal Symphony] [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 [Supernal Symphony] [Art] (8 Actions) - Prerequisites not met.
The Sisters Three [Supernal Symphony] [Admin] (6 Actions) - Prerequisites not met.
A Field of Gold [Supernal Symphony] [Admin] (6 Actions) - Prerequisites not met.
Extended Projects:
Archaic Charcoal Kilns (Crystal Lake, Hill Guard, The Fingers) [Supernal Symphony] [Admin] [Art] - The Ember-Eyes have discovered a secret of wood and fire. By carefully burning it, they can render it blackened and fragile. Somehow, this makes fire burn far hotter. How is it the elements dance when burning wood is not the same as wood cooked by fire?
Extend Fire Relay (Hill Guard) [Supernal Symphony] [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) [Supernal Symphony] [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) [Supernal Symphony] [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.
AN: Moratorium is in effect until vote is unlocked. Vote will be done by plan. Front page is not up-to-date (Stability and Legitimacy should be the same) and Leaderboard will be finished tomorrow.
The interesting new options here on display are the archaic charcoal kilns, the Sisters Three and A Field of Gold megaprojects. The only one project that seems tempting are teh charcoal kilns. How many actions does it take to make the kilns?
As for my Plan, here it is:
[ ] Plan Go Big
-[ ] [Salt] Yes
-[ ] [Teach] Empower the Big Men. Given them the ability to formally direct the labour and resources of others.
-[ ] [North] Put the People's shaman in with the Northlands as advisers or leaders to their new High Shaman.
-[ ] [Action] Expand Agriculture (Quinoa)
-[ ] [Action] Expand Hunting (Orkers)
-[ ] [Admin] Manage Forests (Sugar)
-[ ] [Martial] Raid (Enemies of Peace Builders)
-[ ] [Art] Raise Temple (Crystal Lake)
-[ ] [Tribute Focus] Spirits
Here's my reasoning for each of my options.
Salt was chosen for the reasons I said above, a trade good and an influence on another tribe.
I think centralizing will do us much better, at least while we still have Aeva to be an admin hero and organize things, as we seem to have a tall build that favors becoming more centralized. While we won't have the palace economy yet, it's a step in the right direction.
The Shaman seem the best bet as I said in peacefully integrating the Northlanders over time so long as nothing springs up.
I picked Quinoa as we really need a staple crop to rely on soon for food and so that our population can boom.
Considering how much the difficulty has gone down for hunting orkers I think we should try this so that we can work our way up to getting Orker Cavalry.
Like I said above if we take salt we also need to take sugar to balance things out.
The raid is also mandatory as we need the stability, plus it's the right thing to do.
Raising a Temple was chosen as right now we have a legitimacy and stability problem, both of which can be rectified through building the temple which will also help meet the Supernal Symphony requirement.
Finally, in order to finish the temple soon, spirits was chosen as the tribute focus.
Archaic Charcoal Kilns (Crystal Lake, Hill Guard, The Fingers) [Supernal Symphony] [Admin] [Art] - The Ember-Eyes have discovered a secret of wood and fire. By carefully burning it, they can render it blackened and fragile. Somehow, this makes fire burn far hotter. How is it the elements dance when burning wood is not the same as wood cooked by fire?
This is the lead into smelting. Charcoal fires are hot enough to smelt copper and lead, WHILE also using wood far more efficiently for fuel, reducing the labor cycle. We want to max this out soon if we can.
Yeah, this is going to be a problem for us sooner or later. Did the Arrow Lake Tribe develop slavery just recently or have they always had it?
Regardless I don't think it's the right time for us to confront them on it as we already have enough problems as it is. Hopefully their military continues to only be lucky militia so that we can potentially deal with them later another route if need be as I don't know if we have other avenues aside from cutting off trade.
They had it like basically every tribe in the area did. Everyone had Debtors, their innovation was simply that "you know you don't really need to give them so many rights".
Also their military is going to become large numbers of professional warriors soon. A large slave caste allows you to support larger numbers of professional warriors.
Bring Me the Horizon seems like a very powerful trait as it seems to mitigate stability loss through splintering rather than outright collapse. I'm not sure if that's totally a good thing or bad thing.
Depends on your goals, but a bad thing for SV's playstyle because it mitigates immediate stability loss by aggravating the long term causes of stability loss. Any civilizaton with this is liable to simply expand until they start waging war on themselves.
While Hearted. Seems to be a very communal trait geared towards social stability. I'm not entirely sure how well that work for us considering how violent and divisive we are.
Oh it actually works very well.
It simply couples with Flat Arrow Outlook to make it not only acceptable but encouraged to beat dissidents into cooperation. Makes for very strong stability baselines at the cost of brittleness.
And also forces claygrabs as population pressure rises and you're forced to either see standards of living drop, class gaps widen, plague risks go up or go grab new clay.
I take it that her argument didn't totally sway Priit as we still have Priit's Warriors as a faction?
So from the way this is currently worded only the majority of their peers need to recognize them as a peer in their chosen craft, but to be a peer does that mean a master in your craft?
Our current Trials meshed with I Want To Be The Very Best means we only count masters of a craft as adults.
This means that of the Teaching options the franchise rights go as below:
[ ] [Teach] Empower the Big Men. Given them the ability to formally direct the labour and resources of others.
Big Men can choose who are allowed to train to become adults and thus voters.
[ ] [Teach] Develop a group whose responsibility it is to ensure enough specialists are trained without wasting food.
This could be Mystery Cults? If it works. Not sure if we have enough food surplus.
[ ] [Teach] Delegate authority to longhouse leaders, make them responsible for organizing and training labourers.
Longhouse leaders(i.e. the grandfather/grandmother) gets to choose who in their family gets training to be elites with voting rights and who'd stay as children.
[ ] [Teach] Have teachers take apprentices by finding promising children, like the Holy Orders do.
Apprenticeships retain relatively broad franchise access(the teacher ultimately gets to pick after all), but pushes the age of maturity further back on average.
This is a good pick actually.
Decent balance between social franchise and specialist development. SOMEBODY has to get fucked if you want an urban society with dedicated intellectuals. As long as the fucking isn't too concentrated in people who can fight back, society functions on.
And women continue to be able to vote after childbirth, so every family should still keep one vote, while family of elites get 3-4 votes.
Changing my recommended vote after a rethink
[ ] [Teach] Discourage taking Debt for education so that another food bust will not sneak up on the People.
<Cue continued crisis>
[ ] [Teach] Limit the amount of skill needed to be an adult, numerous dilettante can serve just as well as a specialist.
This maintains present levels of broad voting rights and prevents trade skills from becoming isolated. People will choose to be the very best if they want a shot at Big Man, but for adults(and voting rights) they only need to be able to achieve self sufficiency through their trade.
Because they don't require the same level of skill development(basically farmers have a skill scale of 0-2 in productivity while warriors and artisans have a skill scale of 0-5), they are seen as second class citizens by our elite.
Our Elitism trait says that everyone wants to be the very best, but the simple fact is there isn't enough resources for everyone to be the very best.
What caused people to trend towards the wrong type of careers/specialists as most of these don't seem to be food producers directly, so do they simply barter or are they given a stipend or something?
We sorted this out earlier. Our warriors, shamans and artisans are given a stipend by the tribe for the value of their services and their cost of living.
Example:
A warrior is 'paid' some 4-8 persons worth of food, of which 2-3 units go to supporting their physique, 1 unit to their dogs, 1 unit to their dependents, 2-3 units to buying the services of artisans to make armor and weapons.
A farmer would make a lot more food, but ultimately only keeps 2-3 units of food for themselves and their dependents, with the rest going to the tribe to pay for their protection and tools.
Tribe has 10 units of food produced by 5 people. 3 people go on training and claim debt until they finish training. Tribe now has 4 units of food for 5 people.
It doesn't matter if the 3 people will generate 9 units of food when they're done, we'd lack the food right now.
The third option seems like it would benefit certain families and longhouses more than others as obviously some will be more well off than the rest, and nepotism would most likely take root with this one.
Less a problem with that and more that we'd have made it optimal for longhouses to treat their less popular members like Arrow Lake Debtors so they can train extra specialists.
The sixth option will likely resolve the issue of newer trainees being swamped and having to accrue too much debt to become a specialist or acknowledged as a peer. But at the same time it will likely deal a significant blow to our elitism value which has served us well so far, and I'd be loathe to lose it.
Not that big a blow actually, if you think about it. The elites already have inherent power due to higher producitivity. They're the only ones who have a shot at Big Man or Slate positions.
Its a choice between Boost Elitism A Lot and Boost Elitism A Little.
Oh heck no, we don't want one this soon. Let our neighbors boil up into chaos.
The win condition for the neolithic is to be the first culture to break through into significant bronze production. Until then our Build Wide neighbors will be exploding into chaos on a regular basis.
This is the lead into smelting. Charcoal fires are hot enough to smelt copper and lead, WHILE also using wood far more efficiently for fuel, reducing the labor cycle. We want to max this out soon if we can.
I *think* this might be a prereq of building hills on all three settlements?
This should be an agriculture based prereq. Wheat or corn fields fit the description and a large scale field would fit this.
They had it like basically every tribe in the area did. Everyone had Debtors, their innovation was simply that "you know you don't really need to give them so many rights".
Also their military is going to become large numbers of professional warriors soon. A large slave caste allows you to support larger numbers of professional warriors.
Eventually. But we'd need to assimilate the Pearl Divers first.
Depends on your goals, but a bad thing for SV's playstyle because it mitigates immediate stability loss by aggravating the long term causes of stability loss. Any civilizaton with this is liable to simply expand until they start waging war on themselves.
Oh it actually works very well.
It simply couples with Flat Arrow Outlook to make it not only acceptable but encouraged to beat dissidents into cooperation. Makes for very strong stability baselines at the cost of brittleness.
And also forces claygrabs as population pressure rises and you're forced to either see standards of living drop, class gaps widen, plague risks go up or go grab new clay.
Our current Trials meshed with I Want To Be The Very Best means we only count masters of a craft as adults.
This means that of the Teaching options the franchise rights go as below:
[ ] [Teach] Empower the Big Men. Given them the ability to formally direct the labour and resources of others.
Big Men can choose who are allowed to train to become adults and thus voters.
[ ] [Teach] Develop a group whose responsibility it is to ensure enough specialists are trained without wasting food.
This could be Mystery Cults? If it works. Not sure if we have enough food surplus.
[ ] [Teach] Delegate authority to longhouse leaders, make them responsible for organizing and training labourers.
Longhouse leaders(i.e. the grandfather/grandmother) gets to choose who in their family gets training to be elites with voting rights and who'd stay as children.
[ ] [Teach] Have teachers take apprentices by finding promising children, like the Holy Orders do.
Apprenticeships retain relatively broad franchise access(the teacher ultimately gets to pick after all), but pushes the age of maturity further back on average.
This is a good pick actually.
Decent balance between social franchise and specialist development. SOMEBODY has to get fucked if you want an urban society with dedicated intellectuals. As long as the fucking isn't too concentrated in people who can fight back, society functions on.
And women continue to be able to vote after childbirth, so every family should still keep one vote, while family of elites get 3-4 votes.
Changing my recommended vote after a rethink
[ ] [Teach] Discourage taking Debt for education so that another food bust will not sneak up on the People.
<Cue continued crisis>
[ ] [Teach] Limit the amount of skill needed to be an adult, numerous dilettante can serve just as well as a specialist.
This maintains present levels of broad voting rights and prevents trade skills from becoming isolated. People will choose to be the very best if they want a shot at Big Man, but for adults(and voting rights) they only need to be able to achieve self sufficiency through their trade.
Because they don't require the same level of skill development(basically farmers have a skill scale of 0-2 in productivity while warriors and artisans have a skill scale of 0-5), they are seen as second class citizens by our elite.
Our Elitism trait says that everyone wants to be the very best, but the simple fact is there isn't enough resources for everyone to be the very best.
We sorted this out earlier. Our warriors, shamans and artisans are given a stipend by the tribe for the value of their services and their cost of living.
Example:
A warrior is 'paid' some 4-8 persons worth of food, of which 2-3 units go to supporting their physique, 1 unit to their dogs, 1 unit to their dependents, 2-3 units to buying the services of artisans to make armor and weapons.
A farmer would make a lot more food, but ultimately only keeps 2-3 units of food for themselves and their dependents, with the rest going to the tribe to pay for their protection and tools.
Tribe has 10 units of food produced by 5 people. 3 people go on training and claim debt until they finish training. Tribe now has 4 units of food for 5 people.
It doesn't matter if the 3 people will generate 9 units of food when they're done, we'd lack the food right now.
Less a problem with that and more that we'd have made it optimal for longhouses to treat their less popular members like Arrow Lake Debtors so they can train extra specialists.
Not that big a blow actually, if you think about it. The elites already have inherent power due to higher producitivity. They're the only ones who have a shot at Big Man or Slate positions.
Its a choice between Boost Elitism A Lot and Boost Elitism A Little.
Oh heck no, we don't want one this soon. Let our neighbors boil up into chaos.
The win condition for the neolithic is to be the first culture to break through into significant bronze production. Until then our Build Wide neighbors will be exploding into chaos on a regular basis.
So I'm new on this thread, but i was wondering, do Orkers have a real world counterpart? Cause in the first few chapters i thought they where wild boars, but than i realized we were in canada, so what exactly are they? Or are they an AU mega fauna?
I'm not seeing a Train Warriors action on the proposed plan listings, and we need one badly. Our military is still rated "greatly reduced", our flavor text has us relying on youths with our Martial hero wishing they were men, and we have mandatory Raid actions coming up- which will cause further casualties. It is vitally important that we restore our military and that means taking the train action.
Also, if we want to retain our martial-hero-developed training methods and move our currently high levels of skill into being an institution, pushing Train Warriors until it locks as a tradition would be a wise play. There's even a chance it'll lock early since we did have training flavor text during the past war and our current lockables are ??? for whatever reason.
Actually, we should probably try to figure out what's on the road to a lock and push for those, if we can.
I'm not seeing a Train Warriors action on the proposed plan listings, and we need one badly. Our military is still rated "greatly reduced", our flavor text has us relying on youths with our Martial hero wishing they were men, and we have mandatory Raid actions coming up- which will cause further casualties. It is vitally important that we restore our military and that means taking the train action.
Also, if we want to retain our martial-hero-developed training methods and move our currently high levels of skill into being an institution, pushing Train Warriors until it locks as a tradition would be a wise play. There's even a chance it'll lock early since we did have training flavor text during the past war and our current lockables are ??? for whatever reason.
Actually, we should probably try to figure out what's on the road to a lock and push for those, if we can.
The leaderboard hasn't been updated yet so we don't yet know the actual shape our military is in. While it's unlikely to be good it should also have somewhat recovered with the arrival of peace.
Note: Failing to Raid the (Enemies of Peace Builders) will result in Stability loss and aggravate Priit's Warriors! Failing to take a [Supernal Symphony] action will cost 1 Stability! Can Double Down at cost of 1 Stability on an action by adding a sub tag to that specific action.
We need to take a [Supernal Symphony] action and I dont think any of the plan makers have realised this
Note: Failing to Raid the (Enemies of Peace Builders) will result in Stability loss and aggravate Priit's Warriors! Failing to take a [Supernal Symphony] action will cost 1 Stability! Can Double Down at cost of 1 Stability on an action by adding a sub tag to that specific action.
We need to take a [Supernal Symphony] action and I dont think any of the plan makers have realised this
Found Settlement (includes: Brick Wall, Shrine, Sugar Shack) [Supernal Symphony] [Admin]: Wide River
Is one and we are planning to integrate the northlands we should create a settlement in the place between us and them(and the Pearl Divers)
Extend Fire Relay (Hill Guard) [Supernal Symphony] [Admin] (1 Action)
Archaic Charcoal Kilns (Crystal Lake) [Supernal Symphony] [Admin] [Art]
are 2 more i would like to do
.
