General
Craftworks: Tiny Surplus (Equilibrium)
Diplomacy: Small Surplus
Luxuries: Tiny Deficit (Tiny Deficit)
Magic: Small Surplus (Tiny Surplus)
Material: Tiny Surplus (Equilibrium)
Martial: Moderate Surplus (Small Surplus)
Mysticism: Small Surplus
Staples: Equilibrium (Equilibrium)
Farmers: At Capacity
Fishermen: Significant Capacity Remaining
Herdsmen: Extreme Capacity Remaining
Huntsmen: At Capacity
Comparing our current status to our one at the start of the turn:
General
Craftworks: Tiny Surplus (Tiny Deficit)
Diplomacy: Small Surplus
Luxuries: Tiny Surplus (Equilibirum)
Magic: Moderate Surplus (Tiny Surplus)
Material: Tiny Surplus (Small Deficit)
Martial: Moderate Surplus (Small Surplus)
Mysticism: Small Surplus
Staples: Small Surplus (Tiny Surplus)
Farmers: At Capacity
Fishermen: Significant Capacity Remaining
Herdsmen: Extreme Capacity Remaining
Huntsmen: At Capacity
In terms of craftworks it looks like although our overall supply is still the same, it looks like our previous tiny deficit for the common person accessing craftsworks has changed to an equilibrium, which is an improvement I'm guessing that came from our choice to create more craftsmen in the full turn.
Unsurprisingly, our luxuries took a hit from rush building the Temple, seeing as we now a tiny deficit where before we were at equilibrium. We might want to work on that later, but that's an ancillary concern for us, seeing that we won't really have a massive need for it now that every settlement has a Temple, which was the biggest sink in terms of that resource.
Interestingly enough it seems like we lost some of our magic surplus, seeing as it has went down from a moderate surplus to a small one.
@Redium, what caused that?
In terms of materials, I am glad that we still have maintained a surplus despite the building spree we've been on, especially as our previous deficit in terms of ordinary availability has been changed into equilibrium. I am curious to see how our development in arborism affected this.
Aside from that, the one major thing we need to worry about from this status is that of our staples. Being at equilibrium does not give us much wiggle room in terms of food resources. Considering how key staples are in producing other resources, next turn we will need to really focus on staples so as to ensure that starvation does not happen again. With fishing fleets requiring craftsmen, our best bet for that is to go for Hearty Herders again to help elevate us back into a surplus.
Endurance
Stability: Happy
Legitimacy: Inspired!
Prestige: 38
???
This is essentially the same as from the previous turn.
Organizational
Centralization: 2
Hierarchy: 3
Religious Authority: 6.25
Specialization: 4
Only real change here is that due to our newly built temple at Arrow Lake, we've gone even further over the RA cap.
Crystal Lake: Brick Walls (Significant), Fire Relay, Hill Top, Temple (Ember-Eyes)
Fingers: Brick Walls (Significant), Fire Relay, Temple (Frost-Scarred), Trade Hub
Hill Guard: Brick Walls (Significant) Hill Top, Temple (Fangs)
Cave of Stars: Brick Walls (Significant), Fire Relay, Temple (Cave of Stars)
Arrow Lake: Brick Walls (Significant) Temple (???)
The key item of significance here is that the Temple at Arrow Lake has been completed but no one has yet been assigned to it.
@Redium I'm assuming we can do the switch now between the Fangs and Horned Riders, while also assigning the Fangs over to this new Temple hopefully?
Magic
Tally (100/100)
Abstract Tally (214/250)Animism (50/50)
Gods and Deities (200/200)
Ancestor Worship (0/???)
Hero Cults (0/???)
Elementalism (58/???)
Fire
Bricks (350/350)
Charcoal Kilns (200/200)
Copper Smelting (247/300)
Life
Horticulture (100/100)
Arboriculture (300/300) (Paradigm Change: 3 Turns)
Maple Sap (200/200)
Increased Food Production (0/Moderate)
Increased Timber Production (0/Moderate)
Coppicing (0/Easy)
Agriculture (175/175)
Three Sisters (579/600)
Basic Irrigation (0/Easy)
Beast
Herding (250/250)
Caribou Taming (400/400)
Caribou Domestication (600/600)
Climate Adaptation (0/Hard)
Increased Hair Production (0/Simple)
Increased Size (0/Moderate)
Mammoth Taming (367/400)Hunting (25/25)
Dog Taming (150/150)
Dog Domestication (300/300)
Personal Dogs (0/Easy)
Hunting Dogs (0/Easy)
War Dogs (0/Moderate)
Herding Dogs (0/Moderate)
Orker Taming (400/400)
Orker Domestication (240/800)
Raven Taming (109/150)
Stone
Stonecutting (100/100) [Stone]
Elementary Geology (42/Hard) [Stone]
Masonry (65/Moderate) [Stone]
Travel
Dog Sleds (125/125)
Advanced Dog Sleds (150/150)Winter Travel (50/50)
Traces (100/100)
Trails (200/200)
Roads (0/Very Hard)Wheel (11/100)
I just wanted to firstly say that I like this new research screen much better than the previous one.
[X] [Orker] It was to be commemorated in festival. (Annual Festival)
[X] Plan Admin Overboost v3
-[X][Action] Clay Pits [Admin] [Art]
-[X][Action] Craftsmen [Art]
-[X][Action] Hearty Herders [Admin] [Mastery of Nature] [Familialism]
-[X][Admin] Archaic Charcoal Kilns (Cave of Stars) [Mastery of Nature] [Admin] [Art]
-[X][Art] Raise Temple (Arrow Lake) [Admin] [Art]
-[X][Double Down] Raise Temple (Arrow Lake) [Admin] [Art]
-[X][Martial] Explore (Route between Crystal Lake and Fingers) [Mastery of Nature] [Martial] [Diplomacy]
-[X][Empowerment] Headman of Fingers -> Hearty Herders
-[X][Empowerment] Star Shaman -> Study Magic
-[X][Empowerment] Horned Rider -> Hearty Herders
I'm rather glad that we were able to avert more catastrophic damage due to our empowered leaders choosing to focus on foods. But I am still curious about the results for the rest of our choices.
@Redium What was the result of our explore action? Was nothing uncovered? Aside from that, I'm assuming that the status of the Temple we just built and who will occupy it will be decided later? Also, did our doubling down and our completion of the Temple result in them negating each other in terms of stability?
The day was far to hot to be wearing formal clothes, but Luule didn't have a choice. Delegates had arrived from the Island Makers in the south, asking to see the People. She remembered the stories from the Weeping Warrior, and how Arrow Lake had come in the arrogance to subjugate the People. The appearance of weakness was a dangerous thing, and she had more than enough weakness to see.
Is the appearance of weakness bit referring to how Arrow Lake took us as weak due to all the help we gave our allies and decided to attack us? I'm guessing then that the Arrow Lake survivors we incorporated finally told us this, and that's why we've adjusted?
Luule greeted the representative from the Island Makers with a wide smile before she waddled back to her seat. She missed seeing her feet, she thought. Had it only been half a moon since she had last seen them? The throne on which she sat was simple, constructed from brick but specially padded with mastodon fur. Jeree had been the one to retrieve the fur for her, claiming a generous portion from a kill team he'd participated in, and she greatly appreciated the gesture. The entire ensemble was supposed to be a distant adaptation for weakened Big Men. It wasn't the same system as they used in the old days, but a longer-term replacement.
Seems like Jeree and Luule are married, which wasn't much of a surprise really. Kinda hoping the two heroes producing more heroes will be the same case for us here as it was with Alvar and Natka way back when.
I'm guessing the chair reference is one referring to the system Kaspar used when he was weak and infirm?
The fact that it existed at all mystified Luule. Other than pregnant Pareem, where the People ever lead by someone who was weak or infirm? It was doubtful that the People would ever have needed such a thing.
This really goes to show how much knowledge can be lost over time. Though this is not surprising as I'm sure only Aeva really knew about that system.
Across from the Luule in the petitioner's chair, was a man that stood in complete contrast to her. Where she had bright feathers, belts of seashells and jewelry thick enough it clattered when she moved, he was clad in simple buckskin, dyed red. His skin was stained with dark ocher and the underside of his nails were caked with dirt. Compared to her own combed and braided hair, his neatly shorn scaplock shined. Even his size... at the shoulder and across the chest, he must have been twice as wide as Luule herself! At least! Given the massive stone maul sitting at his side, it was likely he needed every single one of those muscles.
I'm guessing then that this representative is a member of the Island Maker's Stonecrushers Holy Order?
The sun had sunk two finger widths from the time of the representative's arrival. He and his guards had spoken slowly, sipping at cups of wintergreen and fireflower tea, while a platter of meat and berries slowly warmed in front of them. It rankled Luule to wait, talking about nothing, while food sat out, uneaten. There had been hunger among the People in recent years. Luule had entrusted the shaman of the Cave of Stars with some of the People's resources and they had spent it on a brewery of all things.
A few questions l. Firstly, considering how in the action sheet it was study magic that was chosen by the Star Shaman for empowerment, how did they make a brewery and do we at least get to keep it?
Secondly, what's fireflower do?
It is necessary to expand our minds, they had said. It had also drew away precious stocks of corn from the settlement, enough that they were threatened by starvation in the winter. It was only by subtly leaning on the Horned Riders that Luule was able to get supplies rushed to them in time. Some still died, and the People of the Cave of Stars were desperate enough that they'd eaten anything.
Yeah that sounds bad, really glad we have the Horned Riders. Didn't you say we would have a decision point regarding them this turn btw?
The Star Shaman were corrected the year after, and focused on their rituals and their secrets. Still... members of the People had died as a result of the Star Shaman's callous disregard. Food had been taken from their mouths in order to satisfy their petty wants. And they were petty wants, Luule knew; regardless of how much Jeree tried to convince her that the Star Shamans' work was necessary. One could commune with the spirits locked in the vault below ground just as well as they could incapacitated by drink.
Is the fault referring to the black space where they interred Kaspar, Aeva, and Priit? Or is this a separate area of the Temple?
Beyond that, the situation was only made more complicated by the reason the Star Shaman has miscalculated the availability of food. The Fangs had, apparently, been systematically under reporting their demand of food for years. In of itself, it wasn't a significant amount compared to the People's full resources, a part of ten split by ten again, but, it combined with the Star Shaman's decision, was enough to trigger starvation.
The duplicity had been so subtle that it had operated completely below Luule's notice. The Temple in Hill Guard had been under reporting the amount of food and luxuries they had been consuming for years. That was at the very least! It had gone so far back, Luule wasn't even certain when it had started. The corruption had simply become something expected and she'd never known any differently. When the Star Shaman checked the records, they assumed there would be food, but there was actually not.
Yeah...while the Star Shaman may have erred, they did not do so out of malicious intent, while the Fangs should've known better. I'm kinda curious though how our record keeping system works if this is something we supposedly can rely on for the long term.
Luule wondered if her counterpart among the Island Makers ever had to solve situations like that. She doubted it; the Island Makers were like mastodon: slow, plodding, and deliberate. Everything had its place and nothing was out of place. Farming was a scared duty to them and improper farming, anything that would cause starvation, would call for blood.
They seem very heavily focused on Order, I forget, do we know what their values are?
In some ways, it was a better system; Luule doubted there would be starvation there. It just meant giving up on your hiilja, your soul. For every member of the People, Kaspar-In-Flesh was the ideal and epitome of everything you should aspire to be. He had been wise, dignified and possessed an undeniable gravity that bent the world to his will.
This is curious, we now seem to have a definition and term for the soul, that is likely to be theologically important. I take it that this is related to our development of gods and deities?
"Walk like them, until they must walk like you."
Those were the last words he spoke, before his death. Not that it was a true death. His spirit, his hillja, had expanded, grown after being carefully fed and nurtured so that it could escape the prison of his body. It was in that form he ascended to sit at the side of the spirits. He had become so like they, that they must become like he.
Now we finally have an afterlife it seems, this is likely significant, so I'm curious to see how huge an impact this will have.
Also, considering how we know Aeva discovered Kaspar dead in his sleep from not waking up in the morning one time, how exactly did they come up with Kaspar's last words? I'm guessing they just made it up right as this sounded fitting?
That was the ambition of every member of the People, from Pareem to the lowest Debtor, to grow in spirit until they could live beyond death. At the end of that road was KASPAR-IN-TRUTH, at the side of the spirits.
Well, here is it is, we now are on our first step towards organized religion as now we have a focus to strive for in life, with an afterlife to support performing such deeds.
The Island Makers gave up on that journey, however. They surrendered a chance with the spirits for the comforts of food and home and family; a legacy of cooperation instead of ascendance. It made Luule's skin crawl, smiling in thanks as the Island Makers' representative offered a sparkling gift of mica in thanks and in appreciation of her beauty. No compliment he offered on her eyes would blind her to the fact his hiilja was shriveled.
Still, none of that was a reason to dispense with politeness and courtesy. Luule just wished the representative would hurry up, she wasn't able to go as long with out trips to relieve herself as she was normally!
I wonder if this will be the start of our differentiation from other tribes in that we now have religion to use as a way of separating us from them in a more tangible way, considering Luule's comment regarding the representatives hilja.
Rattle-rattle! Rattle-rattle!
Luule almost jumped out of her skin as a mask of blue-and-white descended from the ceiling. Thick blue wedges over the fitted ivory mask brought attention to twin chips of quartz at the center. The lower part of the mask was stained with old blood; there was no visible mouth, but Luule was certain that Jeree was grinning broadly.
Luule seems very familiar with Jeree, at this point it's pretty clear he's her mate.
"Hold," she said immediately. The Island Makers' representative was half out of his seat, great maul gripped tightly in white-knuckled fingers. It doesn't even tremble in his grip, Luule realized, fixating on the great maul she could never lift. The representative was strong!
Damn, the Stonecrushers are probably frightening in battle. What else do they do outside of combat
@Redium ?
"Jeree."
He just grinned the damnable grin, sliding ceiling tiles back into place behind him. He rolled, displaying unusual grace and flexibility as he dropped to the ground and landed with a quick bounce on his feet. "Luule," he responded.
The grin grew.
"Forgive him," Luule sighed and asked the representative. "He's been getting over-ambitious about his place." Said over-ambitious individual took a seat at her right side. He stretched in obvious pleasure before curling up, eyes on the representative.
Yeah. Pairing confirmed.
"If that is so, I shall move on to the point: I have come to ask that you forbid the Scorched-Ones and other shaman from accompanying your traders." He seemed to hesitate, mulling over the next point. "The Scorched-Ones have a place among the Twin-Souled People. Among my own, they insert themselves where they are not needed. They talk when there should be silence and offer rudeness when there should be peace. Their interruptions no longer have a place among the Tenders of the Chorus."
Since when had the People sent shaman on trade missions? Luule could hear the sincerity of the request in the Island Maker's request, but shaman offered nothing in trade. Well, not nothing; Luule recalled old stories of the Ember-Eyes giving the secret of bricks to the ungrateful tribe of Arrow Lake, or helped the Pearl Divers expand the salterns. Those were still only indirect benefits, however; the salterns produced precious salt that the People could use or trade forward, and the walls of Arrow Lake centered around mines of lapis lazuli, protecting them from raiders from the mountains.
Those indirect improves had taken generations and countless shaman. It would be impossible to organize such an undertaking and have it completely slip Luule's notice. She wasn't that blind... an image of the horrors of those found starving, devoured inside and out, at the foot of the Cave of Stars flashed in her eyes.
"How do the Ember-Eyes sow discord in the Chorus of the Mother?" Jeree asked.
The representative of the Island Makers seemed to relax. "They talk and talk and talk. They tell stories, ones that never tumbled from the lips of Earth-Mother. When they are laughed at, the fire behind their eyes bursts into being. They bring fear and intimidation for those that would ignore their ravings. For those who listen and become like them, they offer favour and succor. In one hand is warmth, in the other a scourge."
Jeree seemed to nod. "And to the Chorus, this brings great pain. The Ember-Eyes do not bring goods like they are supposed to; they bring words that are strange and unwanted. They foster disharmony."
Wasn't it the purpose of shaman to remember stories and secrets? To learn new ones so that they could offer good advice to leaders in crisis? To Luule, the Ember-Eyes sharing stories with the... Choristers, she believed they were called — was no different than traders haggling over pretty stones.
Did stories even have that much worth? Luule knew that the secrets of childbirth were critical and widely applicable, but was that true for the secrets of the weather? Up north, where the Northlanders used to reside, the Painted Wind soared across the sky most evenings. At the Fingers, it was present often, but not at all times. That was not the only difference: the white blotch was said to be greater in the south as well. The snows were greater around the Fingers, but tapered off in both north and south. There were countless other things the shamans knew; some useful, many useless.
However... Jeree didn't seem to think the same. His mind was twisted all up in knots by Luule's reckoning. He thought in ways that made absolutely no sense to her. It was like dealing with an arrogant little being, perfectly content to warm itself in the sun while its machinations unwound throughout the world. She'd been with him long enough to read that he wasn't concerned by the Island Maker's words, but it had brought him to attention.
Jeree blinked thrice.
Seems like we finally have missionaries and the other tribes don't like that. Out of curiosity, considering we do trade with others, how do our other trade partners take the preaching of our Holy Orders?
@Redium
"Forgive me." Luule laid a hand upon her stomach. "Would it be possible for us to adjourn? I have found my appetite growing mightily these last few moons." With a nod, the Island Maker hefted up his great maul and turned to leave. "Are there other appointments to be seen this day?"
"The Soft Hearts," Jeree sighed. "They've come with a 'thousand, thousand' pardons, asking for their handout. It was late this year. A few more petitioners; people seeking redress, ending grievances... The list is long."
We don't need to do anything with the Soft Hearts do we?
Luule sighed, responding after the door to her audience chamber finally clattered shut. "What caught your attention about the Island Makers' situation?"
"Everything has a place, everything in its place. It's their entire way of thinking," Jeree explained. "Aside from their love of the earth and grand projects, the Island Makers value stability above all. Everyone gets to speak their piece, even if their Great Chief rules by command, all those below are still involved. They have councils upon councils, endless debates and sub-chiefs for everything. One of the warrior-traders told me once that they have a chief in charge of shit."
Luule's nose wrinkled. "I have some doubt about that."
"I'd trust the man with my life." Jeree shrugged. "Perhaps not my prettiest seashell, however."
Luule slugged him. Not hard, but enough for him to know that she had made contact with his shoulder.
I'm somewhat curious as to what type of government the Island Makers have as it seems highly centralized and hierarchical.
yours to nourish with glory and victory. How must that sound to a lowly shit digger."
"But not everyone can nourish their soul," Luule protested. "Only the best can build their hiilja to the point where they can follow in the footsteps of the Great Ones Who Came Before."
"And only the greatest of the great can carve their own unique path into the spirit world and name themselves our gods. Aside from Kaspar-In-Flesh, who else managed that? The Weeping Warrior? The Whisper Maid? Do you think the average shit flinger or ditch digger realizes that?"
"They don't," Luule said, catching on. "To someone who's only heard the stories, but doesn't really understand, they'll assume that they are going to be god and put down their shovel. Once that happens... for ever craftsmen, there's four or five people who farm, fish or hunt. For ever Pareem, there are several dozen. They could collapse."
"Without a good leader, it's possible," Jeree admitted. "Not immediately, maybe, but it will definitely wound them. The questions is, how do we avoid this wound? Or do we encourage it?"
Our theology seems to embody our Elitism value unsurprisingly, though what I wonder is how much the common person in our tribe understands the theology we have because it does seem like it would cause disorder in other societies.
Also, I take it that the Whisper Maid is referencing Aeva and that the Great Ones Who Came Before are our gods? Though it sounds like ancestor worship.
Where should Luule focus and emphasize punishment?
[ ] [Starve] Censure the Star Shaman for their recklessness. (-1 RA, - Stability)
[ ] [Starve] Censure the Fangs for their duplicity. (-1 RA, - - Stability)
[ ] [Starve] A crime was done, an unspeakable thing by those who needed to eat. Punish them. (- Stability)
[ ] [Starve] Do nothing in this situation, no one person was really at fault. (- Legitimacy)
[ ] [Starve] Take the blame. The Pareem were, ultimately, the leaders and they are responsible. (- - - Legitimacy)
Taking a look at our options, the first option doesn't sound right to me, not only morally but from the knock on effects. While the Star Shaman did make a mistake they did not do so intentionally as they assumed no one would be harmed. In terms of the knock on effects, censuring then will likely mean punishment, which could knock them out of the Cave of the Stars. While I do want to take a lower stability hit and get some reduction in RA to get us under our cap again, this is not it.
The second option appeals to me the lost as it was the actions of the Fangs which in the end exacerbated this crisis. They intentionally fudged records and underreported so that they could selfishly and corruptly receive more, knowing that what they did was wrong. If anyone should be punished it should be them. Censuring then will likely mean giving them a harsh punishment as people died from this. As others have suggested I believe what we will likely do is banish them from their present Temple to the one on Arrow Lake as the one they currently have was built as a reward. This will likely facilitate the Horned Riders getting their own temple and allow us to reduce our RA back down to manageable levels. While the 2 stability hit is bad it could be worse.
I don't like the third option as it firstly blames the victims, it secondly does not reduce RA, and ingetnral doesn't help us aside from not taking as big a stability hit.
The last two options are not really palatable to me as the legitimacy hits will likely move us in the wrong direction like a government change.
How do the People react to the Ember-Eyes attempts to spread their stories and influence outside the tribe?
[ ] [Preach] Officially disallow the practice and work to stamp it out. (- Stability, - Legitimacy, -1 Religious Authority)
[ ] [Preach] Turn a blind eye to the practice and let it continue. (- - Legitimacy)
[ ] [Preach] Permit it only with direct sanction of the Pareem. (- - Stability)
[ ] [Preach] Encourage the Ember-Eyes and look to take advantage of the situation. (+ Stability)
Not entirely sure on this one as the points made so far have me going either way. While I don't want to get rid of our missionary attitude, as that is something we can use to our advantage. At the same time I also want to take less of a hit and reduce our RA.
AN: Vote is in Moratorium. When I open it, there will be additional options for research focus since you've finished up a few new techs.
Oooh new tech focus for research. Anyone else got opinions on this?
Who is the father of Luule's baby?
I think the subtext here points toward Jeree considering how familiar they seem to be with each other.
