From Stone to the Stars
- Thread starter Redium
- Start date
- Original Alt. History
KnownParadox
Not a sphere
- Location
- Canada
[X] Persevere
Ghostdevil
The Devil of Ghosts
- Location
- United States
[X] Persevere
[X] Work Honestly
Perseverence sounds like it can be quite expensive to retry failures forever
Perseverence sounds like it can be quite expensive to retry failures forever
Ghostdevil
The Devil of Ghosts
- Location
- United States
The Weather really is going hard in the paint to murder us right now!
Hopefully our climate rolls stop trying to murder us soon. Would personally dislike dying due to rolls we can't really effect.
Hopefully our climate rolls stop trying to murder us soon. Would personally dislike dying due to rolls we can't really effect.
[X] Persevere
ThatGazzer
Minds Eye Bind
- Location
- PNW
- Pronouns
- They/Them
[X] Work Honestly
Part of the issue you're having is that your climate rolls have been really, really good ever since you decided to settle down. Before this turn, the lowest you ever hit was 51; most of your turns were spent comfortably between 60 and 70. The reason this particular crisis was so bad was because the People failed to winterize their homes to a proper degree. You were stuck in a mini-warm period for nearly two centuries so when the 'normal' climate reasserted itself, you were caught profoundly unprepared. You've actually rolled a background innovation to increase the strength of your buildings — it's just weird which one you picked up.
The climate scale goes from 1-100 and is roughly logarithmic: the difference between 5 and 10 is much more significant than between 15 and 20. I generally roll 4d25 so it skews the results significantly towards the middle. Your roll this turn wasn't terrible, more akin to 'one of the top storms of a century'. Aside from celestial events like meteorite impact, there's a about three more degrees of severity for regular weather. Of course, those degrees as just as rare.
She was slatted to die due to old age anyway; she had a roughly 1/6 chance to live to next turn without this event.
[X] Persevere
Wins!
So theoretically, we could get a roll so bad that we literally see a sudden unexpected case of "Rocks Fall, Everybody Dies"?
Ghostdevil
The Devil of Ghosts
- Location
- United States
No it'd be more like "Meteorite falls, The Human Race dies"
sounds realistic... We go the way of the dinosaurs
"The Human Race" does tend to include "Everybody".
Ghostdevil
The Devil of Ghosts
- Location
- United States
True, but there is only one rock, even if it breaks up into many before killing us.
KnownParadox
Not a sphere
- Location
- Canada
Ghostdevil
The Devil of Ghosts
- Location
- United States
Precisely!
9.2 Childhood's End
[X] Persevere
As the night of horrors ended, the People found themselves filled with resolve. They were tested by the spirits. As they had first been nuzzled in warmth and plenty; they were now being asked to find their own way. It was like a mother feeding their child. For years, a newborn would be feed directly from the body of their mother. Eventually, however, that ended. A child would be asked to help around camp and slowly taught how to hunt, to fish, to gather and build.
This was that time for the People as a whole. They needed to step up and take responsibility if they wanted to progress into the state that was adulthood.
Value Gained: Ordeal
Despite the decision, some that still whispered: "If this is a test of childhood? What, then, would be the test, for adulthood?"
The next trial was not long in coming. A few weeks after the great snow, an armada of canoes crossed the horizon from the south. The sharpest-eyed among the People were quick to pick out the canoe leading the pack. The Big Man of the Northern Hundred Bands stood proud, a spear lashed to the front of his bow. Atop that was an impaled skull, one belonging to a great antlered beast. The message was clear; they were not here for trade, they were here to fight.
Quickly, the People armed themselves. Not only the hunters and woodsmen, but everyone of the right age to bear weapons. For many, it was the first time they lashed spear tips to quarterstaves, turning them from tools of practice into objects of killing, but there was little hesitation. Everyone within the People had tested themselves against the other, crossing staves or wrestling. Now was the time to see who truly was the best when it was keeps they played for.
Only frail elders, women who carried children within themselves, and the youngest of children huddled within the palisade. Even some of the People who could not fight tried to gather weapons. This clearly was a test of the spirits, to stay behind was unthinkable. The shame, unbearable. Only the ironclad argument that such people would get themselves and their kin killed, made them stay behind. The spirits didn't test in the same way, the elders reasoned. Each person was tested in their own way. For some, it was a feat of arms. For others, it was a test of patience.
The raiders were ragged to the People's eyes, like they had come from battle once already. The canoes they pulled up onto the shore were far too numerous for the raiders they carried. Normally, four sat in a single war canoe. One at the front and back to paddle and two in the middle to use bows or spears. A noticeable number of canoes were missing a forth person. Even with extra space taken up by strange oval shaped, rawhide covered tools, they were obviously missing raiders. Numerous raiders.
A single arrow was launched duly from the People's best archer as a warning shot. The only response the People received was a quick laugh from the Hundred Band's Big Man and a harsh insult in his guttural tongue. Subsequent shots seemed to leave the man's arrogance rewarded. The massive oval shaped constructs the raiders carried stopped a significant number of arrows. Some still fell or took wounds after Blackstone arrowheads crashed through wood and rawhide, but the numbers were significantly less than the People expected. Even when the raiders closed enough for slings and darts to become useful, they were much less effective than normal.
The shields the raiders carried were huge, heavy and unwieldy, but they served their purpose. They allowed the raiders to slowly surmount the hill at the center of the Fingers and force the People back inside the palisade. It wasn't that they were afraid to engage the Hundred Bands, but that it was pointless. The raiders couldn't possibly wait out the food reserves of the People and there was nothing outside the walls that they truly needed to defend.
When the raider's Big Man called for kindling and firewood to be chopped down, it was clear he was not in his right mind. The Big Man screamed, berating his raiders and hurled curses at the People. His grief had absolutely overruled his reason. For the execution of his daughter, he would have vengeance, and it would be brutal.
For the rest of the day and into the early evening, the Hundred Bands gathered brush, wood, and kindling. All of it failed to ignite. The massive snow storms of weeks passed still had not melted. The ready source of ice and the cold prevented fire from ever really catching. Axes were brought shortly after and all the People could do was wait while their defenses were hacked down. The palisade kept them safe, but it also prevented the People from effectively fighting back. Bows could be used to shoot over it, but without line of sight, hitting a raider was more luck than skill.
The People sunk torches into the snow and set up a brazier for warmth while the raiders cut and hacked through the palisade. It was night by the time the enemy was finally through, only letting stars and flickering torches witness the bloodshed unleashed. The fighting was even, for the most part. The Hundred Bands seemed to favour the massive, two-handed clubs that those south of the Peace Seekers used. Though, they lacked wooden armour.
The tide finally turned when a young man tamed fire and turned the hellish heat into his weapon. Beneath its Blackstone head, his spear was consumed by flame. Hypnotic, distracting, and extremely deadly. He up ended the brazier the People had brought out for heat, hurling it at the enemy. Dancing in between the sparks and coals, he caught the enemy Big Man unprepared and speared him through the heart. The other raiders quickly lost their courage after that, most of them breaking and running.
Celebrations were quickly cut short once the People realized the brave youth was severely burned for his efforts; stuck on the edge between life and death. Once the high of victory wore off, it slowly sunk in what the youth had done. He had used fire to kill. The hellish screams of the Night of Horrors were not that long ago. Condemnation quickly started to pile up. Others wanted to heap praise on the youth, despite the cursed way in which he killed. In the end, it was decided to:
[ ] [Fire] Execute the blasphemer while he's weak (+1 Legitimacy)
[ ] [Fire] Quietly let the youth die of his injuries (+1 Stability)
[ ] [Fire] Praise his aggression
[ ] [Fire] Praise his initiative
[ ] [Fire] Praise his mastery of fire's spirit
(Currently at Stability 0 and Legitimacy 1)
Months later, after the snows melted, Crystal Lake reported that there had been further raids from the lands south of the Peace Seekers. Again, the People had stepped in to support their southern kin, but this time the help was clearly unwanted. After the People drove away the southerners, they were ridiculed and cast out by the Peace Seekers. They claimed that the spirits clearly hated the relationship between the Peace Seekers and the People. Not only was the weather clear damnation, but the constant raids from the south were further confirmation.
So sure were the Peace Seekers in their decision that they cast out all of the children amongst them that had blood ties to the People. Not only did they throw out the descendants of Mila, but large numbers of unwanted children that they claimed the People had forced on their women. The Big Man of Crystal Lake doubted the full truth of this last claim. It was likely easier for many among the Peace Seekers to claim the children unwanted in the rabid, exclusionary atmosphere that dominated the Peace Seekers.
When the Big Man asked how the Peace Seekers intended to protect themselves, when the southerners came again, the leader of the new Peace Seekers simply spat.
The discussion ended quickly after that.
Over all, the People from the Peace Seekers were interweaving themselves well with the People at Crystal Lake. They were kin and ties had been relatively close from before. Many who moved in had friends and extended family to support them during the transition.
While the two Big Men of the People spoke, their children played. One of the kids from Crystal Lake demonstrated some well known magic among those of the lake in order to impress the other children. Apparently, if sea shells were burned in a hot fire, they bleached completely white. The fire somehow lingered amongst the sea shells and caused water to steam, smoke and bubble when it was later added to the bleached shells. That amalgam created a putty that slowly hardened into stone after it was left to dry.
Once the Big Man of the Fingers saw his children dabbling in the magic, a solution to a problem he'd been mulling instantly came to him. With liquid stone, the People could easily reinforce dwellings which had collapsed! They might even be able to use it to reinforce their palisade. The Fingers had access to tremendously more sea shells than Crystal Lake, especially since they could be cultivated for food.
There were other competing considerations to focus on as well. The People were low on food, close to hunger in many cases, even if there was no starvation yet. There was also the frayed relations with the Peace Seekers or their response against the Hundred Bands to consider as well. The People were also feeling strained by the recent past. Focusing on improving happiness could also be useful. What was the most important to focus on?
[ ] [Action] Reinforce dwellings with liquid stone (+1 Legitimacy)
[ ] [Action] Don't go hungry, idiots! (Expand Aquaculture)
[ ] [Action] Try to mend fences with the Peace Seekers (Send Trade Party)
[ ] [Action] Retaliate against the Hundred Bands (Raid: Hundred Bands)
[ ] [Action] Party! (Create Annual Festival)
As the night of horrors ended, the People found themselves filled with resolve. They were tested by the spirits. As they had first been nuzzled in warmth and plenty; they were now being asked to find their own way. It was like a mother feeding their child. For years, a newborn would be feed directly from the body of their mother. Eventually, however, that ended. A child would be asked to help around camp and slowly taught how to hunt, to fish, to gather and build.
This was that time for the People as a whole. They needed to step up and take responsibility if they wanted to progress into the state that was adulthood.
Value Gained: Ordeal
The People believe that the spirits test them always. They might test by ones and twos, or they could test everyone of the People as a whole. These moments are often times of great struggle that trigger transcendence. Or destruction.
Pros: People are more willing to endure hardship
Cons: Increased cost for failing a 'test'
Pros: People are more willing to endure hardship
Cons: Increased cost for failing a 'test'
Despite the decision, some that still whispered: "If this is a test of childhood? What, then, would be the test, for adulthood?"
The next trial was not long in coming. A few weeks after the great snow, an armada of canoes crossed the horizon from the south. The sharpest-eyed among the People were quick to pick out the canoe leading the pack. The Big Man of the Northern Hundred Bands stood proud, a spear lashed to the front of his bow. Atop that was an impaled skull, one belonging to a great antlered beast. The message was clear; they were not here for trade, they were here to fight.
Quickly, the People armed themselves. Not only the hunters and woodsmen, but everyone of the right age to bear weapons. For many, it was the first time they lashed spear tips to quarterstaves, turning them from tools of practice into objects of killing, but there was little hesitation. Everyone within the People had tested themselves against the other, crossing staves or wrestling. Now was the time to see who truly was the best when it was keeps they played for.
Only frail elders, women who carried children within themselves, and the youngest of children huddled within the palisade. Even some of the People who could not fight tried to gather weapons. This clearly was a test of the spirits, to stay behind was unthinkable. The shame, unbearable. Only the ironclad argument that such people would get themselves and their kin killed, made them stay behind. The spirits didn't test in the same way, the elders reasoned. Each person was tested in their own way. For some, it was a feat of arms. For others, it was a test of patience.
The raiders were ragged to the People's eyes, like they had come from battle once already. The canoes they pulled up onto the shore were far too numerous for the raiders they carried. Normally, four sat in a single war canoe. One at the front and back to paddle and two in the middle to use bows or spears. A noticeable number of canoes were missing a forth person. Even with extra space taken up by strange oval shaped, rawhide covered tools, they were obviously missing raiders. Numerous raiders.
A single arrow was launched duly from the People's best archer as a warning shot. The only response the People received was a quick laugh from the Hundred Band's Big Man and a harsh insult in his guttural tongue. Subsequent shots seemed to leave the man's arrogance rewarded. The massive oval shaped constructs the raiders carried stopped a significant number of arrows. Some still fell or took wounds after Blackstone arrowheads crashed through wood and rawhide, but the numbers were significantly less than the People expected. Even when the raiders closed enough for slings and darts to become useful, they were much less effective than normal.
The shields the raiders carried were huge, heavy and unwieldy, but they served their purpose. They allowed the raiders to slowly surmount the hill at the center of the Fingers and force the People back inside the palisade. It wasn't that they were afraid to engage the Hundred Bands, but that it was pointless. The raiders couldn't possibly wait out the food reserves of the People and there was nothing outside the walls that they truly needed to defend.
When the raider's Big Man called for kindling and firewood to be chopped down, it was clear he was not in his right mind. The Big Man screamed, berating his raiders and hurled curses at the People. His grief had absolutely overruled his reason. For the execution of his daughter, he would have vengeance, and it would be brutal.
For the rest of the day and into the early evening, the Hundred Bands gathered brush, wood, and kindling. All of it failed to ignite. The massive snow storms of weeks passed still had not melted. The ready source of ice and the cold prevented fire from ever really catching. Axes were brought shortly after and all the People could do was wait while their defenses were hacked down. The palisade kept them safe, but it also prevented the People from effectively fighting back. Bows could be used to shoot over it, but without line of sight, hitting a raider was more luck than skill.
The People sunk torches into the snow and set up a brazier for warmth while the raiders cut and hacked through the palisade. It was night by the time the enemy was finally through, only letting stars and flickering torches witness the bloodshed unleashed. The fighting was even, for the most part. The Hundred Bands seemed to favour the massive, two-handed clubs that those south of the Peace Seekers used. Though, they lacked wooden armour.
The tide finally turned when a young man tamed fire and turned the hellish heat into his weapon. Beneath its Blackstone head, his spear was consumed by flame. Hypnotic, distracting, and extremely deadly. He up ended the brazier the People had brought out for heat, hurling it at the enemy. Dancing in between the sparks and coals, he caught the enemy Big Man unprepared and speared him through the heart. The other raiders quickly lost their courage after that, most of them breaking and running.
Celebrations were quickly cut short once the People realized the brave youth was severely burned for his efforts; stuck on the edge between life and death. Once the high of victory wore off, it slowly sunk in what the youth had done. He had used fire to kill. The hellish screams of the Night of Horrors were not that long ago. Condemnation quickly started to pile up. Others wanted to heap praise on the youth, despite the cursed way in which he killed. In the end, it was decided to:
[ ] [Fire] Execute the blasphemer while he's weak (+1 Legitimacy)
[ ] [Fire] Quietly let the youth die of his injuries (+1 Stability)
[ ] [Fire] Praise his aggression
[ ] [Fire] Praise his initiative
[ ] [Fire] Praise his mastery of fire's spirit
(Currently at Stability 0 and Legitimacy 1)
Months later, after the snows melted, Crystal Lake reported that there had been further raids from the lands south of the Peace Seekers. Again, the People had stepped in to support their southern kin, but this time the help was clearly unwanted. After the People drove away the southerners, they were ridiculed and cast out by the Peace Seekers. They claimed that the spirits clearly hated the relationship between the Peace Seekers and the People. Not only was the weather clear damnation, but the constant raids from the south were further confirmation.
So sure were the Peace Seekers in their decision that they cast out all of the children amongst them that had blood ties to the People. Not only did they throw out the descendants of Mila, but large numbers of unwanted children that they claimed the People had forced on their women. The Big Man of Crystal Lake doubted the full truth of this last claim. It was likely easier for many among the Peace Seekers to claim the children unwanted in the rabid, exclusionary atmosphere that dominated the Peace Seekers.
When the Big Man asked how the Peace Seekers intended to protect themselves, when the southerners came again, the leader of the new Peace Seekers simply spat.
The discussion ended quickly after that.
Over all, the People from the Peace Seekers were interweaving themselves well with the People at Crystal Lake. They were kin and ties had been relatively close from before. Many who moved in had friends and extended family to support them during the transition.
While the two Big Men of the People spoke, their children played. One of the kids from Crystal Lake demonstrated some well known magic among those of the lake in order to impress the other children. Apparently, if sea shells were burned in a hot fire, they bleached completely white. The fire somehow lingered amongst the sea shells and caused water to steam, smoke and bubble when it was later added to the bleached shells. That amalgam created a putty that slowly hardened into stone after it was left to dry.
Once the Big Man of the Fingers saw his children dabbling in the magic, a solution to a problem he'd been mulling instantly came to him. With liquid stone, the People could easily reinforce dwellings which had collapsed! They might even be able to use it to reinforce their palisade. The Fingers had access to tremendously more sea shells than Crystal Lake, especially since they could be cultivated for food.
There were other competing considerations to focus on as well. The People were low on food, close to hunger in many cases, even if there was no starvation yet. There was also the frayed relations with the Peace Seekers or their response against the Hundred Bands to consider as well. The People were also feeling strained by the recent past. Focusing on improving happiness could also be useful. What was the most important to focus on?
[ ] [Action] Reinforce dwellings with liquid stone (+1 Legitimacy)
[ ] [Action] Don't go hungry, idiots! (Expand Aquaculture)
[ ] [Action] Try to mend fences with the Peace Seekers (Send Trade Party)
[ ] [Action] Retaliate against the Hundred Bands (Raid: Hundred Bands)
[ ] [Action] Party! (Create Annual Festival)
Meteorite impacts are actually almost certain tho damage you at some point.
The odds of a direct meteor impact (Rock Falls, Everyone Dies) are 1 in 400,000 per turn. The odds of a meteor doing direct damage but not smiting the heart of your civilization is 1 in 100,000. Damage due to climate change brought on by a meteor impact somewhere else in the world is virtually guaranteed since a nuclear winter-like effect is pretty global.
I will also update the map tomorrow. You've learned approximately how the Hundred Bands are organized and where. I still need to fill in the Peace Seekers and their most immediate southern neighbour as well.
- Location
- The Middle of the Howling Wilderness
[X] [Fire] Praise his mastery of fire's spirit
[X] [Action] Don't go hungry, idiots! (Expand Aquaculture)
[X] [Action] Don't go hungry, idiots! (Expand Aquaculture)
- Location
- Reno
- Pronouns
- They/Them
[x] [Fire] Praise his mastery of fire's spirit
[x] [Action] Don't go hungry, idiots! (Expand Aquaculture)
[x] [Action] Don't go hungry, idiots! (Expand Aquaculture)
