They actually haven't. If you look at the map on the front page, there's a long river the branches off north of the Great River in between the Fingers and the giant kink in the river, River-Bend. They live somewhere north of that, they're not currently on the map.
We have a Diplo AND Admin Hero. This is perfect for managing the strain of a new settlement, and it ensures that the other tribe won't settle between our two settlements and cut us off from each other.
The only reason you can even push this far is because you have a Diplo/Admin Hero. If you'd had anyone lesser, you wouldn't have been able to do it. Your population isn't currently high enough to properly fill out another settlement.
They actually haven't. If you look at the map on the front page, there's a long river the branches off north of the Great River in between the Fingers and the giant kink in the river, River-Bend. They live somewhere north of that, they're not currently on the map.
The only reason you can even push this far is because you have a Diplo/Admin Hero. If you'd had anyone lesser, you wouldn't have been able to do it. Your population isn't currently high enough to properly fill out another settlement.
It was merely forgotten; it's on the sheet now as well as the other goodies you've earned this turn. You still have it, but it's taken a severe beating with your recent decisions. It's possible it will get side-graded soon.
Right. Is there any conscious way for us to avoid this occurrence? Seeing as you said it gets side-graded, and due to our recent actions of turning away from a warrior elite, which has cost us somewhat, I am guessing that the value might just get side-graded into just the People favoring specialization in general, especially since we're at the crux of the Neolithic Revolution.
What concerned him, however, was the increased number of the dead. The People won a greater number of encounters and took home more prisoners, but after the fighting was done and the dead were counted, more of the People died. Already, Kaspar could tell that the loses were not going to be sustainable. Based on information they'd gained from questioning captives from the Hundred Bands, it sounded like the People had always been less numerous than their rivals and they now were bleeding faster.
It wasn't like there had been any other options in the end for their previous Big Man? Kaspar knew that the People were already building up a worrying number of captured young men from the Hundred Bands. Perhaps he should rephrase that; the main worry was not their numbers, but their ambition. The Hundred Bands only sent their best on missions of war, individuals that wouldn't easily submit and were used to violence. Combined with the People's proportionally higher loses, there were problems brewing there. Ones that would have to be solved either with a soft voice or a big stick.
On the other hand, making hunters-of-men into a specialized group and giving them Specific Duty, might have ended poorly as well. Kaspar knew that many of his peers were a little bit too free to resort to violence in order to solve disputes. He could see the need of it in the field where questioning orders could mean death, but fighting back in camp over women? He rolled his eyes. The effort on attracting a woman could better be spent on learning how to make their toes curl as opposed to beating off a group of other young men.
Most of them were elders, skeptical at one so young who'd been given the necklace. There were others, other men of middle-age who looked on with jealousy. They had participated in the war against the Hundred Bands, slowly gathering acclaim in the hopes of being awarded the necklace. They'd failed, many crashing and burning horrifically. After the last Big Man had ordered the People to select their warriors by lot, many of the previous warriors were suddenly saddled with the massive debts they had accumulated with no easy way to pay for them. No longer could they avoid paying them under the aegis of them being debts acquired in the course of an assigned Specific Duty.
Many of those warriors had become Debtors. Others outright abandoned the People, refusing to countenance the risks they took being ignored while they were forced into Debt. Some of them went to Arrow Lake, while others went up into the Hinterlands north of the Great River. Others quietly paid off their Debts, but all but the blindest of the People knew that resentment burned in their hearts. Those people formed a core, augmented by friends and family who suffered while their fathers and brothers paid off Debt.
So to summarize the excerpts above, I think we probably chose wrongly last turn when it came to solving the debts of the Raiders. While we may be winning the overall number of skirmishes we've been having due to sheer numbers, it isn't something we can do in a sustained fashioned. The fact that Kaspar has essentially abandoned the low level raiding and skirmishing that has been occurring on our periphery is indicative of how our last choice here wasn't a very effective one. Personally speaking, I think we should have heeded the QM's words more on this subject, specifically this:
Another consideration is that in war having a militia will increase food expenditures. No one wants to die so they train as hard as they can during war. While the difference between 'average Joe' and 'warrior Joe' isn't very great, it's going to grow a lot as you shift more towards an agriculture economy. A militia also means that everyone needs to train for war. It's significantly more energy efficient just to have a small group train exclusively. The return on investment for 10 people burning an extra 300 calories a day is minimal compared to one person dedicated all of their time and 3,000 calories a day.
There's a reason that for most of history there was an immense pressure towards elite soldiers. The citizen-soldiers of Ancient Greece, probably what people think of when they hear about citizens armies, were actually elites. The average hoplite was a small-hold farmer with a small number of slaves to labour away on their behalf. By no means were they representative of the average, we just often forget about the immense amount of free labour in early societies.
Trying to buck the trend of establishing a warrior elite is not worth it in my opinion, as it seems like it will cost us eventually if we keep trying to fight against the natural progression of things. Thankfully we have two martial heroes to tide us over, but they are only temporary and we need to use them wisely and effectively in the near future.
In light of these revelations, especially from an expert such as him, I really do believe that we will probably in the future have to transition into creating an elite force of soldiers/warriors. Especially considering how much foreshadowing we've been given in this update. Firstly, as was mentioned earlier, the two drastically different positions that we and the Hundred Bands have come to in regards to the war between us, which is mostly skirmishing at some sort of front line, has shown us that what we were doing could not be done in a long term manner. As was mentioned above, by choosing to arm everyone and have them fight in lots down at the front, we may have won more battles overall but took proportionally higher casualties in return, and rather than deterring the Hundred Bands' warriors, we've instead galvanized them as we are now a challenge that they feel the must surmount in order to rise in position.
The war is likely going to shape up to be a long one. With the destruction of the Northern Hundred Band camp, you and the Southern Hundred Band are going to be slap fighting with ten foot poles. Decisive engagements are going to be basically impossible to forceand you'll have to settle in for a period of low-level raiding. Once one side's suffered too much attrition, they'll Shatter.
Technically this doesn't decision set a precedent going forward on its own, but it will set a precedent for the rest of the conflict. The conflict is likely going to last for multiple turns (purely based on geography and current war mechanics) and that may hit the magic 3 turn "We've always done it this way," limit and becomes automatically ingrained because that's what the People's traditions are.
Even if it doesn't technically effect your over all war-making, it can always affect your Values.
From what the QM has told us I do not think we made the optimum choice regarding how to handle the raider situation last turn. We may have avoided creating an elite warrior caste, but from what we've been told of the tribes south of us, they seem to have already developed dedicated warrior elites as well as potentially agriculture from the talk of crops in earlier updates when we first met the Peace Seekers. As Kaspar said himself, there is a problem brewing with the Hundred Bands down in the south for us. Since low level raiding did not work, as we always lost more men in the end than them we are going to have to let the Hundred Bands settle closer to us once again so that we can force a decisive confrontation with them. Thankfully we do have the martial heroes needed to deal with that situation in a satisfactory manner, and hopefully after we burn down any new Northern Settlement the attrition from that will cause them to shatter.
While I do admit that there were some drawbacks to our earlier choice of having lots be drawn, in comparison I think some of those drawbacks may have been worth it now that I'm looking back on things in hindsight. Yes, there could have been problems when it came to institutionalizing violence as a way to solve problems, such as with the example of the competing for women above, however from what we've seen of the People, I don't think something like that would have been as disastrous as was stated earlier. That action created a faction within the People who were not content with the hand we dealt them, and this action may come back to bite us if those warriors who left the people to go north or south come back with vengeance or ambition in their hearts. I acknowledge that there would likely have been problems with creating a warrior elite who could essentially use their power and martial prowess to take charge, however when we consider the events of this turn, they likely wouldn't have needed to use violence in the first place to gain power considering we've got two martial heroes in a position of leadership.
While Kaspar may have sidestepped the Old Warriors faction for now, by taking one of them into his Big Slate, or Cabinet if you will, this issue will crop up again. As history has shown us, as soon as hunter gatherer tribes transition into a more sedentary agricultural based civilization, specialization and social stratification begin to take root and really take off. There is nothing we can really do to avert this as we already have a legacy called hierarchy tolerance which allows the people to tolerate more complex forms of government as a necessity. The point I am trying to make with this is that sooner or later we're going to have to reverse the decision we've just made concerning the militia versus elite soldiers choice last turn, and personally speaking I'd rather prefer if we retain our Honoured Elite trait because as strong as our position is I don't think it is as unshakeable as it seems.
Additional workers from the Fingers were sent to Crystal Lake to help them build a wall in emulation of the People of the Fingers. The Great Bay to the west had been quiet for years, but Kaspar didn't like it. He had a feeling that once the Barrow Builders had finished digesting the Peace Seekers, they would being spreading to the north and east. The People would be on their sights next.
Right, I want to sound the alarm on this one right now. While we may be at war with the Hundred Bands at the moment I think the real threat we have to fear in the future is the Barrow Builders. We already have fought them before, such as when the Big Man nominated by Miri warred against them first on behalf of some of our descendants among the Peace Seekers, and then on his own accord, so we've already probably been painted as hostile in their eyes. Secondly, they scare me in a different sort of way than the Hundred Bands do mostly because of the fact that they seem to be a united faction rather than the fractured pieces we've fought in the Hundred Bands. Furthermore, as much as we've improved I do not think we've narrowed the gap when it comes to decisive engagements against them. We know that they are a tribe to the south, where it was stated that many of them already cultivated crops due to the fertile nature of the region below, which also allowed them to form a core warrior elite. It is only a matter of time before they incorporate the Peace Seekers into their civilization, and once they do we will have a problem as by that point they could use the Peace Seeker village as a forward staging area to launch an attack on Crystal Lake. The problem for us in that regard is that even with the Great Trace, Crystal Lake is still weeks away from receiving any reinforcements from the Fingers as it is up river rather than down river in terms of flow.
Taking a look at the map above, something else I've also noticed in regards to the Barrow Builders, aside from the fact that their name suggests they build burial barrows, is that like us their symbol for a settlement is that of a solid house rather than the teepees of say the Hundred Bands or the Arrow Lake tribes. What does that mean? To me this indicates that the Barrow Builders are also capable of building fortifications as well. If we take all of this into account, I think we really need to think about potentially raiding the Peace Seeker settlement in the future. When the Barrow Builders do begin their expansion we will eventually and inevitably come into conflict with them, meaning we will likely have to raid the Peace Seeker settlement anyway as a means of safeguarding ourselves. I'd rather we do it sooner rather than later, as right now we have two martial heroes, and if we do so now before the Barrow Builders can fully assimilate them we will likely be able to raid the settlement more successfully as they likely won't have as many warriors in the near term rather than the future.
In other news, here are some of the new technologies we've seem to have gained this turn:
Interesting...it seems like we're really progressing rather nicely in regards to our administration and leadership technologies. The Big Man Slate seems to resemble to me a Presidential Cabinet or a Monarch's Ministers, a sort of small bureaucracy which can allow the Big Man to delegate.
Here is the rice we've just domesticated. However the distinction of it being wild rice is a noteworthy one. Wild Rice, while related to the white rice we know today from Asia, is not the same as regular rice as they are different genus'. Whether that will make any difference in regards to this quest remains to be seen. Though since we've seemed to have domesticated it, who knows if further domestication cannot make it more similar to the grain we know today.
In terms of our defenses it seems like everyone has gotten what they wanted, aside from the multiple walls, in regards to how we will defend ourselves. Not only do we have a brick wall, but also one we can stand on top of to fire back at people too. The Brick Longhouses are also a good first step in settling our civilization as they will not be as susceptible to raids from other tribes as they don't burn.
We've been specifically told that we've suffered poor consequences for not actively initiating trade with some people, and this seems like a great time to rectify that. They appear to be within range of both our settlements, may be remnants of or have people formerly of the People, are on the Great River, and we have a quad hero that notably includes diplomacy. They've also just initiated peaceful trade themselves, so there's a great opportunity to reciprocate.
I think it's less that we've suffered poor consequences as a result of not actively initiating trade, but more that we've missed out on potential opportunities as illustrated in the quote you posted below. The only thing we've really suffered from in regards to not actively initiating trade is the war with the Hundred Bands, which we've still benefited from in the end. That was mostly in regards to not sending a delegation down to talk about the infiltrators rather than killing the infiltrators outright like we did. As for the other tribes we've met, when it comes to the North Lake Raiders their name and actions alone pretty much solidified our opinion against them, while for the Peace Seekers many of us, myself included, thought that it would be a waste to try to send a trade delegation towards them when it was shown how hostile they were towards us. For the most part I think our actions so far, bar a few instances, have been rather sound in that it has allowed us to technologically progress very far and establish a strong core as a base for later expansion. Besides, at least this turn it seems like Kaspar has rectified on our ignoring the Arrow Lake Tribe by sending a reciprocal trade delegation of our own. Considering how we now have a staple crop to cultivate and how highly valued our sugar is, I would not be surprised if our long term trade with them eventually leads to us annexing them outright, barring perhaps the Old Warriors who fled there.
Personally speaking, I don't mind sending a trade delegation north as while they likely don't have much to offer us in terms of items of worth, the information we can gain on the situation on the North, as well as showing that we are friendly is worth it. Then again I would also prefer to finish the Runner's Relay Megaproject so we can undertake the other Megaproject we had available, that of the Trials of Adulthood so that we can farm more leaders and possibly warriors for future conflicts.
[X] [Strangers] Focus on securing the routes between the People (Runner's Relay 4/5)
Adhoc vote count started by Japanime on Mar 21, 2018 at 2:43 PM, finished with 36 posts and 27 votes.
Right. Is there any conscious way for us to avoid this occurrence? Seeing as you said it gets side-graded, and due to our recent actions of turning away from a warrior elite, which has cost us somewhat, I am guessing that the value might just get side-graded into just the People favoring specialization in general, especially since we're at the crux of the Neolithic Revolution.
If you want to keep Honoured Elite, keep picking options which focus on the pursuit of excellence. You want things which exalt skill or distinctiveness. Things that are random or universal will continue to eat away at the trait. How it changes is still unpredictable at this point; it depends on your choices.
Trying to buck the trend of establishing a warrior elite is not worth it in my opinion, as it seems like it will cost us eventually if we keep trying to fight against the natural progression of things. Thankfully we have two martial heroes to tide us over, but they are only temporary and we need to use them wisely and effectively in the near future.
In light of these revelations, especially from an expert such as him, I really do believe that we will probably in the future have to transition into creating an elite force of soldiers/warriors. Especially considering how much foreshadowing we've been given in this update. Firstly, as was mentioned earlier, the two drastically different positions that we and the Hundred Bands have come to in regards to the war between us, which is mostly skirmishing at some sort of front line, has shown us that what we were doing could not be done in a long term manner. As was mentioned above, by choosing to arm everyone and have them fight in lots down at the front, we may have won more battles overall but took proportionally higher casualties in return, and rather than deterring the Hundred Bands' warriors, we've instead galvanized them as we are now a challenge that they feel the must surmount in order to rise in position.
In order to do this, Kaspar recommends Undergo Ordeal combined with either a Raid or Increase Hunting Action. Undergo Ordeal is an interesting action. It basically allows you to 'bet' stability. If things go well, you get extra Stab. If they go poorly, you lose more. It also has the side effect of spinning off interesting traditions and innovations. He also recommends picking up the Trials of Adulthood megaproject ASAP.
Since low level raiding did not work, as we always lost more men in the end than them we are going to have to let the Hundred Bands settle closer to us once again so that we can force a decisive confrontation with them.
Kaspar thinks that the only way such a decisive confrontation would work is if the Hundred Bans are already reeling from external circumstances when you sack their settlement.
here is nothing we can really do to avert this as we already have a legacy called hierarchy tolerance which allows the people to tolerate more complex forms of government as a necessity.
Hierarchy is a score which represents the number of layers of administration between 'average Joe' and the leader of your faction. Too many gets you useless nobles who are completely out of touch while too little means that leadership isn't very streamlined. Not enough hierarchy tends to be paralyzing because each leader has to deal with too many subordinates.
Secondly, they scare me in a different sort of way than the Hundred Bands do mostly because of the fact that they seem to be a united faction rather than the fractured pieces we've fought in the Hundred Bands.
Kaspar's also worried for other reasons. He's talked to a few of the elders of Crystal Lake, people who knew or were part of the Peace Seekers. According to them, the Peace Seekers have a much more developed knowledge of the spirits, though they lack the People's magic.
Interesting...it seems like we're really progressing rather nicely in regards to our administration and leadership technologies. The Big Man Slate seems to resemble to me a Presidential Cabinet or a Monarch's Ministers, a sort of small bureaucracy which can allow the Big Man to delegate.
Slates developed out of the decision to recognize the Three Brothers as Big Men 'at large'. Instead of having a single leader, it inspired to People to pick one leader who then relied on troubleshooters.
In terms of our defenses it seems like everyone has gotten what they wanted, aside from the multiple walls, in regards to how we will defend ourselves. Not only do we have a brick wall, but also one we can stand on top of to fire back at people too. The Brick Longhouses are also a good first step in settling our civilization as they will not be as susceptible to raids from other tribes as they don't burn.
Less so than you'd think. Your bows are largely beginning to replace this technology. Kaspar thinks it's going to disappear over time because bows are deadlier and take less training.
Votes are Closed!
[X] [Strangers] Focus on securing the routes between the People (Runner's Relay 4/5)
Managed a last second tie due to @Professor Vesca's vote. The tie's broken in favour of this option due to it being the last vote cast.
@Redium Thanks for addressing my points earlier, it seems like we've got a good blueprint of where to go forward with everything now that we have some more insight on the current situation, especially advice from our quad hero.
Though, I am curious, you quoted parts of this passage:
Here is the rice we've just domesticated. However the distinction of it being wild rice is a noteworthy one. Wild Rice, while related to the white rice we know today from Asia, is not the same as regular rice as they are different genus'. Whether that will make any difference in regards to this quest remains to be seen. Though since we've seemed to have domesticated it, who knows if further domestication cannot make it more similar to the grain we know today.
I was wondering what you were trying to say regarding this as I doubt you meant for the comment about the defensive options to relate to this one as well.
I really want to spam food actions, so we can increase the population enough to settle that spot. I want to consolidate our lands before we move outwards.
So we should ignore the Hundred Band for now and focus instead on the Burrow Builders?
Sounds like a plan to me since the Hundred can't do anything to us with their seeming lack of engineering, but if the Burrow Builders have palasides already, probably learned from our people in the Peaceseekers, we should try and do something about them.
Maybe we could send a Trade Delegation? It's been what, a generation or two since we last saw them?
Though, I am curious, you quoted parts of this passage:
I was wondering what you were trying to say regarding this as I doubt you meant for the comment about the defensive options to relate to this one as well.
I was planning to address it, but changed my mind. The only notable differences between regular rice and wild rice is that the calorie content in the latter isn't quite as high. That could potentially be fixed with cultivation. The taste is also significantly different; wild rice tastes like a vegetable while normal white rice tastes like starch.
The other thing was that just like the beaver, wild rice actually existed all around the world. It's just been rendered extinct in most places.
I really want to spam food actions, so we can increase the population enough to settle that spot. I want to consolidate our lands before we move outwards.
Increasing population is extremely hard in pre-modern times. If you manage a 1% growth rate per year, you're doing really good. Of course, a 1% growth rate can give you several times the population after 250 years. Scientists think that during the Neolithic, the number of humans in the entire world was only a few million. It wasn't until the 1800s that there was even 1 billion humans living at once.
Humans grow exponentially, but that just means you need to wait forever before the growth rate suddenly explodes.
Sounds like a plan to me since the Hundred can't do anything to us with their seeming lack of engineering, but if the Burrow Builders have palasides already, probably learned from our people in the Peaceseekers, we should try and do something about them.
It's likely that the Barrow Builders figure out palisades on their own. Their traits (as far as you know) are: warlike, competitors for the fertile lands south of the Great Bay, and they extensively use wood. They're known to wear it as armour; usually an underlayer of woven reeds or birch bark, with strips of oak or ash on top.
I mean, a population explosion in these time are not SUDDENLY MILLIONS MORE, like it is now (where we have a lot fewer explosions as the world develops and gets educated) If we suddenly hit a thousand people, or more then were doing amazing.
I was planning to address it, but changed my mind. The only notable differences between regular rice and wild rice is that the calorie content in the latter isn't quite as high. That could potentially be fixed with cultivation. The taste is also significantly different; wild rice tastes like a vegetable while normal white rice tastes like starch.
The other thing was that just like the beaver, wild rice actually existed all around the world. It's just been rendered extinct in most places.
Increasing population is extremely hard in pre-modern times. If you manage a 1% growth rate per year, you're doing really good. Of course, a 1% growth rate can give you several times the population after 250 years. Scientists think that during the Neolithic, the number of humans in the entire world was only a few million. It wasn't until the 1800s that there was even 1 billion humans living at once.
Humans grow exponentially, but that just means you need to wait forever before the growth rate suddenly explodes.
It's likely that the Barrow Builders figure out palisades on their own. Their traits (as far as you know) are: warlike, competitors for the fertile lands south of the Great Bay, and they extensively use wood. They're known to wear it as armour; usually an underlayer of woven reeds or birch bark, with strips of oak or ash on top.
If we're not looking at sizeable population increases in a reasonable timeframe, then we have to settle that spot now, while we have a quad hero to manage it.
I was planning to address it, but changed my mind. The only notable differences between regular rice and wild rice is that the calorie content in the latter isn't quite as high. That could potentially be fixed with cultivation. The taste is also significantly different; wild rice tastes like a vegetable while normal white rice tastes like starch.
The other thing was that just like the beaver, wild rice actually existed all around the world. It's just been rendered extinct in most places.
That's good to know, I'm thinking that's something we should keep in mind for the future. Though, I am curious to see whether or not the crops being farmed to the south of us are the same or different. Because it would be highly indicative of where we are in the world if the crops they are using for agriculture down south are a staple crop found only a specific region of the world, such as maize confirming we are in the Americas.
Speaking of that, my bet on where we are in the world is North America due to the presence of Maple Sugar, as well as the descriptions we've been given of the people alongside the opening post which sounded like the People were describing their trek across Beringia.
That's good to know, I'm thinking that's something we should keep in mind for the future. Though, I am curious to see whether or not the crops being farmed to the south of us are the same or different. Because it would be highly indicative of where we are in the world if the crops they are using for agriculture down south are a staple crop found only a specific region of the world, such as maize confirming we are in the Americas.
Speaking of that, my bet on where we are in the world is North America due to the presence of Maple Sugar, as well as the descriptions we've been given of the people alongside the opening post which sounded like the People were describing their trek across Beringia.
Something important to remember, though, is that there are animals that were driven to extinction OTL that are still around in the quest. Orkers were extinct for many thousands of years OTL before the quest started. A few other animals that were rendered extinct before the dawn of agriculture also still exist. Whoever is in Not!South America is going to have Giant Sloth cavalry.
The only issue with your second paragraph is that the Land of Hellish Ice that the People recall was located in the direction of the rising sun: east. Coming across from Beringia would've had them moving in the opposite direction. The People know that they've generally been moving to the west until they decided to double back and settle at Crystal Lake.
I haven't done the math yet, but he may not live long enough to implement it. There's another megaproject that he wants to crank out as soon as he's finished with the Runner's Relay. You picked up something new when you picked up Stone-Skinned.
Something important to remember, though, is that there are animals that were driven to extinction OTL that are still around in the quest. Orkers were extinct for many thousands of years OTL before the quest started. A few other animals that were rendered extinct before the dawn of agriculture also still exist. Whoever is in Not!South America is going to have Giant Sloth cavalry.
The only issue with your second paragraph is that the Land of Hellish Ice that the People recall was located in the direction of the rising sun: east. Coming across from Beringia would've had them moving in the opposite direction. The People know that they've generally been moving to the west until they decided to double back and settle at Crystal Lake.
Well, that sounds wonderful, I still do fancy eventually getting Orker Cavalry if we can, though I still can't for the life of me figure out which animal the Orker is, as I think it's somewhere between some kind of Rhino precursor and a Mastodon. That does make me curious though, is the reason for why species such as the Orker are still extant writer fiat or has there been some other kind of event that has occurred in the background to change history to allow them to survive extinction? In any case, I think it will be a long while before we ever are able to tame an Orker, unless during an explore roll we somehow manage to find a clutch of eggs or its young or something.
Yeah, I just noticed that, which makes it a possibility that we may be in Eurasia. Similarly, the same thing could be true of my observation concerning Sugar Maple. While most of the maple trees that are used to make maple sugar and maple syrup are found in North America, there are others such as the Norway Maple which could be used to produce Maple Sugar as well, however the main problem with that is that those other trees often don't have as optimal a tapping season as the ones in North America. Still, that detail makes it still plausible that we could be anywhere in the Northern Hemisphere. The only other idea I've had concerning our location is that the physical features expressed by the people as described seem to fit in very well with some of the descriptions of the First Nations/Native Americans, the only problem with that theory might be the fact that we're too early into history to narrow down whether these traits are ironclad or whether their appearance could change later.
Alas, it seems that the mysteries from turn one still dog us to this day.
I haven't done the math yet, but he may not live long enough to implement it. There's another megaproject that he wants to crank out as soon as he's finished with the Runner's Relay. You picked up something new when you picked up Stone-Skinned.
Putting two and two together, I think it's obvious that it's going to be a defense of some kind, however the question is whether or not it's going to be a conventional defense or a more unorthodox one. A Megaproject relating to defenses could be something as large as say multiple circuits of walls protecting our settlement at the Fingers, or something as time consuming as staffing a few watchtowers near our borders to alert against intruders while also acting as hunting lodges, perhaps even use them like the Towers of Gondor to call for aid or something. I am very curious as to what it could be. Then again, I am still dead set on trying to set up the Trials of Adulthood as that just seems like a good way of keeping our Honoured Elite trait as well as boosting our chances of generating great people/heroes.
Something important to remember, though, is that there are animals that were driven to extinction OTL that are still around in the quest. Orkers were extinct for many thousands of years OTL before the quest started. A few other animals that were rendered extinct before the dawn of agriculture also still exist. Whoever is in Not!South America is going to have Giant Sloth cavalry.
Elephant birds only died out around 1200 AD in OTL. Any chance they could be extant and/or more widespread here rather than just in Madagascar? It'd be nice if Terror Birds also existed but Wikipedia tells me they died out around a million years ago, maybe too long ago for this quest. Shame there are no large landbound carnivorous birds left anymore.
That does make me curious though, is the reason for why species such as the Orker are still extant writer fiat or has there been some other kind of event that has occurred in the background to change history to allow them to survive extinction?
@Redium I have two questions regarding our society:
First, what are gender roles like in these early days of first cultivation? From the story posts I only noticed a trend for warriors and hunters to be male and thus gather prestige more easily and for women to be more often fought over than fighting themselves. I don't know if that is an average trend though or if these gender roles are adhered to almost exclusively. Nor do I know about any other gender related stuff, like if women are included in the raider lottery or if there are any female Ember-Eyes.
Second, do I assume correctly that the People beat their children quite gratuitously? I mean even in western civilization beating children was relatively common till less than a century ago, and we specifically have using violence as a tool, folk wrestling, harsh and swift justice and a belief that wise guides (spirits) putting the young and immature (humans) through deliberate ordeals to make them stronger through adversity. Those traits combined almost seem to lend themselves to regular beatings, though maybe at least not pointless beatings in anger.
Second, do I assume correctly that the People beat their children quite gratuitously? I mean even in western civilization beating children was relatively common till less than a century ago, and we specifically have using violence as a tool, folk wrestling, harsh and swift justice and a belief that wise guides (spirits) putting the young and immature (humans) through deliberate ordeals to make them stronger through adversity. Those traits combined almost seem to lend themselves to regular beatings, though maybe at least not pointless beatings in anger.
The kids are probably turned into smurfs by the time they come of age, beaten black and blue... For their benefit ofcourse, because as we all know beating the shit out of your child is 100% going to teach them.
[X] [Strangers] Focus on securing the routes between the People (Runner's Relay 4/5)
(Tech Innovation: Signal Fires. Runners Relay 4/5 -> Great Relay 4/4.)
Kaspar was woken from bed by the slow, steady beat of a great drum. Whispering a few words of reassurance to his heavily pregnant mate, he passed by his son on the way to the wall. One of the guards he'd stationed was slowly, surely banging on his war drum, calling the People to war. A large number of fires were slowly being let, ringing the Fingers. Looking closely, Kaspar could see at least three distinct groups; one to the east, one to the southwest and the last to the northwest.
The Hundred Bands had done nothing to hide their approach. If anything, they looked to be piling bonfires higher and higher so that everyone might know they had arrived. The bonfire to the southwest was abruptly extinguished as wet grass was thrown on it. Why build a bonfire only to extinguish it? When the band to the east abruptly extinguished their fire in the same way, something clicked in Kaspar's mind. They were sending messages. He hadn't the foggiest idea what they were saying, but something was being communicated. Based on how quickly the northwest group started to angrily extinguish and relight their fire, it wasn't a message of unity.
"The Hundred Bands have finally decided to try their luck," Kaspar said. From the look of it, three of their Great Island Big Men were here, setting up separate camps to encircle the People. "How many of ours are still out there?" The drummer continued to pound his drum, a slow staccato like the beating of the heart. A moment of impetus, petty panic, that drove the body of the People to action.
Clearly, the Hundred Bands had hoped to catch the People unaware like they had a generation past. They were half a moon too early for that, however. The unusually pleasant weather of the past generation was not typical and it had moved the spring sugar harvest forward several weeks. Currently, the People were still in winter quarters and most of the population was safely tucked away behind their walls. The few that were caught outside were universally hunters or woodsmen. It would be a difficult journey, but Kaspar knew they would be able to make their way west.
"Sir?" One of the night watch walked up to Kaspar. "What are your orders?"
The Big Man of the Fingers just grinned and clapped him on the shoulder. "I'm thinking breakfast. Maple sweet rice and elk medallions. Something energetic to get everyone moving." The other man hesitated, but Kaspar threw him a larger grin. "Invite everyone but morning watch to the meal."
Having a big meal would gather everyone and go a long way to offering reassurance. The wall of brick that surrounded the People's settlements was untested. Kaspar knew it would work, but the People at large did not. There was a touch of anxiety in the steps of many, parents shepherding their children close. He saw more than a few people testing the tension on their bows, fixing freshly knapped obsidian to their spear tips, or tightening the ties on slabs of bone armour. All of the cheer the People normally exuded as they awaited a newly dawning day was absent. All that remained was grim resolve.
Enormous stone pots had been set out at the village green. The soapstone cookware had been imported from Arrow Lake at great expense to the People. The stone was easy to shape and didn't break when heated or cooled so it was highly prized by good cooks. Compared to the granite that the People had used in the past, it was substantially better in every way that mattered.
"My People," Kaspar called out after they had gathered at the village green. "Sit, eat, be merry." Many were skeptical and more than a few were armed. A few smiles and whispered words slowly dispatched the tension. Laughter was often the best medicine for unease and that was a tool Kaspar had used many times on the front. "Do not stand on ceremony, eat."
Given the enormous number of People who lived at the Fingers, eating had to be done in shifts at festivals. Normally, meals were organized by each longhouse. For big events, the Big Man, Kaspar, would be served first. His Slate would be served second, then their families, followed by those with influence, all the way down to the least Debtor. Kaspar didn't think that anyone ever made a conscious decision for things to work that way, but it was only natural. The People were built on friendships, invisible bonds, and unspoken debts. It was natural for the servers to curry whatever favour they could by helping the powerful.
Kaspar smiled as the People slowly returned to their normal selves.
The first bite of food nearly melted in the mouth. Elk medallions were among the most prized cuts of meat the People could access and sugared rice with mixed nuts and berries was practically a desert food. The cooks had definitely gone all out. If anything, too much sugar had been added. "Is there Evergreen tea to go with the meal?" Kaspar asked a nearby server.
"No sir," she responded. "Apparently there was an issue with the stores this winter. Spoilage, according to the cooks."
"There's none left?" he asked. Taking another bite of his meal, Kaspar abruptly stopped. It was sweet, but it also tasted sharp. Taking a deep sniff and a second to confirm it, his stomach dropped out. "Stop the feast," he ordered his Slate. "Immediately. No one takes another bite. You, with me." He pointed at three nearby hunters.
The cooks, a mix of Debtors and a few captives of the Hundred Bands, quailed as the Blacksword stormed though their workstation. Dumping one of the massive stone kettles onto the ground, Kaspar slowly looked through the remnants and had his worst fears confirmed. Countless small Evergreen leaves were littered throughout the rice. There was enough there that Kaspar wouldn't be surprised if the People's entire supply was currently boiling away in the kettles manned by captives of the Hundred Bands.
Evergreen was a wonderous herb. It's sharp, cooling taste was different from everything else the People could find. The fact that it salved the hurts of body and heart also lent it great use to the shaman as medicine. Virtually every one of the People used it on a near daily basis. There was such a thing as too much good, however. Too much Evergreen made users lightheaded. For adults, that's all that ever happened. For the extremely young...
Already, Kaspar could hear faint cries of alarm coming from the dining area. He could see it in his mind's eye, the People's children suddenly running out of breath. His children among them. Trying to breathe and repeatedly coming up just a bit short until they finally stopped. Forever.
Apparently that last part was said out loud from how rapidly the Hundred Bands cook paled. Kaspar's Blacksword quickly snapped up and effortlessly sailed through the enemy's neck, sending his head flying. "K-Kill them," Kaspar ordered, coldly. His anger was so great that he couldn't even get out the order. All he could manage was a low-pitched grunt. No one moved, shocked by the sudden violence until the Blacksword whirled round again, damn near hacking another cook in half.
There wasn't much confusion after that point.
Not all of the Hundred Bands captives were put immediately to the sword, just those involved with the preparation of the poisoned feast. The People were enraged once Kaspar explained what finally happened. A number of children had died. Mostly small ones, between three and seven winters; those unlucky enough that gracious parents had first offered them heaping helpings. If Kaspar hadn't noticed the poisoning so quickly, it's likely many more would've died. That did little to assuage the feelings of guilt that crept up the back of Kaspar's mind.
Thankfully, his son was unharmed. That thought somehow made the guilt lessen.
Easily quieting the thought, Kaspar sat in judgement over the remaining captives. He stood in the village green, crowned by the skull of a stag and covered in spiritual symbols writ in blood. As the Big Men of Old ruled justly, so too would he.
Ultimately, according to testimony extracted from the Debtors and other witnesses, the conspiracy among the Hundred Bands was a small, spur of the moment affair. They recognized the smoke signals drifting over the walls and acted on instinct. The day's rotation had several of the conspirators assigned to cooking, purely by chance. From there, they could easily access the People's stores of resources, without a single person batting an eye, and set their plan in motion.
All of the direct conspirators had directly forfeit their lives for murder. Others, though, had helped; providing cover, watching to see if anyone was suspicious, etc. their lives were too forfeit. There were still others who knew, but said nothing. The last group, and it was a small one, were those who had known and tried to tell the People. Excluded by the rest of their tribesmen, they had been attacked or isolated in order to prevent them from spilling the conspiracy. Apparently, there were some among the captives who felt greater affinity to the People than they did the rest of their tribe.
"After consulting the spirits and hearing your testimony, I have decided. Let my words be known..."
How should people who know of a crime, but do not disclose it be treated?
[ ] [Know] Be punished as harshly as the criminals themselves.
[ ] [Know] Be given a severe, but reduced punishment.
[ ] [Know] Be punished more harshly. (+1 Stability)
[ ] [Know] Be given a light punishment. (-1 Stability)
[ ] [Know] Go unpunished. (-2 Stability)
After the situation was resolved, the People settled in for a long siege. The Hundred Bands appeared completely unaware of the internal turmoil that had temporarily rocked the People.
Frankly, the siege was pathetic in Kaspar's eyes. A joke. The Hundred Bands barely coordinated. The three Big Men had obviously split command, leading only their particular subset of their tribe. When one attacked, the other two forces would hold back, allowing their brothers to bleed, while they waited for an opening. There was, from what Kaspar could tell, an incident where fighting broke out among two of the Hundred Bands! As far as he could tell, no one died, but tensions remained high among the enemy afterwards.
To be honest, Kaspar knew that he could destroy the current attack whenever he wished. The enemy was simply too disorganized to effectively resist. All it would take for them to shatter would be for a good night attack led by the Ember-Eyes. Once the enemy's supplies were burned, they would be forced to retreat and could be picked off at the People's leisure.
That wasn't what Kaspar wanted. He wanted them to know the futility of trying to attack. The People's walls were impenetrable. Attacking again would just be a waste of their time and their lives. As such, he extorted the People to hold frequent feasts, celebrating and generally enjoy themselves. Ultimately, while the People had far, far more mouths to feed, they also had fare much space with which to store food. The Hundred Bands had to carry everything with them on their journey up. They could, potentially set up lines of supply all the way back to their camps, but that would take enormous numbers of men and weeks worth of travel. It simply wasn't feasible.
Other than a few, quickly aborted assaults, the conflict mainly devolved into lightning quick night raids. The People had to do something to occupy the Hundred Bands' attention. If they didn't, it might have been possible for them to locally source supplies. It would be extremely difficult since they didn't know the terrain, but possible.
The only potential complication that could occur would be for Arrow Lake to show up for a trade mission. If they were caught by the Hundred Bands and slaughtered or enslaved, it would massively inflame tensions between them and the People. Thankfully, that was not much of a concern. Arrow Lake primarily sent trade missions in the summers, months and months after the siege had started. Things would be decided by then.
With that in mind, he carefully selected a small group of followers and personally led them on raids. He selected primarily woodsmen and only brought the best. It was like a kiln, he argued: an Ordeal. The People took to it like ducks in water. The defenses on the wall were covered by the People selected by lot, but the actually spear point of the attack was carried out by his followers. After their tendency to take dogs with them, some started to call them the Fangs.
When the Hundred Bands finally broke, they were pursued back almost to the doorstep of their ancestral homelands. Blood was spilled in their wake as the Fangs sought out weak points and the arrows of the People plunged into their backs. It was another, humiliating, futile defeat for the Hundred Bands within living memory.
That had to sting. Kaspar wondered, how much longer could they keep it up?
When he and the Fangs finally returned, it was to widespread celebration. They were the heroes of the hour, the ones who had driven off the enemy. The People were never really in danger, but being known as a hero was useful. It cemented Kaspar's position and took the legs neatly out from under the Old Warriors' faction.
The only question remained: how to capitalize on his victory?
The People have developed a second unique Martial Tradition: The Fangs, a scout/skirmisher hybrid. In reality, each warrior is a team between a skilled hunter and a dog partner. How is this tradition going to be preserved?
[ ] [Fangs] Commit to Excellence! (Upgrade Honoured Elites)
[ ] [Fangs] Tie it in religiously (Build Shrine: Fingers)
[ ] [Fangs] In story (+5 Prestige)
[ ] [Fangs] As companions of the Big Man (Promote Folk Wrestling + Increase Hunting: Dogs)
The People have also completed a megaproject. Select a reward:
[ ] [Megaproject] At least 2 new technologies (exploding dice)
[ ] [Megaproject] At least 1 new Explore discovery (exploding dice)
[ ] [Megaproject] Upgrade a random value
[ ] [Megaproject] Next leader is Heroic Admin
