Well there goes that idea. Maybe once we figure out what an Orker is we can try to domesticate it?
Our only other viable options are to try to domesticate animals which are around in this time period but never made it past this era to the modern age.
At the moment however I think we are awhiles away from domesticating anything else as we don't really have many options where we are now. All we really can hope for is maybe someone else got lucky.
The QM is gonna have to be lenient, if the Native Americans didn't do it, there was most likely a reason, they may have been primitive in many ways, but they were still human and therefore not stupid.
If we have orkers (a fantastical beast) I don't see why draft animals are 100% out of the question to exist somewhere on the continent. I wasn't really seeing this world as a one-to-one copy of ours.
Like i said, we need to the QM to be lenient about that, because NA did not have many domesticable animals.
Also, the orker doesn't seem to be an actual fantasy beast, just one that existed but went extinct.
The QM is gonna have to be lenient, if the Native Americans didn't do it, there was most likely a reason, they may have been primitive in many ways, but they were still human and therefore not stupid.
I hope so, because if this quest follows history we are not going to be able to do much from our current position after a certain point. Considering we are in North America, we likely won't have any sources of tin to make bronze with. Most of the ancient tin deposits are south of us.
Then again, we are already acting more divergent than what other civilizations from this time would have acted and achieved, so we could possibly find a way around this issue. Who knows, maybe we might find a more docile ancestor or auroch analog we can domesticate.
I hope so, because if this quest follows history we are not going to be able to do much from our current position after a certain point. Considering we are in North America, we likely won't have any sources of tin to make bronze with. Most of the ancient tin deposits are south of us.
Then again, we are already acting more divergent than what other civilizations from this time would have acted and achieved, so we could possibly find a way around this issue. Who knows, maybe we might find a more docile ancestor or auroch analog we can domesticate.
Profoundly skittish. The second they would see a human, they would run away. Their only instincts when confronted with people are: 1) run like hell, or 2) fight to the death (rarely).
Both. Ordeals are both a personal and a group thing. Someone is recognized as overcoming an ordeal when they overcame an immense personal struggle. These can be group struggles (such as war or natural disaster) but they can also be personal (debate, duels, great hunts, etc.). Leaders tend to be selected based on their fitness in overcoming personal trials. They then become the person that others rely on in their personal struggles or when the group as a whole is challenged.
That's interesting then. Why haven't the Barrow Builders assimilated the Peace Seekers then I wonder? Or is it instead that they already have and we just see a distinction?
I think everyone is going to try for the latter. If we simply stop sending trade missions of our own however, and the South Lake Tribe sends traders to our settlement, will we have a conscious choice to reject them or possibly extort more stuff from them since they are the ones coming to us? That sounds like a good enough casus belli to me.
You will have the opportunity to domesticate more animals. Orkers are definitely on the list as are Mastodon as some have guessed. Aside from yourselves, the ones most likely to get domesticated animals are the Northlands. Keep close ties to them and there's a couple things that could develop there. While lama's are unsuited to your climate, alpaca are smaller but much better suited. Less meat, but their fur is luxurious. Provided you can get some from the south.
There's also going to be some tin on the map as well. It may not necessarily be close to you, but it will be accessible.
Also, the map has been enlarged and updated. Spoilers for next update if anyone is interested in checking it out. I'm still finagling the trade table.
So if we stop trading with South Lake next turn, will we still have Corn Tech? What will the other tribes think of when we break contact with South Lake?
So if we stop trading with South Lake next turn, will we still have Corn Tech? What will the other tribes think of when we break contact with South Lake?
Arrow Lake: Who? What? Why? Uh, huh...
Pearl Divers: Is it just me or is it a little too crowded in here?
Island Makers: Serves those war-mongers right! What next?
???: Hey, hey guys! They're turning around! Man do they look pissed!
South Lake:
Both. Ordeals are both a personal and a group thing. Someone is recognized as overcoming an ordeal when they overcame an immense personal struggle. These can be group struggles (such as war or natural disaster) but they can also be personal (debate, duels, great hunts, etc.). Leaders tend to be selected based on their fitness in overcoming personal trials. They then become the person that others rely on in their personal struggles or when the group as a whole is challenged.
Yeah...so we can see from the map. The Barrow Builders may have assimilated the Peace Seekers, but in return they became the Peace Builders. I guess that means they aren't as much of a threat anymore? I'm also assuming that the Peace Seekers and their proclivities and values were able to override the cultural values of the Barrow Builders. I'm not entirely sure how to feel about that. Now that we know though, maybe we can send a delegation down towards them in order to see if trade is now possible? If not at the very least we have a fortified position in the Great Bay, which to me is starting to look like maybe the Great Lakes.
Are there other options as well? Such as extorting them for more technology to keep the trade going for another while? It's not like we as the players care about keeping relations up with them, and the more technology we can get from them, the better.
You will have the opportunity to domesticate more animals. Orkers are definitely on the list as are Mastodon as some have guessed. Aside from yourselves, the ones most likely to get domesticated animals are the Northlands. Keep close ties to them and there's a couple things that could develop there. While lama's are unsuited to your climate, alpaca are smaller but much better suited. Less meat, but their fur is luxurious. Provided you can get some from the south.
There's also going to be some tin on the map as well. It may not necessarily be close to you, but it will be accessible.
Also, the map has been enlarged and updated. Spoilers for next update if anyone is interested in checking it out. I'm still finagling the trade table.
If there is no hero generated next turn that takes over, I think everyone will agree that we should do one more turn of trading with the Northlands so that it just becomes a locked action. Having peaceful neighbors are a boon, and if they can domesticate Mastodon...then hopefully we can benefit from that...somehow.
As for the map. Wow, that's a lot of changes.
Firstly, it looks like the Hundred Bands really were in between a rock and hard place seeing as they were sandwiched by the Island Makers and the South Lake Tribe. I don't think we want that spot anymore. It's in a precarious position and too far away for us to possibly defend.
Looking at the map, I think our next two settlement expansion options are obvious. The first would be the first settlement possibility to the west of the Fingers in order to lock down more of the Great River. The second should be the site directly to the east of the Fingers which lays between the Northlands and the Pearl Divers. This will serve as another trade node for us, and another bastion to anchor our defenses of our core heartlands of the Fingers and Crystal Lake.
When we look at the trade table it seems that we dominate the trade in obsidian and gemstones. Our trade in obsidian is one that no one else has which allows us a monopoly over it, and which is likely allowing us to keep leading or dominant positions on other trade goods due to our status as a preferred middleman. What is interesting to see on the Trade Table however is that the Pearl Divers seem to have come upon a salt deposit, which is valuable in the extreme due its use as a preservative.
The Peace Builders also a few curiosities which I think we could benefit from trading with them. Firstly they seem to have medicine, which we could possibly trade for using our dominant obsidian or sugar, which I am not sure where it went on the table, secondly we could also try to trade for their pottery trades. Not entirely sure what exactly pilgrimage is for a trade, as I don't even know if our beliefs are compatible enough for that. Either way I hope that things have changed enough between us and them that our relations have reset.
Arrow Lake: Who? What? Why? Uh, huh...
Pearl Divers: Is it just me or is it a little too crowded in here?
Island Makers: Serves those war-mongers right! What next?
???: Hey, hey guys! They're turning around! Man do they look pissed!
South Lake:
It's obvious that the Arrow Lake Tribe has not met the South Lake Tribe from their reaction.
The Pearl Divers, who we may or may not have met, seem to think that there are too many people currently, whether they mean us or just the situation in general with more people around them is up for debate.
The Island Makers I'm sure would no doubt have changed opinions of us if we decide to cut off their direct enemies in South Lake. The what next part is curious though as I don't know what we will even do after that.
As for the mystery people. It looks like the South Lake Tribe were about to attack them as well, but from the map I'm assuming they are on the Western side of the South Lake, so maybe they could be friendly.
As for South Lake, their reaction was entirely predictable. But if they are ready to get up in arms against us so soon, we might want to prepare for that eventuality before we cut off trade. Timing is key.
Edit: I just looked at the map again, and the Island Makers have an anchor symbol for a port? Is that right @Redium ?
@Redium
So how are our people's Hygiene?
I mean obviously its relatively poor since noone washes their hands like ever other than when they bath (probably not frequent either)
that's probably going to be a mega-project...as well as getting more food going, as diverse food will enhance our population further as well as making more settlements (not to mention hygiene).
if were lucky our mega-projects might one day synergize with other projects...
[X] [Value] Yes
[X] [West] Finish the Hill (Megaproject: The Hill 4/4)
[X] [Moratorium] 12 hours
Kaspar slowly tottered from the base of the People's Hill to its top on a cloudy, overcast day. That wasn't what they called it, Hill Guard, had become its sobriquet, but that would always be how he would think of it. He had been the organizer, the driving force, behind its creation, but it was truly a thing that all of the People could be proud of. A lot had gone into its creation and there were many new techniques that had to be invented.
The soil on the northern part of the Great Bay was thin. There were enough for trees to densely grow, but they tended to be small and sickly, unlike the mighty oaks, ashes, and maples of the People's heartlands. Still, the soil that did exist shared many of the same properties as the dirt from the Fingers. Careful fires controlled by the Ember-Eyes burned down an enormous section of the forest near the bay. The Hill would dominant a small peninsula, inundated with small rivers and flanked by smaller guard islands. It was a good, defensible place from what Kaspar could determine. Additionally, if any wanted to approach Crystal Lake by canoe, they would have to do it under direct fire from Hill Guard.
People's Hill itself was taller than almost any tree and perfection in form. Like the dome of the sky, it was perfectly circular, even to the most discerning eye. Sculpted perfectly flat, a light dusting of unmarred green grass grew thickly over the top of the hill. Already, Kaspar could see where some of the People subtly marked out spaces on which to build homes. The Hill was big enough that hundreds could live there within longhouses and more could be housed in an emergency.
It had taken years and the labour of hundreds for the mound to be built, but it was clearly impressive. Organizing the labour that had gone into it... the People simply didn't have the tools to do it. Many times, Kaspar felt frustrated by how fractious his power was. In the winter months, he could control the entity of the People, but he was prevented from doing much. The weather simply didn't allow it.
Moving earth or rocks, people or tools was possible by dog sled, but construction was clearly impossible. Not only was supply the immense amount of food necessary prohibitively expensive, but in the middle of winter dirt froze. Chipping at it was akin more to chipping at stone than anything else.
In the summers, the People had enormous freedoms, the ability to go anywhere and do anything. But his control slipped away. Among his own band, his power was significant, but for all of that, his ability to influence the People as a whole rapidly dwindled. He could bribe and cajole, twist things by degrees, but the power and focus he needed wasn't there.
Things, then, had to change if he wanted to see his objective complete. He had needed to secure more control or more incentives. If he had the former, he could make the project work by controlling when and where food was gathered, who was assigned to digging, who moved the earth, and who was involved in the final assembly. The system was hardly unprecedented, it would merely be an extension of the lives that the People lived during the winter. Where he was undisputed. The exact nuance could change, but the end result would be the same.
On the other hand, he could arrange for a path where he merely controlled incentives. Instead of commanding the People directly, he could convince them to give up a portion of the harvests and gatherings indefinitely. Those could then be redistributed at his leisure, focused on tasks that simply needed to be done. The system essentially expanded the remit of the Ember-Eyes. Or, more accurately, the Debtors. Both groups were fed at the insistence of the Big Man. The first was allowed to work as they willed, plying their magic and holy mysteries. The later were simply directed and ordered about. The second plan didn't offer the same control as the first, but it could have its own benefits as well.
How did the People restructure to begin creating Great Works?
[ ] [Work] Entrust command of resources and labour to the Big Man.
[ ] [Work] Entrust a tithe of all resources to the Big Man to use as he sees fit.
[ ] [Work] Entrusted their old ways and pushed through the pain. (-1 Stability)
Choose a Megaproject reward:
[ ] [Megaproject] Upgrade Vale: Wondrous World
[ ] [Megaproject] Rush Builders Legacy
[ ] [Megaproject] Immortalize the moment in song. (Exploding Cultural or Reglious tech rolls, minimum 2)
[ ] [Megaproject] Automatically Complete: The Hill Extended Project at Crystal Lake.
[ ] [Megaproject] Restore confidence in the People's leadership. (+1 Legitimacy, +2 Stab)
Once it was complete, Hill Guard was a place of magic for those with the senses to feel it. The Ember-Eyes had turned all of their magics, from the petty to the grand into its constructions. Great pyres had been piled upon the growing hill at each stage of construction upon the new moon. They were burned to sanctify it, flames dancing for days in the dim moonlight, to give the power of fire unto the stone.
And it worked.
The Hill slowly hardened over the years, settling and turning akin to something that was not earth, but not stone either. It was strange, but an obvious sign of the spirits' favour. Not the usual work of the spirits; the wind and the rains and the snow, but something different. Something Great.
Standing at the crest of the Hill Kaspar stood over a pit lined with crudely cut timbers. The bonesbones of his long time friend Maksus, lay at the bottom. The man had died barely a month before the Hill was complete. It was... a shame that he could not see the accumulation of hundreds of working hours and more than ten years of effort. In order to make up for that, Kaspar decided that his old friend would be part of the monument. A deep shaft had been dug at the center of the Hill and within it, his bones would be laid to rest.
Goods were also placed inside with him, to show the People's wealth and to thank the spirits for their cooperation. Bracelets of quartz, amethyst, and citrine; necklaces of carved teeth and ivory; sugar; weapons, tools; everything that the People placed value on was included. They were baubbles, ultimately, but pretty ones. Each and every family had given up something, anything to be part of this moment.
Kaspar himself had given over his bead of the Ember-Eye. Maksus had never had an appreciation for the subtle magics, but it was perhaps Kaspar's most prized possession. Maksus had been his closest friend. It felt right that those should go on to the spirit world together.
"Bring up the elk," Kaspar rasped at last.
To top the days of feasting and celebration, the People had prepared a sacrifice. Capturing the skittish creatures and not killing it, had been profoundly difficult. The only reason that the People had one was the fact that a family of them had fallen helplessly into one of the pits that was created to pull earth for the Hill. The message was quite clear and the elk became an offering to the Stag-That-Bears-The-Sun.
The beasts were restrained and citrine embedded into its antlers. The People's drums and flutes beat a wild staccato, nearly drowning out the swelling chants from the Ember-Eyes. Wintergreen herbs and pine needles were burned, adding their scents to the cacophony of unwashed bodies and animalistic fear. The tension rose in the air, hovering at a fevered pitch. Gripping a stubby knife of dark obsidian, Kaspar firmly held the antlers of one of the restrained beasts. Its eyes were full of... something when he finally slashed its throat.
The others followed shortly after and blood poured into the pit, while the People's silent prayers were carried to the spirits. Within minutes, the spirits heard and responded responded, rain pouring down and washing away the gore.
"The spirits are with us!" Kaspar said. "They approve of our deeds this day! Let every man and every woman know that and carry the knowledge within themselves until their last day." As if to punctuate the thought, thunder crashed and lightening split the sky. Like the antlers of an elk, veins of lightning spider-webbed across Kaspar's eyes. "Return to your homes, the warmth and good food," he added gregariously. "You'll catch your death out here."
It was a good omen, but a dangerous one. Lightning was the Sun-Incarnate-of-the-Falling-Waters, among the potent of spiritual messages.
Completion of the Hill had come just in time for the People. The Peace Seekers, now calling themselves the Peace Builders, had returned, drifting by in Hill Guard in small patrols hunting and fishing. Polite and well meaning, Kaspar had not failed to realize that all of them carried rather large clubs, despite their ostensibly peaceful purpose. Apparently, the Barrow Builders had absorbed the Peace Seekers while the People were distracted by the Hundred Bands. Once they were fully pacified, the Barrow Builders had expanded quickly into the Peace Seeker's camp. It's level of isolation gave an apparent level of safety, somewhere they could build up their forces and could not be attacked by their enemies to the south.
Things had quickly gotten... twisted within a few generations after that. The Peace Seekers had two major shrines located within their camp; The first, to please the spirits of the air and a second to reason with the spirits of the waters. They had shamans there, akin to the Ember-Eyes, that told stories, parables and numerous tales. Compared to the Peace Seekers, the Barrow Builders were lacking in spiritual teachings, stories and magical knowledge; they had focused far more on war and on defense.
As a result, when the Barrow Builders sent their children to the Peace Seeker to keep them safe, they had a habit of adopting Peace Seeker thoughts, ideas, and even spirits. The tales told by elders to children, from shaman to all that would listen, and the secret mysteries of the spirits whispered among learned men, all quickly took root in the thirst minds of the Barrow Builders. Theirs was a culture that had spurned frivolities and now found themselves drowning under swelling tides. New stories joined the Peace Seekers' collections, spirits that were pleasing to the Barrow Builders; the four winds guiding arrows in flight on the hunt, tranquil waters that became the tempest when provoked. Slowly, over generations, the Peace Seekers' stories sunk into the minds of the Barrow Builders and caused them to take up different values. Instead of fighting for land, the Barrow Builders fought to make peace. After a lifetime of effort, the Barrow Builders changed their name. Their totem, their collective soul, had changed.
Cautious, but optimistic, the Peace Builders had slowly encouraged peace among the factitious tribes of the southwestern peninsula. They had sat peacefully and sung their songs, offering food and stories to those that choose to break bread with them.
It had not worked out.
Sorrily wounded, the Peace Builders had been forced to pull back, ceding farmland to the tribes with which they fought. Peace, it seemed, was not something that could last long in the dangerous lands of the southwest. This initial setback and slowed their expansion while they consolidated the holdings that remained. That's why they had taken so long in order to reconnect with the People. They had gotten over-eager, intoxicated on their initial success in their joining and thought to replicate it across the world.
When one of their patrols of canoes had finally stumbled on the People putting the finishing touches on Hill Guard, they had been curious, very cautious, but then ecstatic. Some among them had remembered old tales of members of the Peace Seeker tribe being sent to spread stories and culture among a strange but powerful people to the north. That wasn't quite what many of the People's elders remembered hearing of the situation, but it was something that the People seized on in an effort to prevent further conflict.
Within a few years, the Peace Builders had rapidly increased contact between themselves and the burgeoning settlement at Hill Guard. They appreciated the People's gems and their sugar. Obsidian was something they took as well, but they prized it more for its black luster than its prismatic, killing edge. In return, the Peace Builders offered dyes of red, yellow, and brown as well as numerous medicines. The later were derived from plants and seemed to cover every ailment under the sun. Sickness of the bowels, shortness of breath, even bleeding wounds; there was a tea or a salve for everything. Combined with the People's wintergreen, which treated pain of the body and the chest, the People quickly enjoyed a small renaissance of comfort. Everyone from children, to warriors, to birthing mothers could find something to make their lives better.
The Peace Builders were more than willing to accommodate the People's awakening desire for medicines and offered to quickly increase the frequency of their trade caravans. With those caravans, came the Skalds. They were a frequent sight on the trade missions undertaken by the Peace Builders. Keen wordsmiths, their ability to think on their feet and talk quickly saved a fair number of the Peace Builder's caravans from having to remove themselves from poor situations by violence. One of their main roles, after trading was done for the day, was to manage the great cook fires and congregations during the evening meal. In some ways more party than simple meals, and attracted many of the People for the food, festivities, and general sense of merriment.
It didn't evade the notice of the new elders of Hill Guard that the Skalds had a tendency to first and most attentively to the People's young adults and their children most of all.
[ ] [Stories] Allow them to spread their tales. (Gain Peace Builder religious/social concepts, Value synergies?, Legitimacy loss?)
[ ] [Stories] Obviously the People's Stories are best! (Annual Festival, variable Stability effects)
[ ] [Stories] Forbid these foreign ways! (-1 Stability)
[ ] [Stories] Destroy these foreign heresies! (Raid: Peace Builders)
On the other extreme end of the People's territory, a new tribe came to be known. Calling themselves the Pearl Divers, they were from far to the east, and had settled into a narrows in the White River they had taken to calling the 'Gate'. They came to the Fingers in canoes unlike any the People had ever seen. Instead of a team of three or four, theirs sat twelve. Only eight would paddle, sitting side-by-side, leaving the other four free to move, fight, cook, sing, or navigate as necessary. The amount of cargo that could be carried in a clever compartment hidden beneath the seats of the canoe was immense.
And it was sadly under utilized.
The Pearl Divers primarily used it to move their namesake, Pearls. The small beads of white were extremely pretty, but often small and few in number. They often couldn't even bring a single bucket's worth of pearls to trade. They had another good, salt that they often brought to trade, but that, too, did not come in large amounts. The Pearl Divers had apparently come up with some way to make the stuff like the People could make sugar, but most of what they made was consumed internally. Instead of sugaring their meat, or turning it to pemmican, the Pearl Divers used salt to keep it. Still, with the People's increasing interest and trade in the good, it was likely they would try to increase their production of it to better trade for the People's goods.
When questioned on the incongruity of their transportation, the Pearl Divers simply shrugged. The waters were calm, here, but back in their home, they were very much not. Storms were much more significant and a smaller canoe could easily be overturned or lost in the swells.
Speaking of being lost... the Hundred Bands had returned. A group of the People's traders, bound from Crystal Lake had come across a temporary encampment on the Great River and were astounded when they were greeted in the Hundred Bands' old tongue. Many of that tribe were now members of the People and it wasn't uncommon for traders to speak it. They were a fragment of a fragment, but the group that had escaped to the north had final made their way to the People's lands. Apparently there was a river, long and twisting the crossed numerous lakes, but it eventually emerged out onto the Great River, by the River-Bend.
The Hundred Bands were ragged and few in number, but they had found something of a home within the twisting rivers if the in-lands. This, obviously, created something of a dilemma for the People. Before now, the Great River had been completely uncontested. Now there was someone who could, theoretically, impinge the movement of people and goods along it. The Hundred Bands were clearly incapable of doing so, now. In years? Who knew. There was also a greater concern: what happens if the Hundred Bands sold knowledge of the route to the Island Makers or South Lake. The route they had used to escape had been one that was well known, located at the juncture of the White River and the massive lake to the south. The only reason that it hadn't been discovered earlier was because everyone to the south was too distracted fighting, and no one knew where it ended. Why explore a massive system of rivers when there was no detectable benefit?
The People's feelings on these long lost cousins was difficult. Many of them saw them as blood kin and wanted to offer them protection. Others saw them as twisted mockeries of the People. Paradoxically, among many of the converted Hundred Bands, this belief was strongest. Values had diverged.
Values Synergized: Ordeal + Double Down -> Trial By Fire (Maxed Development)
Tests and trials are a way of life for the People. They separate corns from the husk and the weak from the capable. Those who struggle and overcome the opposition of men and spirits are the ones that the People should look to for guidance. The spirits have put them through the crucible and refined them into something great. Those who prove themselves by overcoming adversity are righteous.
Pros: People are more willing to endure hardship, can spend Stability in order to double down on failed/incomplete actions, increased appreciation for experience
Cons: Increased costs for 'failure', 'I can do it, damn it!'
They had shocked many, for cousins to call for violence against the Hundred Bands.
Kaspar had a different idea. It was well known that the Hundred Bands hated the Island Makers and South Lake. Perhaps, they could be pushed to act on their hate, striking against those down south that had wronged them. It may take some quiet support, but it would go a long way to ensuring the weakness of all tribes down south while allowing the People to grow unmolested.
It wasn't a problem now, but Kaspar's pragmatism had prompted many to try and look for a solution now.
[ ] [Bands] Push these fragments to full absorb themselves into the People (Chance of -1 Stab)
[ ] [Bands] Destroy these fragments entirely (Raid: Inland Hundred Bands)
[ ] [Bands] Open trade and try to promote peaceful relations. (Trade: Inland Hundred Bands)
[ ] [Bands] Play on the hate the Hundred Bands have for South Lake and tilt them in that direction. (???)
AN: For the Moratorium, I will eventually place a temporary threadmark after everyone's had a few hours to consider. Any votes before that will not be counted.
We should probably try to integrate the Hundred Bands. I'm sure it'll cause problems, but we need them gone or ours, and all the other options don't seem good. We probably shouldn't let our culture be replaced, but there's no reason to do anything drastic about the singers. Glad we're going to be able to forge a more centralized government, that's going to be nessesary as we move along.
[ ] [Work] Entrust a tithe of all resources to the Big Man to use as he sees fit.
[ ] [Megaproject] Immortalize the moment in song. (Exploding Cultural or Reglious tech rolls, minimum 2)
[ ] [Stories] Obviously thePeople's Stories are best! (Annual Festival, variableStability effects)
[ ] [Bands] Push these fragments to full absorb themselves into the People (Chance of -1 Stab)
I want to absorb the Hundred bands. Not sure about the Peace Builders. Allowing them to teach unimpeded might counteract some of the tendency toward violence of the Hundred Bands. And tithe is obviously better for long term economic development as the economy grows too large to manage effectively.
[ ] [Megaproject] Restore confidence in the People's leadership. (+1 Legitimacy, +2 Stab)
We NEED that Stab and Legit. Anything that risks that is a no-non.
[ ] [Stories] Obviously the People's Stories are best! (Annual Festival, variable Stability effects)
Culture War! We're a lot less adept at this, but we have to try and keep the People's identity somewhat intact.
[ ] [Bands] Play on the hate the Hundred Bands have for South Lake and tilt them in that direction. (???)
[ ] [Bands] Push these fragments to full absorb themselves into the People (Chance of -1 Stab)
Either of these two could work for me. However, I'm afraid that Absorption will anger the Hundred Band we already absorbed (As the Stab hit shows, though, my own personal values say family is family), while using the Hate Card might lead to unwanted and premature raids on South Lake, and thus, ruin our precious trade network.
Trials of Adulthood will define what ordeals need to be overcome before someone can be considered an adult. It's almost like setting a test for citizenship. Adults get to voice their concerns at public gatherings, children do not. Since there aren't really any formalized traditions, it's all over the place. Some people are considered children until they overcome a grievous challenge while others get it simply for being old enough.
It's lack is also exaggerating your cultural drift.
The Pearl Divers, who we may or may not have met, seem to think that there are too many people currently, whether they mean us or just the situation in general with more people around them is up for debate.
@Redium
So how are our people's Hygiene?
I mean obviously its relatively poor since noone washes their hands like ever other than when they bath (probably not frequent either)
Actually, better than you think. You have lye based soaps and those are used fairly often. They're products of the Ember-Eyes' 'magic' and thus in demand by pretty much everyone because, duh, it's magic. Additionally, part of making pemmican is cutting literally all of the fat off the meat. That's then either rendered into oil for cooking, or given to the Ember-Eyes to turn into soap. Most of the order's 'income' comes from trading soap for fat and foodstuffs. The Ember-Eyes have been pushing soapmaking extremely hard since it's one of the easiest 'magics' for them to make and they do it with 'scraps'. Since you've never really pushed shellfish, it's very hard for them to get lime, their other big magic, in meaningful quantities. This happens to nicely coincide with reality... mostly.
There's also the fact that it's culturally common to swim, daily in most cases, since the People live near water. It beats the heat during summer and is a critical skill to have since it will save your life when a canoe, a boat not noted for stability, overturns. During the winters it's a bit more difficult (the People, though, are big on polar dips), but even then, people try to at least sponge bath every so often.
The size of the old (smaller) map is 4217x3630 pixels. The new one is 1732x1518. 4 times as many tiles packed into an image with a resolution of 2.5 times less is what causes the text to be illegible and the tiles to blur together.
Perhaps you uploaded the wrong file, or put up the wrong link? Because otherwise I can't understand what you are referring to.
And they've taken the spot I wanted. Welp, time to annex.
[ ] [Work] Entrust a tithe of all resources to the Big Man to use as he sees fit.
Let's not throw everything into one set of hands.
[ ] [Megaproject] Upgrade Vale: Wondrous World
Upgrading values is great. As for Rush Builders, SoY already has that, so let's try something else here.
[ ] [Stories] Obviously the People's Stories are best! (Annual Festival, variable Stability effects)
The people are the culture. When you lose the culture war, you lose everything else, as you become your enemy. The Barrow Builders may have been stronger, but the Peace Seekers used culture to eat them from the inside.
[ ] [Bands] Push these fragments to full absorb themselves into the People (Chance of -1 Stab)
I will have my unified multi-settlement civilization, goddammit.
Want to do trials of adulthood next then.
Probably prefer incentives, upgrading value or getting legitimacy, permitting Peace Builder interference, absorbing Hundred Tribes.
