Kaspar slowly digested the latest piece of news coming back from the south. The People, it looks like were soon going to develop an enormous problem. They were winning far, far to quickly. Much faster than he had dared even imagine.
Usually winning quickly rapidly in a war is a good thing, so I'm curious as to what exactly the problem is.
South Lake had been vicious and heavy handed in putting down slave revolts. If a plantation stopped working, every man would be given twenty strikes of the lash. If slaves escaped, they would be captured and eventually tortured to death. One in ten from those who remained on the plantation would then be selected and their comrades forced to beat them to death with fist and foot. If there was violent resistance? Everyone taller than a two-handed war club would be killed. Those who survived would be split up and shifted around to other plantations.
It was an... effective system, Kaspar allowed. For a little while. South Lake kept their boots tight on the throats of their slaves. There was little way for anyone to resist, to do so would mean death. Not only of yourself, but of your family, and friends. There came a time, though, when the slaves finally drowned in that fear. There was only so many dead-eyed children that a plantation could take in, children who screamed in the night as horror memorialized itself behind their eyes. Past that point, something snapped. Something broke within the slaves and madness took hold. It was an act of spite, Kaspar thought. A spite so primal, so intrinsically human, that it defied every rational instinct. The slaves knew they might die if they rebelled, but if they remained in bondage, they would never live.
More and more of South Lake's plantations stopped tilling futilely at their fields and turned their shovels and axes against their tormentors. Most of the revolts were brutally put down. Only a few managed to flee to the Mountain Clans in the east or deep into the forests of the south.
Right. Well at least we can easily say that our decision to end the South Lake Tribe was validated. Remember, not everyone we meet and trade with are going to be nice people, doubly so for South Lake considering how evil they are.
A handful remained and became something different. Calling themselves the Bond Breakers, they were a group of slaves who had quickly turned themselves into an army. Unlike most, who dispersed into the Mountain Clans only to occasionally strike back, the Bond Breakers were aggressive and always on the offense. They lost, more often than not, to South Lake. Their former masters were born and bred for war. Only the best were selected to be warriors, children will formed, quick of wit and hand. Those deemed lesser were trained as shaman, craftsmen, servants, even slaves. South Lake's warriors were the best of the best and had ever resource turned into reinforcing that.
The Bond Breakers still made them pay, drowned them in numbers and fresh flowing blood. But it was obvious that they were eventually going to lose. Losing three or four for every one of South Lake's was an impossible ratio to maintain. All of that set aside the issue of food. South Lake could feed their small population of warriors, even as some of them went hungry; the Bond Breakers could not freely feed all of the men they relied on to fight. Defeat would eventually come to the Bond Breakers.
Something like this was bound to happen eventually. We just happened to luck out and have such an opportunity happen so quickly and in such a decisive moment where we can likely end South Lake as it is. I doubt we're going to develop slavery anytime soon, not really, but if we did it would likely be much less harsh than the system used by South Lake, as we can obviously see how this backfired on them.
What exactly are South Lake's values anyway?
It was at that moment that the People and the Island Makers struck and took South Lake right in the back. Distracted and off balance, South Lake's famed warriors crumpled and started to break. It was the work of years, but the People's raiders based out of the Island Maker's settlement reaped a bloody harvest. South Lake was forced to constantly disperse their great warbands and take on a dozen different threats. Raiders from the Mountain Clans, the Bond Breakers, slave revolts, and enemies nibbling at the territory from west. From the rumours that reached Kaspar's ears, there was apparently a woman that had donned the garb of war and led her tribe to a success nearly as great as that of the People's.
All of that contributed to South Lake's slow, sliding defeat. It was a good thing so much had gone wrong for the enemy or else the People would've likely lost, Kaspar thought.
Yeah...it's good to know that we chose the most opportune moment to attack, because right now it looks like if we did so any other time we would've gotten crushed in a conventional engagement. I think this needs to be reiterated because time and time again, we've had multiple instances where we've been shown to have struggled in conventional conflicts with our opponent. Whether it be our initial fighting against the Barrow Builders, whose war clubs and armors neutralized the advantage of our flatbows, the straight out fact that our casualty ratios against the Hundred Bands being as bad as it was, and now South Lake who we know was both qualitatively and quantitatively superior to us. Our luck may avail us now, but we should remember in the future that there's always a bigger fish, and that we don't know everything.
The issue was simple: South Lake outnumbered the People and their warriors were more skilled than the People's hunters. The People's raiders were men and women who'd dabbled in war. Their primary profession was to hunt, to stalk beasts. All of them had known violence, tested in constant competition with others among the People, but they did not live war like South Lake. Where the People had the Fangs as the greatest amongst them, South Lake's warriors were nearly on that level. Every single one of them.
But, despite those advantages, South Lake couldn't rely on them in this war. It made Kaspar very uneasy about the next, however. The first that would be fought without him in memory.
Kaspar is right here. As I've said above, a lot of our martial victories can be attributed to luck, technology, our homefield advantage, or the strength of our heroes. Take some of those away and we likely would've lost more of those conflicts than we'd have won. We cannot keep things going as they have been or we will invite defeat in the future with our hubris. There is no perfect solution to anything, but progress will need to be made eventually, and I think the time is now to do so while we still can rather than wait for another crisis to pop up to force it on us.
The Island Makers and South Lake both used professional warriors; individuals whose whole life was war. They trained for it and as such could become much, much better than any mere dabbler. And despite their acceptance of violence, that's what he People were. Outside of the Fangs, violence was a side job. Something the People engaged in to show off, or to solve problems. It wasn't something that could be made a way of life. It was closer to... entertainment, than anything else. Violence was like an old, favoured buckskin cloak. Something worn with pride, but not everyday.
That thought would have to change if the People were to keep up. The difficulty was that it was logic that the People had rejected multiple times. They didn't want full-time warriors. If Kaspar forced the issue, he knew that it would make many upset. Perhaps justifiably, but upset all the same. After all, hadn't the Old Warriors of his youth nearly rebelled because the People hadn't recognized the sacrifices of a warrior and instead snubbed them? What would accepted warriors do? What would their demands be?
On the other hand, Kaspar knew what would happen to dabblers: they would die, and they would die in numbers unless they could outnumber and overwhelm their enemy. Someone who played with violence would never be the equal of someone who could great it as an old friend. They needed more people who could be akin to him in his youth. Blackswords.
Let's face it the picking by lots idea was a bad decision, one that I admit to making as well. While it may have seemed apt at the time, it has only been luck and circumstances that has prevented that choice from hurting us more than it already has.
Almost every civilization has developed a stratified and dedicated warrior class, whether it be actual warriors or professional soldiers. We cannot keep relying on the system we have now. While it may hurt to make the changes necessary to rectify the situation, right now we can't pick and choose when these innovations occur. Better to do so now with a situation we can learn from than letter when it will bite us in the ass harder.
While the political issues of creating a warrior class in a society that glorifies violence is a problem, it is not a major one in my opinion. Based on the system of government we have right now, it would not surprise me if most of the warriors ended up becoming Big Men anyway. With all that in place, there likely would be no need for any of the other warriors to use their position to gain that political power as they likely would receive that status anyway down the line if they are capable enough to do so.
Despite future worries, the war had gone far in the People's favour. One of South Lake's settlements had already been burned to the ground and a second heavily savaged. Based on Kaspar's assessment, it sounded as if the second would soon be abandoned. From what little news came from the Tribe of the West, they had sacked a third settlement. Nearly half of the known nexuses of South Lake's civilization were on fire. Many warriors of South Lake had been slain, and great portions of their farmland rendered unuseable. Many of their tribesmen and woman lived, but they were forced back into a nomadic existence. They were slowly losing the abundance of easy food that gave them an edge at being better killers and kept them a coherent polity.
Well, glad to hear that the war effort is going swimmingly for us with so little cost. Just out of curiosity, but do we know who the Tribe of the West is?
It also forced South Lake to abandon many of their slaves and plantations. Most fled, trying to escape, but others stayed and even welcomed the invaders. They knew that the invaders often brought food and safety with them. Many of the new war canoes built by the People were shipped to the south, in order to help facilitate the movement of raiders and their sudden need for food. If the freed slaves went unfed, they would quickly become a problem. Resentment would build and they would lash out at the People and the Island Makers, blaming them for the problems they faced. It wasn't rational, but no one would be rational while their world burned down around them.
Well, once again it seems like we're going to be integrating more people. Are we actively taking in the liberated slaves back after our raids, and if so is there a rationale or value that explains why the People are doing so rather than simple pragmatism?
Also, do the Island Makers take in the freed slaves too, or do they just push them onto us?
Organizing everything took a titanic amount of effort. Anyone less organized or a poorer speaker would've been unable to do it. The People flirted with hunger for several years in a row. It was necessary, though, if the People wanted to continue to prosecute their war against South Lake. Most of their settlements along the coast had been destroyed and their tribesmen had moved inland. The damage dealt was significant, but recoverable, and when South Lake finally recovered, it would be the People's blood they would chase.
Yeah, remember our Flat Arrow Outlook. If we start a fight, we need to finish it. The Hundred Bands taught us that we can't leave weakened enemies the chance to recover. They won't see our not finishing them off as a mercy at this stage, only what we did, and will later seek vengeance for it. I really hope we don't have to do this again, because while I am sure this war will influence our People far into the future, especially as this is how myths and legends are formed, the costs of doing so again will likely increase drastically.
The effort also exposed gaps within the People's chain of supply. The new war canoes required birch bark and enormous quantities of it. Not only that, but the pieces required large, fully grown trees. Combined with the fact that each tree could only be harvested once and the People were quickly running out of easily accessible trees. There were likely more, deeper in the forest, but they were increasingly difficult to access. It wasn't a problem currently, but it would be in the near future.
Huh...didn't take that into account. I thought the Island Makers would mostly be supplying us for our efforts here?
In any case I really hope we learn something from this.
Interestingly, the Island Makers had encountered the same issue. In response, they had simply changed the forests on their island. Instead of taking a mix of species, they systematically cut down the young and left only birch trees. Within a few generations, near every tree was a birch. More than enough trees grew to satisfy even their titanic demand. Even when the People were forced to lean on them to met increasing demand, the Island Makers had more than enough.
It was like making their island, the Island Makers rationalized. It was enormous and oddly shaped; winding coastlines and extensive bays nearly cut them off fully from the mainland. They had turned their peninsula into a true island by moving bucket after bucket of dirt. Instead of thinking about what you should do, a tribe instead needed to gaze across generations instead.
I'm taking it that we likely have learned some of the Island Maker's techniques for managing forests and their method for making islands?
@Redium
Still, the results of organizing and feeding South Lake's former slaves were quickly rewarded. The freed slaves were quick to put the People in contact with the Bond Breakers. They knew were the ones operating on the front lines. They knew where South Lake had built their settlements, where their warriors gathered, and where their food was stored. Backed by the People and the Island Makers, that knowledge could now be exploited. South Lake wasn't destroyed, yet, but it was grievously wounded through combined effort. They were being choked, all that was left was to hold it long enough that their last supply of breath ran out.
Right, we need to make sure we don't do anything to hamper the war effort. If we give them an inch, they will likely strike back and injure us grievously. They are a cornered animal right now, we need to finish this while we can, hopefully before Kaspar dies.
In any case, it seems like we really misdiagnosed how powerful the South Lake Tribe were. They had a massive system of slavery, a warrior class seemingly modeled after Sparta, helots and all, while at the same time it seems like they almost have more settlements than us, which is mind boggling to consider.
The close association between the People and South Lake's former slaves did have side effects. Small, squirming, smelly bundles of joy. More than one of the People's hunters were named as fathers to these war children and the vast majority acknowledged the children as theirs after they were named. The People's raiders had been away from home for years in some cases. Where they would normally be married, that simply wasn't possible. The People's women who went south as raiders were reluctant to take husbands or have children. Doing so would almost inevitably mean being sent home from the front.
Solving that issue was simple. Those woman that had acknowledged children with the People would be shipped back to their new husband's settlement, along with their family. The policy caused an explosion in women falling pregnant by the People's raiders, but t hat was manageable. What wasn't manageable was when women among the Island Makers started to become pregnant as well.
Yeah, this was to be expected. This was unlike any of our other wars as we are actually fighting alongside allies now rather than just going it alone like we did before.
I'm guessing that the women warrior issue will be resolved next turn then?
It was unsurprising, but the scandal was enough that it nearly tore the alliance between between the People and Island Makers in half. Only Kaspar's personal intervention spared things from getting worse. Apparently, the Island Makers had a hierarchy, a way of determining whom should marry whom. It was similar to the People's system, but far more all encompassing. When one of the People married, they needed the consent of the longhouse in which they would live. While this usually meant their extended families, it wasn't always so. New longhouses were occasionally built and opened to new couples, others simple eloped, and figured out where they could stay. That was rare, however.
Among the Island Makers, every marriage required the support of their 'chief'. While this was in practice only nominal approval, the clan council underneath the chief, made extensive use of their abilities to arrange marriages. It was of spiritual, economic, and familial importance to the Island Makers. The fact that the People were completely willing to flout this made many deeply angry.
This was bound to happen eventually. However I don't really see relations with the Island Makers as that strategic right now. We are currently allies of convenience, fighting together only because we have a common enemy. Considering what their values seem to be like, I doubt they would mesh well culturally with us. As soon as this war is over we will go back to being rivals. There can only be one regional hegemon after all.
East of the war, in Arrow Lake, the planned wall was slowly completed without issue. The Mountain Clans were quiet. While they had been spotted, they never came close enough to ever even pose a threat to the People's builders. Kaspar suspected that the amount of violence visited upon South Lake had forced them to withdraw their protection around the western edge of the mountains. They could turn there for food or raiding if they needed to.
Welp, I guess we actually could've traded with the Mountain Clans last turn instead of building the wall. Oh well, at least it looks like the building of the wall wasn't a total waste.
Arrow Lake, after seeing how the wall was initially completed quickly determined how to turn clay into bricks and built their own wall around their central settlement. It greatly irritated the Ember-Eyes that one of their precious magics was effectively given to another tribe, but Kaspar quieted that irritation with words and vague promises. The Ember-Eyes were more than pleased with a few words to grow their egos. The fact that he, an Ember-Eye himself, had arranged for the wall to be built reduced many of the issues.
Yeah, this was expected. If we can I say we throw the Ember-Eyes a bone and allow them to innovate more stuff with fire.
Building the wall also had unintended effects. The builders sent south had a tendency to form relationships, friendships, even have children with the tribe of Arrow Lake. Now that the wall was built, the reason that those individuals had come in contact was now no longer present. Those ties would break and then eventually fade to nothingness. Kaspar could see an opportunity there. Arrow Lake was quite grateful to the People. Lapis luzili was the prime export and something they had spent enormous effort accessing.
Kaspar's got the right idea here. Let's face it, the Arrow Lake Tribe have been our most steadfast partners so far, even though they don't really seem that remarkable in comparison to us.
If he pushed, Kaspar knew that he could make those ties deeper. It would likely involve some of the People's magics to be picked up by Arrow Lake, but it would also mean that cultural and personal ties would deepen as well. That could be turned into something on a longer term, but was it worth the risk? Arrow Lake was very, very far from Crystal Lake. A full moon's worth of travel going down river. Three going upriver. The People could maintain that now, but how much was the point where they snapped? Maintaining the tribal council was extremely difficult and they could only meet a few times a year.
I think most of us were going to push for expansion that direction anyway, especially since the Salt trade with the Pearl Divers will necessitate us expanding our borders in that direction. But damn, we really need to get going on that Dam megaproject so we can start building those canals to cut down on travel time.
Should the People reform hunter-raiders to warrior-raiders?
[ ] [Warrior] Yes, violence is an art and must be practiced to the highest degree. (-1 Stability)
[ ] [Warrior] No, violence is the right and duty of all.
Here's my two cents on this. We have put this off for way too far. Every other civilization we have fought with so far seems to have had a dedicated warrior class. The way I see it, this decision is an investment, just like our decision to integrate the refugees from the Hundred Bands. While losing one stability will hurt us somewhat, I think in the long run changing our martial system to one focused on specialized warriors is the only way for us to progress martially. Right now is the perfect time to do so. Time and time again we have seen how our militia raiders have performed. Each and every time we've been told that compared to the other tribes, whether it be the old Barrow Builders during Miri's time, the Hundred Bands during Kaspar's time where we lost people at a larger ratio, and now with South Lake and the Island Makers. Not taking this decision will mean more of our own dead in the short term, as well as the long term, because by the time another war erupts we will still likely be using this system, and our descendants will pay for this.
While Kaspar does bring up a good point regarding the potential political issues, keep in mind that when it comes to progress there will always be teething pains. We have yet as society to discover the perfect way to do everything, so drawbacks are expected. Considering the fact that most of our Big Men have usually been warriors anyway, or at least influential, I don't think we need to worry as much about warriors trying to usurp control of the People. They already have a mechanism of gaining political power at the moment, and there will likely be others who would oppose them.
The stability hit may seem bad, but keep in mind, we decided a little while ago to integrate more of the Hundred Band refugees when we had 0 stability rather than the 1 stability we have now. Choosing to reform our martial system now will not suddenly doom us, especially if Kaspar is the one making this decision. What better person than Kaspar who once marginalized the Old Warriors, to be the one to bring things full circle? In the long term this will pay off more dividends than the minus 1 stability hit we will take now.
Keep in mind, that the situation we are in right now, likely both the war and the seasonal changes that prompted this war will likely count as an Ordeal. If we can pass this trial by fire, we will most likely gain a lot of stability too from having done so, making up for the lost stability we are banking for now.
The choice here is between temporary inconvenience now versus likely massive damage to ourselves later. Our current system as it is already would not have been sufficient if we were not fighting the South Lake Tribe under these conditions, with allies, with them dealing with a slave revolt, and with the seasonal changes that prompted all of this. If we do not change things now, as time passes and technology advances, we will likely suffer far more than -1 stability in the future.
That is why I am voting yes.
[ ] [Marry] Forbid raiders at war from taking wives. (-1 Stab, hurts war effort)
[ ] [Marry] Take the resulting children from the Island Makers and raise them among the People. (Minor relations hit with Island Makers, ???)
[ ] [Marry] Pay the Island Makers off with gifts of wealth. (Variable Art damage until war ends)
[ ] [Marry] Allow hunters to be punished according to Island Maker tradition. (Fathers exiled or ritually executed, hurts war effort, -1 or -2 Stab)
As I've said above, finishing off the South Lake Tribe in this war is our main objective. If we let them survive they will come back at us with a vengeance. That is why I won't vote for any of the options that will hinder the war effort. Conveniently those options were also the ones that would have cost us stability as well. Regardless, of the two options left, paying off the Island Makers, and adopting the children, I think the best one for us is adopting the children. My reasoning for this is simple, I view our relationship with the Island Makers as far more expendable than damaging ourselves. Before this war, our relationship with the Island Makers was almost non-existent. Right now we are only their allies in this war due to having a common mutual enemy in the South Lake Tribe. After this war it would not surprise me if things go back to the way they were. We will likely be seeing each other not as old friends, but as new rivals.
The fact that it is only a minor relations hit is something I can live with, most likely due to Kaspar's doing no doubt. While wealth is not one of our main priorities, considering the fact that it is specifically Art damage makes me believe that it might influence more than just that. Considering the fact that we still have an ideological foe/rival in the Peace Builders, I would rather not take the risk here of losing assets that could help us in that. Especially seeing as after this, I wouldn't be surprised if the story of Kaspar, who the QM likely said would later be revered as a god, becomes a national myth or epic.
Adopting the children is the best short term and long term decision. While those question marks make me wonder what they could be about, I'm still willing to take the risk on this one.
[ ] [Lake] Deepen ties with Arrow Lake.
[ ] [Lake] Keep working on building good will.
[ ] [Lake] Maintain trade relations, but no more.
Right, as others have said before, this opportunity is too good to pass up. While good will is something to be treasured, we have to remember that it is ephemeral and can be easily lost in the generations due to a number of factors. We used to be in good standing with the Peace Seekers too, but all it took was a generation before they became our rival.
Maintaining trade relations doesn't appeal to me because then it would make this decision a net loss, with us not really gaining anything because of it.
Deepening ties is what I prefer because I see it as the option that will one day allow us to integrate them into us, or possibly even make them a vassal. Now that they know our secrets to brick making it is better to co-opt them than cut them loose. While Kaspar's mention of the travel times issue is a valid one, it is one I think is surmountable if we work on it. We should likely focus on our aquaculture, and other projects that will help us build a dam, and a canal in order to make the issue less of a problem. We've been in similar straits to this before, such as when we initially decided to settle the Fingers. It left us vulnerable and could've caused us problems, but through effort we were able to surmount those issues and here we are. That is why I think deepening ties is something that we can deal with it as well.
Here are my prospective votes in any case:
[ ] [Warrior] Yes, violence is an art and must be practiced to the highest degree. (-1 Stability)
[ ] [Marry] Take the resulting children from the Island Makers and raise them among the People. (Minor relations hit with Island Makers, ???)
[ ] [Lake] Deepen ties with Arrow Lake.
