LucidProp
Pocky Eating MafiaDoka
Now that just ain't right.
Sounds like we need to go crusading to spread the name of God-Emperor Kaspar!
From Stone to the Stars
- Thread starter Redium
- Start date
- Original Alt. History
Sounds like we need to go crusading to spread the name of God-Emperor Kaspar!
- Location
- USA
So similar to the domestication of wolves, do we need to do continuous hunting Orker actions in order to advance domestication here, or will that occur naturally over time?
Considering how high the DC was for finding piglets, what's the DC for hunting Orkers now that we know more about them?
So when it comes to the Northlands being fully nomadic, do they essentially have people that roam off the known map, and that then return later to this area, or is it something different?
So less micromanaging individual settlements later on such as what we are doing now, and more managing entire regions then?
What exactly was the spiritual crisis here?
That makes sense considering our development level.
How much does having specialist units like the Ember Eyes, Fangs, and Frost Scarred help us? Do others have Holy Orders too?
When will warfare become more organized?
How exactly do they fish if there is a lot of ice on the lake? Are their tools already sufficient for ice fishing?
I'm guessing it's because of our bricks?
Hopefully the developments have been positive.
Like most things I am sure, still glad to here we are doing so well in that department.
Just for clarity, are the Holy Orders religious orders, meaning when you join them do you have to worship a specific deity, or is it more of a group of specialists whose beliefs and works are seen as holy?
How effective is armor, or its developments, in combat so far?
That makes sense, is that just for us though? I assume from mentions before that there are plains down south where there aren't trees to limit the effectiveness of bows, so Is shield use more common down there?
Also, is there any actual naval combat yet? Such as could we commence raids using the canoes as platforms of war? Or do we just mostly use our canoes as transportation?
I'm guessing that gives our tribe a major advantage when it comes to the melee engagements then. Is that why everyone else seems to use war clubs, they don't have equivalents to Blackswords?
I assume war clubs are their next best thing then?
I see that Arrow Lake isn't even on the list at all, any reason for that, or do they simply not have any warriors period? Even the Northlands seems to have warriors.
It looks like we'll be competing with the Tribe of the West soon considering how well matched we seem to be. Considering we've had first contact with them, what more do we know about them?
Good to know there. So considering we decided to trade with them, what exactly are we trading with them?
Yeah looking at the map, there is a lot to talk about:
From what we can see here, it looks like the Island Makers have taken the former territory of South Lake which used to be the homeland of the Hundred Bands, which is a problem really as it gives them the only entrance we have to the Southern Lake and also gives them good access to the White River. From what we can tell from the symbols on the water in their territory I'm guessing they are using those anchors as dedicated ports, something to consider if we want to pick something up from them.
From what else we can see on the map if we zoom in, one of the main things I've noticed is that everyone else seems to have these totem pole looking symbols in their territory aside from us. What does that mean @Redium
Also, looking closer at the symbology, aside from us, Arrow Lake is the only tribe that shares the low and squat looking symbols for their settlements, likely as a signal for them having brick walls, while others like the Island Makers and Peace Builders seem to be the only ones with fortified settlements with palisades. Not too much of a problem for us considering we have the Ember Eyes. South Lake, Bond Breakers, the Tribe of the West, the Northlands, and the Pearl Divers all seem to have unfortified settlements, which means our strategic advantages against them are secure.
The Mountain Clans though do not seem to have any concrete settlements at all and inhabit a vast swathe of territory, including some areas on the White River that should like to control eventually if we want to gain access to it. It might become our Mediterranean at some point. Whether they have no settlements on the map is by design or simply due to lack of knowledge is unknown at this time.
What do those leaf like symbols in the territory of the Tribe of the West signify? @Redium I don't think it's maple sugar considering it looks distinct from our sugar tapping groves, but I can't tell with this resolution. Also what's that gold symbol in the Pearl Divers territory mean?
When it comes to our new possible settlement points it looks clear to me that the first campfire sign east of Crystal Lake is the area near those Wonder Caves we found, considering that dark cave like hole in the map. The other locations are either on the Great River, such as the following eastward ones, or a location on the bay. My recommendation for those is that we go for the river sites first, then the bay if need be as Hill Guard is good enough for that purpose.
Looking at the number of settlements for each tribe here, while we cover the most area in total distance, the other tribes likely have more population when we look at settlement count, with the Peace Builders, Tribe of the West, and Bond Breakers having either similar or more settlements than our initial three.
Something to think about considering how important geography is.
They saw a dead sow have live young cut out. Its freaky. Ask shamans what to do is the default for anything against their common sense
Bone tools are enough. Especially if after opening a hole you just keep it from freezing back
Theres literally no other edged weapon until Bronze. Though loaded war clubs hit like a bitch
- Location
- Europa, Jupiter Orbit
I too am curious if anyone we know have any organizations similar to our holy orders, be it military or otherwise. They are one of the most unique things and pretty awesome.
Think of how scary it must be to face our holy orders in war. First you hear howls in the woods, as if the wolves there became numerous and agitated, which is bad enough. And ten there are more and more stories of mixed wolf and human packs terrorizing your people. It's the Sugar Tribe the elders say. And it's time to hunt them out of our woods.
You return home, bitten, but holding the heads of man and wolf alike aloft. But what is that? Your home is burning! Everything is! Fire is literally falling from the sky and ember decorated demons run from house to house. You run and join you brethren to chase them out, but once they finally leave it is too late to save much from the fire. This will be a harsh winter. People will have to huddle together in the remaining huts and food reserves have burned as well. But at least the winter will prevent any more of those Sugar Demons your enemy summoned against you.
Or so you thought. It was the harshest blizzard and only the hardiest of hunters would dare go outside, desperate to bring food to the People. Yet you hear shouts from outside, you are under attack! But how? You grab your club to face anyone crazy enough to try and attack through a blizzard. But all you see is a walking corpse. The corpse of a giant, white like the snow and it's nose missing. He's wielding a club studded richly with obsidian. It is the last thing you see. As you fall, you close your eyes and weep for what horror will befall the women and children huddled together behind you.
Think of how scary it must be to face our holy orders in war. First you hear howls in the woods, as if the wolves there became numerous and agitated, which is bad enough. And ten there are more and more stories of mixed wolf and human packs terrorizing your people. It's the Sugar Tribe the elders say. And it's time to hunt them out of our woods.
You return home, bitten, but holding the heads of man and wolf alike aloft. But what is that? Your home is burning! Everything is! Fire is literally falling from the sky and ember decorated demons run from house to house. You run and join you brethren to chase them out, but once they finally leave it is too late to save much from the fire. This will be a harsh winter. People will have to huddle together in the remaining huts and food reserves have burned as well. But at least the winter will prevent any more of those Sugar Demons your enemy summoned against you.
Or so you thought. It was the harshest blizzard and only the hardiest of hunters would dare go outside, desperate to bring food to the People. Yet you hear shouts from outside, you are under attack! But how? You grab your club to face anyone crazy enough to try and attack through a blizzard. But all you see is a walking corpse. The corpse of a giant, white like the snow and it's nose missing. He's wielding a club studded richly with obsidian. It is the last thing you see. As you fall, you close your eyes and weep for what horror will befall the women and children huddled together behind you.
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Z000
If this is trash, then find me in the dumpster
- Location
- Viet Nam
hit and run
asset denial and supply destruction
attack while bad weather is occurring
yeah, we set up to just flat out wreck people, endurance fight is impossible with us since we use so much fire and winter attack
Z000
If this is trash, then find me in the dumpster
- Location
- Viet Nam
what the best Anti-armor we can get at these time period ?
We have it. The Blacksword carves through the leather and hide armor of the time like its not even there. Wicker armor is expensive in manpower to build until you have copper tools.
Flint arrows maybe, but our area is too forested for archery to be used heavily. And then loaded clubs(just a normal wooden club packed with heavy stuff like rocks, or later, lead) works on basically anything just fine since F=MA doesn't change. It just changes materials
Obsidian weapons only really become obsolete when we hit the bronze age proper and bronze armor renders the blacksword into expensive shrapnel on hit. It'd even last through the early bronze age since its better than bronze blades against anything but bronze blades, until the smelting throughput gets to where armor is affordable.
- Location
- Southampton, Great Britain
- Pronouns
- He/Him
I know this topic has been dropped, but I just wanted to state that I am planning to do a quest similar to what you are suggesting, which is to say a civ quest set in a fantasy world rather than an alt-earth world, but it would be a sequel to my current quest that is on the verge of ending.
I normally won't advertise on someone's else thread, but I am doing a thread that people were expressing interesting so I figured it was easier to just post in the thread rather than PM everyone separately.
- Location
- Southampton, Great Britain
- Pronouns
- He/Him
- Location
- USA
Just a curious observation I made, but does anyone else think that we might be on the Great Lakes?
I mean, this may be a stretch, however the location of the specific freshwater landmarks seems to match up quite closely with the geography or at least the shape of the Great Lakes. For instance, if we look at where Montreal is on the second map we can see that just like the Fingers on the first map, it's on an island that is at the confluence point of three rivers with the directions that the rivers flow seeming to match that of the St. Lawrence and Ottawa rivers.
Furthermore, if we look at the shape of South Lake, it seems awfully similar to that of Lake Ontario.
If we look at the location west of where Hill Guard stands, the shape and contours of the bay and waters around it seem similar to the Georgian Bay.
Then again, for all I know this is all just a coincidence with the shapes just happening to match up. Without a proper sense of scale, I don't really think we can draw anything conclusive from this. Even though when it comes to the other factors, specifically the fact that we would need to be in the northeastern part of North America for Sugar Maple to grow, those facts make this theory more plausible than before.
Any comments @Redium ?
I mean, this may be a stretch, however the location of the specific freshwater landmarks seems to match up quite closely with the geography or at least the shape of the Great Lakes. For instance, if we look at where Montreal is on the second map we can see that just like the Fingers on the first map, it's on an island that is at the confluence point of three rivers with the directions that the rivers flow seeming to match that of the St. Lawrence and Ottawa rivers.
Furthermore, if we look at the shape of South Lake, it seems awfully similar to that of Lake Ontario.
If we look at the location west of where Hill Guard stands, the shape and contours of the bay and waters around it seem similar to the Georgian Bay.
Then again, for all I know this is all just a coincidence with the shapes just happening to match up. Without a proper sense of scale, I don't really think we can draw anything conclusive from this. Even though when it comes to the other factors, specifically the fact that we would need to be in the northeastern part of North America for Sugar Maple to grow, those facts make this theory more plausible than before.
Any comments @Redium ?
- Location
- Queensland, Australia
I think we've always thought we're somewhere in Not!(?)North America, just not sure where in it. Lately though we have been thinking mostly around the Great Lakes. The comparisons you just made just change that from 'probably' to 'almost certainly'.
And if we are, that is really, really good. Because it's both one of the single best locations to build up an empire at, and in the future it's going to give us reasonably easy access to any Not!Vikings that travel over the Not!Atlantic, if we haven't figured out Bronze and Iron Metallurgy by then. Which is highly unlikely according to Redium, but wouldn't say impossible. It also means we're going to have easy access in the medium-long term to Newfoundland, which is going to give us access to the fisheries offshore there, which means we're most likely going to have contact with the Not!Europeans long before they start colonising the North American coastline, especially the Eastern Seaboard. Which means even if we get hit by diseases as badly as IRL, without the Europeans being hit any harder than IRL, we're highly likely to have picked up a bunch of technologies that would mean we're a lot more competitive technology-wise with them, if we somehow don't manage to advance much beyond what the Amerindians did in real life by the 1400s or so.
And if we are, that is really, really good. Because it's both one of the single best locations to build up an empire at, and in the future it's going to give us reasonably easy access to any Not!Vikings that travel over the Not!Atlantic, if we haven't figured out Bronze and Iron Metallurgy by then. Which is highly unlikely according to Redium, but wouldn't say impossible. It also means we're going to have easy access in the medium-long term to Newfoundland, which is going to give us access to the fisheries offshore there, which means we're most likely going to have contact with the Not!Europeans long before they start colonising the North American coastline, especially the Eastern Seaboard. Which means even if we get hit by diseases as badly as IRL, without the Europeans being hit any harder than IRL, we're highly likely to have picked up a bunch of technologies that would mean we're a lot more competitive technology-wise with them, if we somehow don't manage to advance much beyond what the Amerindians did in real life by the 1400s or so.
Ghostdevil
The Devil of Ghosts
- Location
- United States
Speaking of, if we develop large cities with lots of animals, like Europe, then we will get lots of diseases... then when the NotEuropeans come we have an accidental biowar and we kill eachother off in massive plagues.
- Location
- Canada
oh boy, we are in the worse place to get domesticated animals, we were lucky with the wolves huh?
- Location
- Queensland, Australia
Actually, horses supposedly still existed in North America up until 120 000 - 8 000 years ago. Which is from human settlement to a while afterwards.
Combine that fact with the fact we have Orkers (and tame orkers at that, meaning we can probably domesticate them eventually), as well as Mammoths which we've been told are possible to domesticate, and we're pretty good.
So we're probably good on the 'lack domesticated animals' part. I mean, we won't get horses ourselves, we'll need to explore south or south west until we find the equivalent of the Great Plains where the herds would be, and hope they're still alive and wild, or that another tribe has domesticated them. On the other hand, Orkers would be good for livestock, and most likely beasts of burden. So yeah. We've got very good odds of avoiding that problem. Now all we need to do is live through all the plagues. wars and other disasters in the mean time, long enough that we either sail to Europe, or have Europe sail over to us.
Combine that fact with the fact we have Orkers (and tame orkers at that, meaning we can probably domesticate them eventually), as well as Mammoths which we've been told are possible to domesticate, and we're pretty good.
So we're probably good on the 'lack domesticated animals' part. I mean, we won't get horses ourselves, we'll need to explore south or south west until we find the equivalent of the Great Plains where the herds would be, and hope they're still alive and wild, or that another tribe has domesticated them. On the other hand, Orkers would be good for livestock, and most likely beasts of burden. So yeah. We've got very good odds of avoiding that problem. Now all we need to do is live through all the plagues. wars and other disasters in the mean time, long enough that we either sail to Europe, or have Europe sail over to us.
- Pronouns
- He/Him
We've been told we can get tame mammoths, but domesticated mammoths are unlikely. To delegate once again:
15.1 The Black Eye
[X] [Cave] It's a mouth to the spirits' home.
[X] [River] Put off the settlement for a generation. (-1 Legitimacy)
[X] [War] Withdraw your men, bring them home. (Expand Hunting)
Kaspar was dead.
He had died quietly in his sleep. Content that he had lead the People well and with a faint smile on his face.
Aeva almost didn't believe that he was dead. She knew that he would eventually die, that was the way of the world. No plant and no animal lived forever, only the spirits of earth and stream were unending. But, Aeva thought that if someone had figured out the secrets to avoiding death, it would've been her father. Seeing his body, laying there in his personal alcove... it was unreal.
Mustering her spirit, Aeva turned to face the residents of her longhouse. While many of them were her family, there were others there. People that were important; members of her father's Slate, religious leaders from among the Holy Orders, and aspiring war-leaders. All of them peered from their own alcoves, looking expectantly at her. Now was normally the time that she would smile and tell them that their leader, the only leader that even their grandparents had ever known, was fine. Gathering his wits and strength to deal with the problems faced by the People, Kaspar would be out later in the day.
It was a lie, of course. Kaspar had been exhausted, barely able to move for years. His mind had remained sharp, but his body... wounds leaking blood so rotten it was nearly black, ranged across his back and legs. His skin had the feel and consistency of old leather. His hair was gone and for food he was reduced to mashing pre-cut pieces together with his gums. He never spoke of the pain, but Aeva always wondered if that was because his body felt nothing any more. Kaspar had become a being of mind constrained in a physical container.
All of the pain and degradation were carefully hidden. "Weakness would not be tolerated," Kaspar had always said. "The weather shows the spirits' displeasure and we've no need for the People to be anything but fully confident in their leadership." It had started small; a more comfortable chair, a system of ropes that Kaspar could use to hold himself up, to more regimented and convenient hours for him to sleep. It had grown from there, convenient falsehoods to be an enormous tree of a lie.
Now, the lie was dead and would come crashing down.
The war in the south had ended, at least for the People, but the weather remained as turbulent as it had the past few years. Or the Cave of Stars. Aeva had headed her father's suggestion there and prevented the People from settling near it. The decision was unpopular, to put it lightly. All among the People were attracted to the mysteries and wonders of the world. A door to the spirit realm... it would be a direct conduit to the spirits whom so bedeviled the People. With that, even a regular person could intercede with the spirits, something normally only possible for spirit-touched shaman. The gift of tongues, senses, and possession were a starkly limited gift.
The Cave of Stars was dangerous, but open to all. Having to give up that for a generation was a difficult pill to swallow. It was necessary, many would admit, but the People were not happy to have that lesson enforced on them. As a whole, they were used to a very wide degree of latitude. If they wanted to spend their time organizing the construction of a new settlement, why shouldn't they be able to do that? Everyone recognized that the People had obligations; to their Big Man, to their longhouse, to their family, to each other; but that obligation did not consume them. There was wiggle room available.
At least, there would be in better times. Until those better times came back, Aeva, and the rest of her Slate, would need to enforce additional control to make sure everyone got feed.
There was also the uncertain future to consider. Aeva had listened to more than a few reports from her warriors drifting up from the Fingers of a sickness. One that sapped away the accursed's strength, driving people to rest and even inactivity. Some who had been afflicted even died; starving to death no matter how generously they had eaten. The Fingers had been affected, but only minimally. The south had apparently been ravaged under the sleeping sickness' scourge. The tribes down there, weakened by war and icy weather, had proved extremely vulnerable to the curse.
It was reason enough to thank the Mountain Clans for their aggression; they had swept down into the lowlands west of their mountain range; raiding, hunting, and even settling everything they could get their hands on. Their numbers had swollen with refugees escaping from South Lake and the sudden vacuum of power caused by their near collapse had emboldened the former victims and opportunists alike to carve out their own slice of paradise. The Mountain Clan's aggressive posture had massively reduced contact between the People and the Island Makers, cutting the former off from the source of the curse.
From what scouts reported, it seemed that the Peace Builders were having similar success in their own theater of war. Despite that, they still seemed friendly with the People.
Still, Kaspar's death threw the future into doubt. There was much that could go wrong, all too easily; especially if the People panicked. They needed assurances.
"My father is no longer with us," Aeva spoke quietly. Silence reigned throughout the longhouse. Even infants and children seemed to have stilled at the momentous news. Whispers cascaded out mere seconds later, twisting and reaching like a spider's legs and carrying deadly poison.
"He has...
[ ] [Death] Ascended to the spirits!
[ ] [Death] Joined the spirits in union.
[ ] [Death] Has finished the lessons given to him by the spirits.
[ ] [Death] Has been blessed by the spirits, in their own way.
[ ] [Death] Has died. (-1 or -2 Stability)
The silence the greeted her statement was significantly less tense. Uncertain for sure, Aeva judged, but it was a silence in which stability could grow. "Terje," Aeva called out to one of the young women milling slowly around. "Inform the rest of the People; have messengers dispatched to Hill Guard and the Fingers. In two moons, my father will be interred within the Cave of Stars. Tuule, bring the salt."
Normally, among the People, funerals were relatively simple affairs. An individuals remains would be carried by pallbearers, close friends and family to be buried in their own, unmarked plots with an assortment of grave gifts. A few clay pots containing food, perhaps tools or a weapons, a few treasured possessions; it was ultimately a small affair.
Kaspar's funeral was very different. Even setting aside that he would be buried in the spirit realm, his grave was going to be rich. His bier was stuffed with funerary gifts before his remains were even placed atop it. Necklaces of teeth, bracelets fashioned of quartz, pots filled generously with scarce food, tools and weapons of bone and obsidian, seashells and wooden carvings; everything that the People valued were added. Aeva didn't ask for funerary gifts, they simply came in a massive surge of grief. Even when Aeva ordered several buckets of salt to be poured over Kaspar's remains to preserve it for the journey to his final resting place, there was no outcry regarding the immense extravagance.
The only controversy occurred when over two hundred people offered to be pallbearers for him. To be a pallbearer was a great honour, taking a small manner of the deceased's legend into yourself; providing them a final service, a final favour. Normally, it was a simple matter to find six individuals of renown or close relation to bear the deceased to their grave. There were usually not enough options to make the decision difficult. In this case, Kaspar had literally hundred of descendants to pick from and everyone outside his family with any name at all wanted to offer themselves up. Violence had quickly sprung up among the various petitioners and there was at least one who was not expected to see sunset as a result of the scuffle.
Aeva had to put her foot down and assert herself as Kaspar's only living child and a Big Man in her own right. Everyone would get an opportunity to bear her father to his place of rest, but not if they continued to behave like children.
Kaspar's journey was quiet, uninterrupted in its solemn procession. Despite the fact that it just seemed to grow. When Aeva initially left, she had taken a few dozen people with her; close family members, important supporters, and spiritual leaders. The first night that they had stopped to sleep, she noticed that there were a few more people close by. Less than a handful, all easily missed, but there were more. By dawn of the next day, there was nearly ten. On the seventh day, they were no longer even trying to be subtle. Hundreds had taken to the procession.
By the time that they arrived at the Cave of Stars, there were thousands following behind them in mourning. The bier on which Kaspar rested had been replaced, a more ostentatious one inlaid with ivory and amethyst had been provided as a gift. His old bier had been repurposed, carrying funeral gifts, that had quickly overflowed and filled up four more biers. The People seemed to take it as a challenge, who could offer the most ostentatious gifts to their Legend? Who would prove that their Excellence in the pursuit?
Every longhouse, every order, and every family, from had sent representatives to the Cave of Stars for the funeral. Only the oldest of the old and the youngest of the young were absent. Aeva had been shocked to see that the funeral's reach extended even beyond the People. A delegation from Arrow Lake had arrived, both of them bearing a gift. It was a mask, carved from a large block of lapis luzili set on a carve ivory mask that... more or less resembled her father. The carver had obviously worked from a description, never having met Kaspar, but it was close enough.
"A gift for the Honoured Grandfather," the head of the delegation said. "From Arrow Lake, Kith and Kin, to Kin and Kith. On behalf of my father, from our family to yours."
Something triggered in Aeva's memory. "Your gift is most gracious, honoured guest." The Big Man of the Fingers had married a girl from Arrow Lake. They had met while they were little more than children, working together to build walls around the Lake's mines. If Aeva recalled correctly, she was a niece of Arrow Lake's 'chief'. "Please join me at dawn tomorrow. We can share the honour of escorting my father to his final rest."
It was tradition that a body would be watched over by family and buried at dawn. Death was a change, a transformation, but it was not the end. As the sun slowly climbed in the sky, it would carry with it the spirit of the departed. Aeva spent her last night with her father well. She could not sleep and thus built a small kiln in a clearing just outside the Twisted Forest. It was small, but still burned hot enough that the two amethysts added to the blaze transformed to citrine. Perfectly shaped half-circles, they would adorn the Blue Ivory Mask's eyes. Kaspar was, after all, Ember-Eyed, first and foremost. Even if he could have fulfilled the trials to be a Fang or among the Frost-Scarred, that was not where his heart lay.
At dawn the next day, Kaspar was laid to rest. The experience had left Aeva... bewildered, she suspected was the best word. She had lead the Pallbearers, a mix of the People's Big Men, Holy Orders, and the representative from Arrow Lake. A single breath of the air within the Cave of Stars was near enough to send her to hear knees. The world wavered, shimmering as if the rock wall before them had suddenly become the night sky. A weight settled across her shoulders and ten thousand eyes seemed to press upon her. The bier on which her father rested quickly became heavy, turning from wooden to hardened stone, and then something even worse. It only bore hear father, the Blue Ivory Mask and the treasures of the People's Big Men, but it felt like she bore the weight of all the People.
The cave was quite narrow, riven with cracks that seeped deep within the earth.
Aeva's heart hammered in her eyes, the staccato joining the sharp thumping of drums and chanting from outside. The flutes and whistles behind them suddenly seemed to wail, accusing her. The pitch stretched, a single note suddenly becoming a symphony, a river of noise that threatened to scourge her mind.
The bier nearly unbalanced, almost dumping its treasured cargo, as the Frost-Scarred pallbearer dropped to his knee, panting.
Aeva herself tripped, the sudden loss of balance nearly knocking her over. Blinking rapidly, she finally managed to refocus her eyes. The pallbearers stood atop a small cliff, an internal drop to a dark, inky void. Light itself seemed to go in there to die. At the bottom of the abyss, there rested a great, black eye. Staring down, Aeva could feel it piercing her soul in return. The world suddenly came into focus, and the Black Eye... blinked.
Aeva did not recall setting her father's bier down, or pilling it high with other funerary gifts. She just remembered floating... rising up to the sunlight realm. And the Hunger that waited below.
The spirits had spoken. The message was obscure, but Aeva knew that they had spoken. All the remained was the question on what to do about it.
[ ] [Spirit] Begin Megaproject: The Hunt!
[ ] [Spirit] Found a grand shrine at the Cave of Stars.
[ ] [Spirit] Complete a Hill at Crystal Lake (Build Hill 1 & 2: Crystal Lake)
[ ] [Spirit] Expand the Fire Relay (Expand Fire Relay 1 & 2 to Hill Guard)
[ ] [Spirit] See more of The World (Explore x3)
AN: The vote is in moratorium until I post the next threadmark. Votes before that will not be counted.
[X] [River] Put off the settlement for a generation. (-1 Legitimacy)
[X] [War] Withdraw your men, bring them home. (Expand Hunting)
Kaspar was dead.
He had died quietly in his sleep. Content that he had lead the People well and with a faint smile on his face.
Aeva almost didn't believe that he was dead. She knew that he would eventually die, that was the way of the world. No plant and no animal lived forever, only the spirits of earth and stream were unending. But, Aeva thought that if someone had figured out the secrets to avoiding death, it would've been her father. Seeing his body, laying there in his personal alcove... it was unreal.
Mustering her spirit, Aeva turned to face the residents of her longhouse. While many of them were her family, there were others there. People that were important; members of her father's Slate, religious leaders from among the Holy Orders, and aspiring war-leaders. All of them peered from their own alcoves, looking expectantly at her. Now was normally the time that she would smile and tell them that their leader, the only leader that even their grandparents had ever known, was fine. Gathering his wits and strength to deal with the problems faced by the People, Kaspar would be out later in the day.
It was a lie, of course. Kaspar had been exhausted, barely able to move for years. His mind had remained sharp, but his body... wounds leaking blood so rotten it was nearly black, ranged across his back and legs. His skin had the feel and consistency of old leather. His hair was gone and for food he was reduced to mashing pre-cut pieces together with his gums. He never spoke of the pain, but Aeva always wondered if that was because his body felt nothing any more. Kaspar had become a being of mind constrained in a physical container.
All of the pain and degradation were carefully hidden. "Weakness would not be tolerated," Kaspar had always said. "The weather shows the spirits' displeasure and we've no need for the People to be anything but fully confident in their leadership." It had started small; a more comfortable chair, a system of ropes that Kaspar could use to hold himself up, to more regimented and convenient hours for him to sleep. It had grown from there, convenient falsehoods to be an enormous tree of a lie.
Now, the lie was dead and would come crashing down.
The war in the south had ended, at least for the People, but the weather remained as turbulent as it had the past few years. Or the Cave of Stars. Aeva had headed her father's suggestion there and prevented the People from settling near it. The decision was unpopular, to put it lightly. All among the People were attracted to the mysteries and wonders of the world. A door to the spirit realm... it would be a direct conduit to the spirits whom so bedeviled the People. With that, even a regular person could intercede with the spirits, something normally only possible for spirit-touched shaman. The gift of tongues, senses, and possession were a starkly limited gift.
The Cave of Stars was dangerous, but open to all. Having to give up that for a generation was a difficult pill to swallow. It was necessary, many would admit, but the People were not happy to have that lesson enforced on them. As a whole, they were used to a very wide degree of latitude. If they wanted to spend their time organizing the construction of a new settlement, why shouldn't they be able to do that? Everyone recognized that the People had obligations; to their Big Man, to their longhouse, to their family, to each other; but that obligation did not consume them. There was wiggle room available.
At least, there would be in better times. Until those better times came back, Aeva, and the rest of her Slate, would need to enforce additional control to make sure everyone got feed.
There was also the uncertain future to consider. Aeva had listened to more than a few reports from her warriors drifting up from the Fingers of a sickness. One that sapped away the accursed's strength, driving people to rest and even inactivity. Some who had been afflicted even died; starving to death no matter how generously they had eaten. The Fingers had been affected, but only minimally. The south had apparently been ravaged under the sleeping sickness' scourge. The tribes down there, weakened by war and icy weather, had proved extremely vulnerable to the curse.
It was reason enough to thank the Mountain Clans for their aggression; they had swept down into the lowlands west of their mountain range; raiding, hunting, and even settling everything they could get their hands on. Their numbers had swollen with refugees escaping from South Lake and the sudden vacuum of power caused by their near collapse had emboldened the former victims and opportunists alike to carve out their own slice of paradise. The Mountain Clan's aggressive posture had massively reduced contact between the People and the Island Makers, cutting the former off from the source of the curse.
From what scouts reported, it seemed that the Peace Builders were having similar success in their own theater of war. Despite that, they still seemed friendly with the People.
Still, Kaspar's death threw the future into doubt. There was much that could go wrong, all too easily; especially if the People panicked. They needed assurances.
"My father is no longer with us," Aeva spoke quietly. Silence reigned throughout the longhouse. Even infants and children seemed to have stilled at the momentous news. Whispers cascaded out mere seconds later, twisting and reaching like a spider's legs and carrying deadly poison.
"He has...
[ ] [Death] Ascended to the spirits!
[ ] [Death] Joined the spirits in union.
[ ] [Death] Has finished the lessons given to him by the spirits.
[ ] [Death] Has been blessed by the spirits, in their own way.
[ ] [Death] Has died. (-1 or -2 Stability)
The silence the greeted her statement was significantly less tense. Uncertain for sure, Aeva judged, but it was a silence in which stability could grow. "Terje," Aeva called out to one of the young women milling slowly around. "Inform the rest of the People; have messengers dispatched to Hill Guard and the Fingers. In two moons, my father will be interred within the Cave of Stars. Tuule, bring the salt."
Normally, among the People, funerals were relatively simple affairs. An individuals remains would be carried by pallbearers, close friends and family to be buried in their own, unmarked plots with an assortment of grave gifts. A few clay pots containing food, perhaps tools or a weapons, a few treasured possessions; it was ultimately a small affair.
Kaspar's funeral was very different. Even setting aside that he would be buried in the spirit realm, his grave was going to be rich. His bier was stuffed with funerary gifts before his remains were even placed atop it. Necklaces of teeth, bracelets fashioned of quartz, pots filled generously with scarce food, tools and weapons of bone and obsidian, seashells and wooden carvings; everything that the People valued were added. Aeva didn't ask for funerary gifts, they simply came in a massive surge of grief. Even when Aeva ordered several buckets of salt to be poured over Kaspar's remains to preserve it for the journey to his final resting place, there was no outcry regarding the immense extravagance.
The only controversy occurred when over two hundred people offered to be pallbearers for him. To be a pallbearer was a great honour, taking a small manner of the deceased's legend into yourself; providing them a final service, a final favour. Normally, it was a simple matter to find six individuals of renown or close relation to bear the deceased to their grave. There were usually not enough options to make the decision difficult. In this case, Kaspar had literally hundred of descendants to pick from and everyone outside his family with any name at all wanted to offer themselves up. Violence had quickly sprung up among the various petitioners and there was at least one who was not expected to see sunset as a result of the scuffle.
Aeva had to put her foot down and assert herself as Kaspar's only living child and a Big Man in her own right. Everyone would get an opportunity to bear her father to his place of rest, but not if they continued to behave like children.
Kaspar's journey was quiet, uninterrupted in its solemn procession. Despite the fact that it just seemed to grow. When Aeva initially left, she had taken a few dozen people with her; close family members, important supporters, and spiritual leaders. The first night that they had stopped to sleep, she noticed that there were a few more people close by. Less than a handful, all easily missed, but there were more. By dawn of the next day, there was nearly ten. On the seventh day, they were no longer even trying to be subtle. Hundreds had taken to the procession.
By the time that they arrived at the Cave of Stars, there were thousands following behind them in mourning. The bier on which Kaspar rested had been replaced, a more ostentatious one inlaid with ivory and amethyst had been provided as a gift. His old bier had been repurposed, carrying funeral gifts, that had quickly overflowed and filled up four more biers. The People seemed to take it as a challenge, who could offer the most ostentatious gifts to their Legend? Who would prove that their Excellence in the pursuit?
Every longhouse, every order, and every family, from had sent representatives to the Cave of Stars for the funeral. Only the oldest of the old and the youngest of the young were absent. Aeva had been shocked to see that the funeral's reach extended even beyond the People. A delegation from Arrow Lake had arrived, both of them bearing a gift. It was a mask, carved from a large block of lapis luzili set on a carve ivory mask that... more or less resembled her father. The carver had obviously worked from a description, never having met Kaspar, but it was close enough.
"A gift for the Honoured Grandfather," the head of the delegation said. "From Arrow Lake, Kith and Kin, to Kin and Kith. On behalf of my father, from our family to yours."
Something triggered in Aeva's memory. "Your gift is most gracious, honoured guest." The Big Man of the Fingers had married a girl from Arrow Lake. They had met while they were little more than children, working together to build walls around the Lake's mines. If Aeva recalled correctly, she was a niece of Arrow Lake's 'chief'. "Please join me at dawn tomorrow. We can share the honour of escorting my father to his final rest."
It was tradition that a body would be watched over by family and buried at dawn. Death was a change, a transformation, but it was not the end. As the sun slowly climbed in the sky, it would carry with it the spirit of the departed. Aeva spent her last night with her father well. She could not sleep and thus built a small kiln in a clearing just outside the Twisted Forest. It was small, but still burned hot enough that the two amethysts added to the blaze transformed to citrine. Perfectly shaped half-circles, they would adorn the Blue Ivory Mask's eyes. Kaspar was, after all, Ember-Eyed, first and foremost. Even if he could have fulfilled the trials to be a Fang or among the Frost-Scarred, that was not where his heart lay.
At dawn the next day, Kaspar was laid to rest. The experience had left Aeva... bewildered, she suspected was the best word. She had lead the Pallbearers, a mix of the People's Big Men, Holy Orders, and the representative from Arrow Lake. A single breath of the air within the Cave of Stars was near enough to send her to hear knees. The world wavered, shimmering as if the rock wall before them had suddenly become the night sky. A weight settled across her shoulders and ten thousand eyes seemed to press upon her. The bier on which her father rested quickly became heavy, turning from wooden to hardened stone, and then something even worse. It only bore hear father, the Blue Ivory Mask and the treasures of the People's Big Men, but it felt like she bore the weight of all the People.
The cave was quite narrow, riven with cracks that seeped deep within the earth.
Aeva's heart hammered in her eyes, the staccato joining the sharp thumping of drums and chanting from outside. The flutes and whistles behind them suddenly seemed to wail, accusing her. The pitch stretched, a single note suddenly becoming a symphony, a river of noise that threatened to scourge her mind.
The bier nearly unbalanced, almost dumping its treasured cargo, as the Frost-Scarred pallbearer dropped to his knee, panting.
Aeva herself tripped, the sudden loss of balance nearly knocking her over. Blinking rapidly, she finally managed to refocus her eyes. The pallbearers stood atop a small cliff, an internal drop to a dark, inky void. Light itself seemed to go in there to die. At the bottom of the abyss, there rested a great, black eye. Staring down, Aeva could feel it piercing her soul in return. The world suddenly came into focus, and the Black Eye... blinked.
Aeva did not recall setting her father's bier down, or pilling it high with other funerary gifts. She just remembered floating... rising up to the sunlight realm. And the Hunger that waited below.
The spirits had spoken. The message was obscure, but Aeva knew that they had spoken. All the remained was the question on what to do about it.
[ ] [Spirit] Begin Megaproject: The Hunt!
[ ] [Spirit] Found a grand shrine at the Cave of Stars.
[ ] [Spirit] Complete a Hill at Crystal Lake (Build Hill 1 & 2: Crystal Lake)
[ ] [Spirit] Expand the Fire Relay (Expand Fire Relay 1 & 2 to Hill Guard)
[ ] [Spirit] See more of The World (Explore x3)
AN: The vote is in moratorium until I post the next threadmark. Votes before that will not be counted.