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.
The King is dead. We all knew it was going to happen eventually, although I think most of us didn't expect him to last this long, but either way I'm glad that he's going to get his final rest. He's definitely earned it.
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.
Hmmmm I thought the weather would have gotten better due to how bad they've been the last few turns?
While I can understand how people would be frustrated by our decision to put off settling near the Cave of Stars, we really don't have any other choice at the moment. I'm just glad that we've been able to maintain stability despite our food problems. We've had at times worse stability when we've had surpluses.
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.
Glad to see that our people have a sense of perspective. At least this will likely instill some more orderliness to our people as a whole, even if only temporarily.
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
This sounds to me like tuberculosis, unless anyone else has any better suggestions?
Either way it seems like the South can never catch a break. It seems that our timely exit from the war likely spared us from being visited by the disease as our warriors likely would have brought it back if they had stayed. If we had chosen to end South Lake and got stricken with the disease as a result I could already see that the lessons learned would likely be something along the lines of the spirits punishing us for our actions.
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.
Looks like we have a good buffer state to our south. I'm not entirely sure how long this can last though. The rise of the once insignificant mountain clans is not something I expected and it is something we should keep an eye on lest they get designs on us. I remember than a Chinese Dynasty was once brought low by some clans from the mountains, the Zhou if I am remembering correctly.
So we should not let hubris dictate our interactions with them.
I'm still somewhat curious as to how exactly the Island Makers are the source of this disease. I'm also curious that they're calling it a curse.
@Redium Do they not have a word for other sicknesses or are they referred to curses as well?
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.
Not entirely sure how to feel about this. It's unsurprising that they're doing well with their ear as their economy and food supplies are likely better than their foes. The fact that they seem friendly with us, yet still want to convert us to their way of thinking had me conflicted.
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.
Considering how close knit the People are, it's no wonder word of this spread fast.
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.
How recent has this funerary tradition developed? I'm assuming that due to our wealth, we're one of the few tribes that can afford to do this for our rank and file.
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.
.
Any comments on how anthropologists would view this?
@Redium
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.
Considering the fact that our total population is only in the thousands, Kaspar must have been prolific indeed to have this many descendants already.
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.
Considering the location of the final burial area and the likely large amount of gifts being piled onto the bier, this likely won't occur again for awhile.
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.
Hopefully we can immortalize this story into our People's collective memory as this is what legends and cultural epics are made of.
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?
Our of curiosity at this point what is Kaspar remembered as being a legend for? Aside from his longevity of course.
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.
Considering the fact that the Pharaoh Tutankhamen had a death mask also made with inlaid lapis lazuli, that speaks to how revered Kaspar was and how the wealthy we are, as while ivory is not the same as gold, it's still in a simila category. Taking into account the fact that we couldn't work on gold if we wanted to, no one can likely, the comparisons in this case are all the more in our favor.
"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."
I think we made the the right choice with getting deeper ties to Arrow Lake. The fact that they not only sent a delegation with gifts for this occasion, but one representing their chief speaks volumes as to our ties.
The fact that we are tied into their tribe through blood at the highest levels also suggests that our strategy is working, and that we will likely and hopefully integrate them in the near future.
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.
It's interesting to see that our people already seem to have a concept of the Afterlife from that mention earlier. This passage also speaks to Aeva's talents as she made a small kiln overnight in order to fashion citrine.
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.
Seems like this cave has caused on of our heroes to have an oxygen deprived vision. This really does seem like something analogous to the vents that were below the temple to the oracles of Delphi.
Either way though, the visions created in combination with his procession will likely combine later to make a potent message. The Black Eye here, the hunger it represents along with the current time of hunger for the People, will likely combine to create a new god. Maybe one that is seen in direct opposition to Kaspar in his own legend like Ahura Mazda vs Angra Mainyu in Zoroastrianism.
[ ] [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)
Out of all of the options presented the only one I don't like is the last one. In this momentous and also tragic moment, it would be a waste to simply have Kaspar's death mean nothing here.
For the options presented I agree with
@veekie when it comes to the interpretation of these.
The ascending to the spirits option seems to either mean Kaspar is rising to join them as one of them, thus representing deification, or it means he is rising up to join the spirits in the afterlife. I am not entirely sure what the People's basis for their spirit worship is so I can't be too sure on this option. So
@Redium do you have any clarification for this vote option? Does this represent Kaspar becoming one with the spirits or simply joining them in the afterlife?
If this option is the deification one, we will likely not only reinforce Kaspar's history and legend within the people but also those of his teachings and the stories that came with it, likely imprinting his values upon us, whatever the people likely come to believe it is. Furthermore this could also come to place significance in Kaspar's bloodline, likely boosting their already significant influence even higher and also granting them a lot of legitimacy, which may help considering Aeva is likely our next leader. I am leaning towards this one a little as that would likely help stabilize us for a good while and would fit for this period in history, even if people now would not be comfortable with it.
If this option is the one having Kaspar join the spirits in the afterlife, which it seems was hinted the People already believe in as seen in this passage:
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.
Like was said earlier if this reinforces the idea of an afterlife it will help add on to the belief that those who work hard in life and are exceptional will receive their reward in the next life. This will probably make our people more willing to endure hardship and do things they might not want to. Also would be a pretty good starting point for a religion as this would help us reinforce certain values.
When it comes to the union option this one seems similar to the first. It could mean that Kaspar joining in union with the spirits indicates he becomes one with them as another spirit himself, a deity, or it simply means he joins them in some kind of union of spirits in the afterlife. Similar observations from before apply.
The third option, the one of Kaspar having taught lessons from the spirits will likely have Kaspar enshrined and remembered as some kind of profit. If our religion ever evolves this can likely be used as way for Kaspar's legend to continue as part of it and be reformed if need be. As for now this option will likely boost the values Kaspar espoused during life, enhancing them and putting them at the fore. While seemingly small this will probably make Kaspar an example to follow and boost the influence of our spiritual leaders, as he could be regarded as one of them considering his identity as a key member of the Ember Eyes.
When it comes to the fourth option, this one seems to encourage the idea that Kaspar was spirit blessed, which likely will encourage elitism and excellence within our culture. Maybe this will further the creation of more heroes.
Either way all options save for the last appear to be good ones.
[ ] [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)
As others have said we don't know enough about this mega project in order to proceed.
@Redium any explanation? Either way we can likely wait on this mega project as we don't need to go through with it now, and can save it for later as it doesn't seem like a building project that can be stolen by another civ.
The Grand Shrine is the most appealing option to me as it will likely synergise well with the other options above. Not only will this help us culturally but it will likely help our religious progress later as building this now at the current wonder site at the eve of this momentous occasion will likely help make this a holy place without compare, one that will likely make this a significant site in the future. This will probably only be a step away from a temple later.
When it comes to the last three options those can all be completed later at another time. We don't need any of those urgently at the moment, especially with most of our rivals and competitors suffering at the moment.
My vote for next turn is likely this:
[ ] [Death] Ascended to the spirits!
[ ] [Spirit] Found a grand shrine at the Cave of Stars.
Endurance
Stability: Optimistic (2)
Legitimacy: Obediant (2)
Prestige: 19
???
Also it seems like we've gained a good amount of stability and prestige.
