That's what the Spartans do.
They may be the biggest badass warriors of all time, but the slaves actually do all the real work of attending to farms.
Whereas our civilization is badass in the way of being industrious.
Paths of Civilization
- Thread starter Academia Nut
- Start date
- Original
That's what the Spartans do.
They may be the biggest badass warriors of all time, but the slaves actually do all the real work of attending to farms.
Whereas our civilization is badass in the way of being industrious.
Umi-san
Procrastinating.
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90% because I think that it's rad. 8% because it would make us more able to resist assaults. 2% because doing slow exercise patterns that can be used for martial arts - like tai chi - help elderly people stay mobile. Which isn't rly an issue in this time period, admittedly.
Note that I said militarily.
The painkiller point is a wonderful one. Opium is always thought of more as a drug, these days, rather than as laudanum.
Honestly, the "7 y.o daughter" thing was less an ambition and more an example of how highly developed our martial arts would be.
However, I'd argue that, if it was applied to our civilization as a whole through the military training that is already applied to our civilization as a whole - as instituted by our renowned Hero-, muscle wouldn't be an issue because we'd be learning aikido-esque styles that rely more on technique than power. Teach it to children when they're young along with stretching techniques and it will keep their bodies healthy over the long term. Then, they're better able to work while youngish and more able to continue working and innovating (ideally with more dexterous hands, backs, and arms) when they're older.
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Having a professional army with logistics to back it up will help us resist assault. So is living on hills and having forts.
Theres a reason only slavetaking cultures can do that: Because they do not need to farm, so the ruling class can ensure everyone in the ruling class can fight.
It doesn't matter how badass your martial arts is, it's still going to take years of practice to build the muscle mass and memory to do it.
if you want our civilians with minimal training to be threatening the approach is to make weapons cheap and easy to produce so that our militia are just as well armed as enemy raiders, THAT would make a difference.
Universal martial competency is an extreme luxury.
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Umi-san
Procrastinating.
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- ꙮ
Which we already
It's a good idea to produce cheap and easily producible weapons so long as they're things that our civilians can actually use - which takes practice, unless we're going to go with the stick-and-spear-style levy.
Note that we 1) already offer military training to all 2) produce a surplus of food and 3) have Fishers who avowedly sit around for a rather large part of the season, though that is like to change as our ships develop.
1) Actually we make it available. Most farmers are not militia(since it takes time away from farming), but every village has enough militia that they can assemble an adequate impromptu fighting force. Most women don't even take the option at all.
3) Uh...when do Fishers sit idle for significant periods? When it's the stormy season and they're not fishing, they need to tend to our managed fisheries structures like coastal walls, snail artificial reefs and coastal forests, as well as repair boats, nets and generally cut down resource utilization for the storm season.
Really, defensively, our absurd population density is what leverages best.
Even a small portion of the whole would mean a hell of a lot of militia.
Very simplistic martial arts would basically have to fall under education, with all the costs that implies. For now it would be behind Forestry (which we are primed to start creating, if we haven't already) and writing. It's certainly a nice thing to have, and I hold it up there along with more intellectual pursuits, but we need to create education for the basics of our society first.
Umi-san
Procrastinating.
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- ꙮ
I suppose those are decent corrections.
3) The below quote seems to me to imply that there is a fair amount of spare time, if you can just relax in the sun. Note that the the snails artificial reefs are basically just stacks of clay bricks in deep water, which usually reduces the impact of the storm, how do they call for much maintenance? Repairing boats and nets are folded under the activities that were performed earlier, though admittedly the walls and forests are not. I'd still say that they have enough free time off of a boat though.
Learning martial arts would make them better able to resist piracy later on - ASoIaF water-dancer style. Though water dancers use blades, and blades more useful in the mix of close quarters and deck-top combat that would occur on a ship.
1) It's true that the below quote can be taken only as offering the training to the general population, but that just means that we can do the same, rather than make it mandatory.
Even a small part of our dense population being decently trained would be good and, since they're dense, would a) lead people to be somewhat more interested in it on the whole even if they're not obliged to learn and b) would allow for faster development as people can more easily compete.
Sincere question: what weapon would be best for the militia?
We basically have Forestry, don't we?
I still dk how writing is going to be completed. I find arguments that it won't be born from religion but only accelerated by it to be convincing, though we're probably at the point where religion can do that.
How do y'all think we can go about creating education? Should we expand both of the holy places more than we've been in the habit of thus far?
Edit: It does go up automatically as people get born who then become warriors. More warriors to fight the DP with is a good idea, but can be achieved through an expanded population - i.e. economic actions.
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- Location
- United States
Speaking of martial, we're going to have to use an action to expand our military since we've lost a bunch of warriors in the war. Assuming that it doesn't go back up organically, of course.
Expanding our military as a general thing would be good though, since we do have a large war in the future with the Dead Priests.
Expanding our military as a general thing would be good though, since we do have a large war in the future with the Dead Priests.
Doesn't that simply expand the portion of our population that is military? If that's the case, we'll simply wait until the next turn to replenish our number.
Deadly Snark
Tryhard As Fuck
Assuming records of us survives.
The Hindu Valley Civilization for example were incredibly advanced and widespread, with some incredible administrative accomplishments and were active in the Bronze Age Trade, but we know almost nothing about them.
And in any case, I would expect that our trend of having competent administrators as High Chiefs will eventually be melded into the legend of a King of Gods whose purview are in shaping the lands in our mythology.
- Location
- United States
Yeah, I was going off the possibility that it might not organically go back up.
I was leaning towards developing our military tech more, as well as building more war carts. The lowlands are flat land after all, so it would be a massive advantage to have.
Our new holy site is said to be dedicated to the blight and preserving the forest. It will almost certainly formalize many of our forestry practices into teachable stories, at which point we will have advanced our education in two ways. Having it more spread out (two holy sites, each teaching different things) and having another subject (the current ones being elder knowledge and proto-writting).
As for expanding writing, it has been pointed out that we want more esoteric and philosophical among the common folk. We have the tools for writing, but we need a reason to simplify it. The best current recommendation for this is to introduce festivals so culture will become more common and desirable among people, along with being less tangible in the form of having a good time and stories.
I have a better idea. Put warriors on ships.
Umi-san
Procrastinating.
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- ꙮ
- Location
- Mists of Albion
Looks ferocious
Omegahugger
Inattentive Idiot
Given that my initial thought was Lisa Lisa, I'm keeping a safe distance.
Deadly Snark
Tryhard As Fuck
Here's kinda how I see all that we have done till now would look like once enough time has passed for it to translate into myth.
On the Creation of the World and Man
Once in the void there was nothing, nothing except for Earth and she was lonely. Thus she gave birth to two sons from her depths in order to have companionship,. The Elder Son, the Sun, was a Mighty Being, Passionate, Strong to the point that he burned with Power. The Younger Son. the Sky, was Vast , he held bottomless compassion and sought only to watch over others. The Sons loved their mother greatly and took care of her, the Elder shined light upon her to keep her warm and healthy, while the Younger cool her down and kept her fed. And the Earth was Content.
But this did not last. Disagreement soon came into being among the brothers about how to best take care of their mother. The Sun complained that the Sky was washing away all the warmth, while the Sky complained that his elder brother's light were going to burn her. Disagreement soon became jealously, and jealous gave birth a competition over the Earth's Love. The Sun burned away the water of the Sky, while the Sky clouded the Sun's fire. Heatwaves fought with Storms, and competition soon became fraternal strife. Thus was Misery Born.
Looking at the actions of her sons and suffering from the consequences of their actions, the Earth wailed. Her body had been torn apart, her skin had been turned into a blasted wasteland where no life shall come. Her Cries cause the Universe itself to tremble and knocked sense back into her Sons. Looking upon the result of their actions, the two were greatly ashamed. In their selfish desires they had hurt the one they loved the most.
Realizing their mistake, the Sun and the Sky put away their war and immediately came to their mother's side, where by working together they helped nurse her back to health. The Earth was gladdened by this, but she no longer quite trusted her Sons, though she still loved them dearly. She created the trees and the forests to protect herself from being burned by the Sun. She created rivers to drain the water of the sky away to great basins to avoid being drowned by the Sky.
The Sun and the Sky saw this, and they were saddened, but they understood this was the result of the disharmony they had caused. As a further demonstration of maturity the brothers came to the Earth to propose a joint project. A great work where all 3 of them will work together to gift the Earth with more children who will help take care of the Earth and protect her from their actions in the future. She agreed.
Thus were the animals crafted from the hands of the 3 Primordial Gods to help maintain the health of the Earth. Insects worked the Soil to keep it healthy. The Herbivores ate the trees and plants to make sure they do not block out the Sun completely. Predators insured that the prey would never eat all the vegetation and thus leave the Earth vulnerable. Fishes maintained the rivers and seas to insure the basins would not overflow. The Birds flew over them all, watching to insure that catastrophes can be spotted before they become worse.
And finally, the Three Gods created Man, the most special of them all. The Sun gave man it's passion, it's fury and the determination overcome adversity. The Sky gave them compassion, thoughtfulness and the minds to know when it is time to fight, and when it is time to run. The Earth gave them love, humility and the patience to understand. And all three imparted the importance of Harmony into their new creation less the old mistakes were to be repeated. Thus was man created to lead all the creatures of the world as the Caretakers of the Earth who would maintain the design of the gods.
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Eh this is a good stopping point, I'll do the Trickster Crow, the Proud Warrior King and the Wise Caretaker later.
On the Creation of the World and Man
Once in the void there was nothing, nothing except for Earth and she was lonely. Thus she gave birth to two sons from her depths in order to have companionship,. The Elder Son, the Sun, was a Mighty Being, Passionate, Strong to the point that he burned with Power. The Younger Son. the Sky, was Vast , he held bottomless compassion and sought only to watch over others. The Sons loved their mother greatly and took care of her, the Elder shined light upon her to keep her warm and healthy, while the Younger cool her down and kept her fed. And the Earth was Content.
But this did not last. Disagreement soon came into being among the brothers about how to best take care of their mother. The Sun complained that the Sky was washing away all the warmth, while the Sky complained that his elder brother's light were going to burn her. Disagreement soon became jealously, and jealous gave birth a competition over the Earth's Love. The Sun burned away the water of the Sky, while the Sky clouded the Sun's fire. Heatwaves fought with Storms, and competition soon became fraternal strife. Thus was Misery Born.
Looking at the actions of her sons and suffering from the consequences of their actions, the Earth wailed. Her body had been torn apart, her skin had been turned into a blasted wasteland where no life shall come. Her Cries cause the Universe itself to tremble and knocked sense back into her Sons. Looking upon the result of their actions, the two were greatly ashamed. In their selfish desires they had hurt the one they loved the most.
Realizing their mistake, the Sun and the Sky put away their war and immediately came to their mother's side, where by working together they helped nurse her back to health. The Earth was gladdened by this, but she no longer quite trusted her Sons, though she still loved them dearly. She created the trees and the forests to protect herself from being burned by the Sun. She created rivers to drain the water of the sky away to great basins to avoid being drowned by the Sky.
The Sun and the Sky saw this, and they were saddened, but they understood this was the result of the disharmony they had caused. As a further demonstration of maturity the brothers came to the Earth to propose a joint project. A great work where all 3 of them will work together to gift the Earth with more children who will help take care of the Earth and protect her from their actions in the future. She agreed.
Thus were the animals crafted from the hands of the 3 Primordial Gods to help maintain the health of the Earth. Insects worked the Soil to keep it healthy. The Herbivores ate the trees and plants to make sure they do not block out the Sun completely. Predators insured that the prey would never eat all the vegetation and thus leave the Earth vulnerable. Fishes maintained the rivers and seas to insure the basins would not overflow. The Birds flew over them all, watching to insure that catastrophes can be spotted before they become worse.
And finally, the Three Gods created Man, the most special of them all. The Sun gave man it's passion, it's fury and the determination overcome adversity. The Sky gave them compassion, thoughtfulness and the minds to know when it is time to fight, and when it is time to run. The Earth gave them love, humility and the patience to understand. And all three imparted the importance of Harmony into their new creation less the old mistakes were to be repeated. Thus was man created to lead all the creatures of the world as the Caretakers of the Earth who would maintain the design of the gods.
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Eh this is a good stopping point, I'll do the Trickster Crow, the Proud Warrior King and the Wise Caretaker later.
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War Against the Storm II
- Pronouns
- He/Him
The mission was a long one, to venture out into the wilds to find the mysterious Spirit Talkers, who might be of some use in dealing with the Storm Clan. Legends said that it was a year long round trip, but with wagons and carts and animals to haul them, that time had been cut down significantly in recent generations. It was about a three season round trip these days. Despite the fact that they were going to be shielded from the Storm Clan by a line of rough hills, in order to make good time they would have to skirt along the edges of the flat southern lowlands, which put them within the potential predation zone of the Dead Priests, so Trader Mythwyn had been assigned an extra contingent of warriors equipped with the new bows and war carts, and to help deal with spiritual matters he had also been assigned a shaman, who had been selected for the fact that she was also sort of a warrior.
Mythwyn wasn't exactly certain about Dellgynna, in that there was definitely something off about her. The story went that she had been a warrior but had suffered some sort of spiritual attack and breakdown and had been taken to see the elders, who had identified that she had an excess of souls within her and had begun shaman training to deal with the issue. She was thus now a sort of war shaman and was very much a confusing enigma for those around her. She was no Gwygo of lore, being much more reserved, but she was just as able a fighter as any on top of the eerie lore and powers she had to have as an extra-soulled shaman. She was also a master with using face paints to highlight and sculpt her features, enough that Mythwyn's wife and daughters were asking her for advice on how to apply ochre and char, which made her exceedingly pretty for one with such a rough occupation. Still, there was something off...
No, no it was foolish to pry into the matters of shamans, especially ones who were experts with bow and spear. That was just asking for trouble.
Of course, as they moved into the territory controlled by the Spirit Talkers, they of course started to run into people who tried to pry, but Dellgynna had a most impressive unimpressed stare, even if it made things harder for Mythwyn to negotiate about. Still, they eventually made contact with the warriors of the Spirit Talkers on patrol and were escorted towards the centre of the Spirit Talkers' world: their main settlement and the sacred cave. Mythwyn was quite pleased to see the looks they all got for their exotic styles of clothing and the brightness of their dyes. They also got a good look at the farming situation in the dry hills of the Spirit Talkers, and while none of the People were impressed, the farms they saw weren't too terrible. The Spirit Talkers must have recovered from whatever problems they were supposed to have had a few generations ago, although they could obviously still use some pointers.
A lot of pointers, really.
Still, seeing the warriors of the Spirit Talkers, the People had to acknowledge that they were doing something right, considering that they were bloody huge bastards elaborately decorated with elaborate tattoos and war paint, wearing fearsome masks of wood carved into lurid demon faces rendered white with ash. No wonder the lowlanders called them demons! They were, fortunately enough, polite enough in their escort, if extremely silent and terse with outsiders. Soon enough the caravan was in the dry valley of the Spirit Talkers, looking upon the numerous clusters of adobe buildings that surrounded a cavern opening in the side of a hill, just as rumours said. While the caravan did obviously have gifts for their hosts, it was noted that pretty much immediately upon arrival their hosts presented them with a meal. They were shooting Dellgynna a number of dirty looks, but Mythwyn couldn't quite get the reasoning for why out. Had to be some shaman thing.
Eventually though they were invited to meet with one of the Speakers, which required them to travel to the sacred cave. After a ritual purification, Mythwyn and Dellgynna began the trek up the well-worn trail that snaked from the largest cluster of buildings up to the cavern opening, traveling at a proscribed pace so as to arrive just as the sun was setting. The cave opening was enormous up close, at least three men high and broad enough for a dozen-dozen to march shoulder to shoulder inside, although that section was relatively shallow in comparison to the main tunnel that was just within. Upon stepping upon that second threshold, screaming mask faced guardians watching the two of them and their interpreter intently, Mythwyn had to stop in shock at the way that the air so abruptly changed. It was like stepping into a piece of fabric, the air suddenly growing hotter and heavier. Following a twisted trail only faintly illuminated by half bowls filled with glowing red coals, side paths blocked off by more guardians, they eventually arrived into a vast internal cavern of weeping stone pillars. Fires flickered all around, and the walls and pillars danced with animals and spirits. Dozens of elaborately dressed figures were seated in alcoves at the edges of the chamber, and with a start and a heart dropping moment of panic the trader realized that the figures were dead. While obviously treated with honour, the room was still filled with desiccated corpses, although thankfully they appeared so old that the stench of corruption was long gone. What spiritual power could keep away disease? Or... or were these people so subtly corrupt that it didn't matter?
Mythwyn felt intensely small and was incredibly glad that he had a shaman next to him who could interpret all of this, and hopefully also had the power to ward against any evil or corruption that might be in this place. Fortunately Dellgynna seemed to be holding herself together than he felt he was, even as they were directed to sit within a circle carved into the living stone and painted with ochre... hopefully with ochre, it was exceedingly hard to tell in the light. Once they were seated, unseen drummers who had just been in the background before began to up the volume, creating an echoing beat like that of a heart that sent shivers up Mythwyn's spine. As his eyes began to adjust a bit better, he found that at one of the end of the cavern the darkness was deeper than he had thought. It wasn't merely dark, it was a void, an abyss that seemed to devour all the flickering light. A man walked up to the very edge of that all-consuming black and thumped a staff upon the ground with a great echoing crack, and then began to chant, a long, low sonorous tone that wasn't speech and yet was somehow more.
And the void answered back. It was less a sound than a feeling of intense dread, like spectral hands running across and within Mythwyn's flesh. He wanted to run screaming, but there were now guardians looming close over him, and there were now also pinpricks of light from the galleries. Had these people woken the dead, their skulls filling with ghostly light? Something chattered in the dark, like teeth rapidly clicking against each other, and abruptly Mythwyn knew where he was. This was a mouth, a mouth of some great, primordial spirit that could devour them all, swallowing them into that void.
Now prostrate within the circle in an attempt just to hang onto the ground and not run away, Mythwyn was impressed by the fact that Dellgynna was remaining upright while seated, even if she was obviously also stressed out. So focused was he upon not leaving what he now understood as the safe zone within this place, he had no idea when the man dressed in the same robes as the corpses and with glowing eyes emerged from the void, just that he was there alongside the chanting man. With a thump of his own staff, the chanting and the drumming all ceased at once. In a voice worn thin by age, he said something that still boomed within the cavern, and after a moment the interpreter asked Mythwyn in the intermediate language they shared, "The First Speaker asks why you have come."
Taking a moment to gather the tatters of his dignity now that he could think with that abominable void silent, Mythwyn stumbled out, "Say that we are a people from the west, in conflict with nomads to the north who we know can threaten your people as well. We had long heard tales of your powers and of your warriors, as well as more recent troubles with your farms, and we wished to see if a trade of knowledge would be amenable to you."
The interpreter rattled off what Mythwyn had said, and the First Speaker considered it for a moment before he said - once properly translated - "We have heard of a people to the west in the hills who are known as skilled tenders of mud, but what knowledge can you bring us who know the stars and planets and can speak directly with the spirits of the world?"
That was an awkward question, given that while Mythwyn knew that their farms were of a poor quality, it was hard to argue with that question. Passing it along to Dellgynna, she said to the First Speaker through the chain of translators, "We speak not directly with the spirits of our land, but we know of their wisdom. Our land is not your land, our spirits not quite the same as yours. While not everything is directly translatable, perhaps we have listened more to the humble spirits of water and mud and plant and air and fire than to ones of the deep earth or soaring sky and can tell you what they have told us."
The world seemed to distort and warp as the First Speaker and the war shaman stared each other down for a moment, before the First Speaker pulled out a small bundle that Mythwyn had already presented. Not the offering of dye or salt, but the collection of grain that they had to show what they meant. Pulling out one of the grains, the First Speaker examined it before them for a time before he said, "Perhaps your claim is not baseless. Long have we tended to the people around us, taking in their tributes and sending back out charity in times of need. In recent years there have been portents of hunger and doom, but I see these grains and suppose that others may have studied the problem more than we. I shall send a knuckle of warriors to assess the situation and potentially teach you, if you are worthy and your lessons worthwhile. Now go, the way has been made safe for you and we have other matters to attend to."
Grateful for the offered escape from the terrifyingly awesome cavern, Mythwyn fled as quickly as he could in the dark and unstable ground, greedily gulping down fresh, cool air as soon as he got outside. Warriors eyed him with amused contempt, while a man in lesser robes approached a group to relay the instructions of the First Speaker to those outside. For her part, despite copious amounts of sweat having ruined her face paint, Dellgynna remained calm and seemed interested in a group of men who were staring intently up at the sky. After a moment she mused, "We know of the yearly cycles of the sky, but what else might there be to learn in their study? Are there longer cycles?"
Of course a shaman would ask a question like that after an experience like that, Mythwyn noted in terrified exasperation.
They spent about a week in the turn around, getting everything ready and doing some additional trading for goods. Goods were exchanged and Mythwyn picked up several cloudy white crystals with yellow flecked inclusions that almost looked like that had been knocked from the dome of heaven, and a number of perfect pyrite cubes. Expensive, but they would be even more expensive back home.
As it turned out, a 'knuckle' was a way of saying "Seven warriors" among the Spirit Talkers, and the trip back was spent mostly in silence and glares. They kept to themselves for the most part, although they did go to the effort of learning how to talk with their hosts during the trip, and once they understood how the war carts worked were quite interested in learning more about them, although from commentary they were a bit worried about the extravagant expenditure on wood. The opening up a bit also meant that the tattoos they bore got some explanation, of how many of them were astrological alignments of stars - although the patterns the Spirit Talkers saw were distinctly weird and not at all what the People saw in the heavens.
Thus it was that Mythwyn and the rest of the People took considerable glee in the gobsmacked look on the faces of the warriors when they crested the last hill before they could overlook the region of cultivation, the hills rich with forests and orchards and farms, the bottom of the valley a quilt of fields and pastures. The leader of the group of Spirit Talkers eventually gave a bit of a cough and said, "Uhh... perhaps you do know a few things about farming."
Presenting the returning caravan and the warriors who had accompanied them with a feast of welcoming, the High Chief passed along news of the conflict. The People had managed to scrape together all the labour they could without adversely affecting food budgeting to send them off to the affected villages and build walls for them. It would be a lean few years, but the chiefs there were already starting to swear loyalty to the High Chief and the People. It would take some time for them to get used to how the People did things, but many had already been emulating their management practices - if only to keep their food stores better protected from the nomads! While the walls were only just beginning and had to start in the least threatened settlements where the workers could do their jobs in relative peace, they were already presenting problems for the nomads that tried to punch deep into the contested territory, only to find that there were berms of earth blocking paths to the most valuable targets.
Seeing as it was his caravan and thus the warriors were his guests, Mythwyn felt compelled to accompany the High Chief when he took the seven of them up north to see the fighting. While it took most of a lunar cycle to get there and then find a raiding party in progress, what Mythwyn saw he would tell his grandchildren until he died. When the telltale signs of a raid group were seen and the People's warriors went into ambush positions, the Spirit Talkers also got into concealment, but they all stood standing straight and in eerie silence. As the raiding band of a few dozen nomads mounted on their war carts made its way down a grassy valley, the warriors began to quietly mumble something to themselves while rhythmically thumping the heads of their demon clubs on the ground. The High Chief glared at them, but they had chosen their spot well enough that they could not give away the ambush with their antics. Mythwyn, while stringing his own bow, got a bit closer to them to check on them, and found them all in unnatural synchronicity, and their pupils freakishly tiny in the dark of their masks. Their thumping weapons were also soon joined by their feet, and their chant became a bit more audible.
Having picked up a bit of their language, Mythwyn figured out the gist of their mantra quickly enough.
"The spirits are with us, and we are with the spirits. The spirits are with us, and we are with the spirits. The spirits..." And on and on that chant went, muttered just at the range of hearing, and as they went on they got faster and faster and more and more frenzied. Now looking concerned, the High Chief signaled the warriors to strike, at a hand signal ordering the loosing of arrows from half the ambushing force.
It was also the loosing of the Spirit Talker warriors. Taking off like arrows launched from a single bow, they charged down the slope of the hill towards the enemy position, as one letting out war cries that were at once leonine roars and unearthly shrieks. The sight of seven huge men dressed in hideous masks and lurid paints, wielding massive clubs and screaming like the dead come for the souls of the living was enough to break the spirits of the nomads, who panicked and got in each other's way instead of responding sensibly to the attacking warriors or the arrows being fired at them - although the People had to stop soon enough lest they hit their erstwhile allies. Not that they needed it, the shock of the assault and the fact that the Spirit Talkers were swinging their clubs hard enough to break the necks of horses was enough to completely break the morale of the raiders. Those that managed to get themselves unentangled from each other also fled straight into the other half of the People's warriors, still waiting in ambush.
The battle was not completely onesided though, for all of the Spirit Talkers were wounded, and one lay still. All of the People grimaced at that, but the warriors just picked up their fallen comrade and said that they were not to be disturbed while they lay him to rest. They then went off into the woods and a fire could be seen in the night. When they returned, the travel sack one of them had brought with seemed ominously and suspiciously full, but not so full as to account for all of a person, especially a person their size.
All of the People conspicuously refrained from asking. While they could definitely learn much from these people, there was a question of if they wanted to.
The next few years passed as the walls went up to protect their allies, who were increasingly just another extension of the People, and they opened up limited trade with the mysterious and intensely dangerous Spirit Talkers, who while they had little interest in extended combat with the northern nomads when that group was more interested in fighting the People, they also made it clear that they would be always up for conflicts with the Dead Priests, and somewhat more disturbingly anyone else in the lowlands, including any Western Confederacy settlers. Apparently they had proclaimed the entire area cursed and made war in general on the entire area, although they focused the majority of their efforts on their ancestral nemeses.
Finally though, news came back that Patrikwos, the chief of the Storm Clan and instigator of all of this, had passed away of old age and too much beer and women. While a bitter, unfitting end for one such as he, who deserved to fall in combat, the next wave of news was considerably better. His sons squabbled among each other, and the tribes that their father had driven off had returned to the area with a vengeance, having worked out how to build and fight with war carts themselves. While the northern plains were likely to never be free of raiders - the returning clans not much better than Patrikwos' lot-, the Storm Clan was irrevocably fractured... and, curiously enough, an offer had come to the People.
One of Patrikwos' grandsons had decided that his father wasn't going to win out against his uncles and he and his kin probably weren't going to make it out of the fight in one piece, and figured that the only people who could protect them were the only people who had ever stood up to his grandfather. His mother was from one of the tribes his father had forced into submission, and he had been made the leader of an extended clan early to cement his grandfather's rule. He was offering fealty to the High Chief in exchange for protection, which practically meant that he and his people would have to be resettled somewhere. There was probably enough land that could be safely turned over to pasture that it could be done... but the People, especially the People who had once been the primary target of the northern raiders, wouldn't like it.
Then again, the man himself had been too young to participate in the worst of the raiding and by his own account had only really ridden with his father, and hadn't done any skulltaking, and he was asking for sanctuary and safety, which was something the People had a hard time rejecting out of hand.
The response to the offer was...
[] No, we will not accept you among us (Possible conflict with Love Thy Neighbour)
[] Escort them to the lowlands, where they can be safe from their relatives but are on their own after
[] You must live as half-exiles until you can demonstrate proper behaviour (Strong chance of being rejected)
[] If you behave yourselves, you may settle (Strong chance of causing strife)
Choose one [Main] and two [Secondary] Focuses
[] Black Soil
[] Build Wall
[] Build War Wagons
[] Establish Annual Festival
[] Expand Farms
[] Expand Fishing
[] Expand Forests
[] Expand Pasture
[] Expand Place to Spirits
[] Expand Snail Cultivation
[] Expand Warriors
[] New Settlement
[] New Trails
[] Step-Farms
[] Study Forests
[] Trade Mission
-Target Options: Spirit Talkers, Western Confederation, Dead Priests, Northern Nomads, Into the Wild
[] War Mission
-Target Options: Dead Priests, Northern Nomads
Villages for projects: Valley, lower valley, coasta, northern hills
Holy sites: Waterfall, sacred forest
Early Ancient Kingdom (Elective) -> Ancient Kingdom (Elective)
Among the powerful groups, it is now common that there is a single man at the centre of all things who delegates outwards. This sub-type involves the king being selected by those in the rulership class rather than inheriting.
Pros: Access to additional infrastructure projects, bonus to collective action
Cons: Certain actions like new settlement development do not happen organically, but require direct intervention
Legacy Bonus: +1 Centralization Tolerance
Eye for an Eye -> Protective Justice
Punishment and retribution are not justice, but tools of justice. Justice exists to encourage desirable behaviours, and thus can be best served by discouraging bad behaviour before it happens.
Pros: Justice is an objective, and thus can be served without retribution or retaliation
Cons: Sometimes the call for justice comes early...
Mythwyn wasn't exactly certain about Dellgynna, in that there was definitely something off about her. The story went that she had been a warrior but had suffered some sort of spiritual attack and breakdown and had been taken to see the elders, who had identified that she had an excess of souls within her and had begun shaman training to deal with the issue. She was thus now a sort of war shaman and was very much a confusing enigma for those around her. She was no Gwygo of lore, being much more reserved, but she was just as able a fighter as any on top of the eerie lore and powers she had to have as an extra-soulled shaman. She was also a master with using face paints to highlight and sculpt her features, enough that Mythwyn's wife and daughters were asking her for advice on how to apply ochre and char, which made her exceedingly pretty for one with such a rough occupation. Still, there was something off...
No, no it was foolish to pry into the matters of shamans, especially ones who were experts with bow and spear. That was just asking for trouble.
Of course, as they moved into the territory controlled by the Spirit Talkers, they of course started to run into people who tried to pry, but Dellgynna had a most impressive unimpressed stare, even if it made things harder for Mythwyn to negotiate about. Still, they eventually made contact with the warriors of the Spirit Talkers on patrol and were escorted towards the centre of the Spirit Talkers' world: their main settlement and the sacred cave. Mythwyn was quite pleased to see the looks they all got for their exotic styles of clothing and the brightness of their dyes. They also got a good look at the farming situation in the dry hills of the Spirit Talkers, and while none of the People were impressed, the farms they saw weren't too terrible. The Spirit Talkers must have recovered from whatever problems they were supposed to have had a few generations ago, although they could obviously still use some pointers.
A lot of pointers, really.
Still, seeing the warriors of the Spirit Talkers, the People had to acknowledge that they were doing something right, considering that they were bloody huge bastards elaborately decorated with elaborate tattoos and war paint, wearing fearsome masks of wood carved into lurid demon faces rendered white with ash. No wonder the lowlanders called them demons! They were, fortunately enough, polite enough in their escort, if extremely silent and terse with outsiders. Soon enough the caravan was in the dry valley of the Spirit Talkers, looking upon the numerous clusters of adobe buildings that surrounded a cavern opening in the side of a hill, just as rumours said. While the caravan did obviously have gifts for their hosts, it was noted that pretty much immediately upon arrival their hosts presented them with a meal. They were shooting Dellgynna a number of dirty looks, but Mythwyn couldn't quite get the reasoning for why out. Had to be some shaman thing.
Eventually though they were invited to meet with one of the Speakers, which required them to travel to the sacred cave. After a ritual purification, Mythwyn and Dellgynna began the trek up the well-worn trail that snaked from the largest cluster of buildings up to the cavern opening, traveling at a proscribed pace so as to arrive just as the sun was setting. The cave opening was enormous up close, at least three men high and broad enough for a dozen-dozen to march shoulder to shoulder inside, although that section was relatively shallow in comparison to the main tunnel that was just within. Upon stepping upon that second threshold, screaming mask faced guardians watching the two of them and their interpreter intently, Mythwyn had to stop in shock at the way that the air so abruptly changed. It was like stepping into a piece of fabric, the air suddenly growing hotter and heavier. Following a twisted trail only faintly illuminated by half bowls filled with glowing red coals, side paths blocked off by more guardians, they eventually arrived into a vast internal cavern of weeping stone pillars. Fires flickered all around, and the walls and pillars danced with animals and spirits. Dozens of elaborately dressed figures were seated in alcoves at the edges of the chamber, and with a start and a heart dropping moment of panic the trader realized that the figures were dead. While obviously treated with honour, the room was still filled with desiccated corpses, although thankfully they appeared so old that the stench of corruption was long gone. What spiritual power could keep away disease? Or... or were these people so subtly corrupt that it didn't matter?
Mythwyn felt intensely small and was incredibly glad that he had a shaman next to him who could interpret all of this, and hopefully also had the power to ward against any evil or corruption that might be in this place. Fortunately Dellgynna seemed to be holding herself together than he felt he was, even as they were directed to sit within a circle carved into the living stone and painted with ochre... hopefully with ochre, it was exceedingly hard to tell in the light. Once they were seated, unseen drummers who had just been in the background before began to up the volume, creating an echoing beat like that of a heart that sent shivers up Mythwyn's spine. As his eyes began to adjust a bit better, he found that at one of the end of the cavern the darkness was deeper than he had thought. It wasn't merely dark, it was a void, an abyss that seemed to devour all the flickering light. A man walked up to the very edge of that all-consuming black and thumped a staff upon the ground with a great echoing crack, and then began to chant, a long, low sonorous tone that wasn't speech and yet was somehow more.
And the void answered back. It was less a sound than a feeling of intense dread, like spectral hands running across and within Mythwyn's flesh. He wanted to run screaming, but there were now guardians looming close over him, and there were now also pinpricks of light from the galleries. Had these people woken the dead, their skulls filling with ghostly light? Something chattered in the dark, like teeth rapidly clicking against each other, and abruptly Mythwyn knew where he was. This was a mouth, a mouth of some great, primordial spirit that could devour them all, swallowing them into that void.
Now prostrate within the circle in an attempt just to hang onto the ground and not run away, Mythwyn was impressed by the fact that Dellgynna was remaining upright while seated, even if she was obviously also stressed out. So focused was he upon not leaving what he now understood as the safe zone within this place, he had no idea when the man dressed in the same robes as the corpses and with glowing eyes emerged from the void, just that he was there alongside the chanting man. With a thump of his own staff, the chanting and the drumming all ceased at once. In a voice worn thin by age, he said something that still boomed within the cavern, and after a moment the interpreter asked Mythwyn in the intermediate language they shared, "The First Speaker asks why you have come."
Taking a moment to gather the tatters of his dignity now that he could think with that abominable void silent, Mythwyn stumbled out, "Say that we are a people from the west, in conflict with nomads to the north who we know can threaten your people as well. We had long heard tales of your powers and of your warriors, as well as more recent troubles with your farms, and we wished to see if a trade of knowledge would be amenable to you."
The interpreter rattled off what Mythwyn had said, and the First Speaker considered it for a moment before he said - once properly translated - "We have heard of a people to the west in the hills who are known as skilled tenders of mud, but what knowledge can you bring us who know the stars and planets and can speak directly with the spirits of the world?"
That was an awkward question, given that while Mythwyn knew that their farms were of a poor quality, it was hard to argue with that question. Passing it along to Dellgynna, she said to the First Speaker through the chain of translators, "We speak not directly with the spirits of our land, but we know of their wisdom. Our land is not your land, our spirits not quite the same as yours. While not everything is directly translatable, perhaps we have listened more to the humble spirits of water and mud and plant and air and fire than to ones of the deep earth or soaring sky and can tell you what they have told us."
The world seemed to distort and warp as the First Speaker and the war shaman stared each other down for a moment, before the First Speaker pulled out a small bundle that Mythwyn had already presented. Not the offering of dye or salt, but the collection of grain that they had to show what they meant. Pulling out one of the grains, the First Speaker examined it before them for a time before he said, "Perhaps your claim is not baseless. Long have we tended to the people around us, taking in their tributes and sending back out charity in times of need. In recent years there have been portents of hunger and doom, but I see these grains and suppose that others may have studied the problem more than we. I shall send a knuckle of warriors to assess the situation and potentially teach you, if you are worthy and your lessons worthwhile. Now go, the way has been made safe for you and we have other matters to attend to."
Grateful for the offered escape from the terrifyingly awesome cavern, Mythwyn fled as quickly as he could in the dark and unstable ground, greedily gulping down fresh, cool air as soon as he got outside. Warriors eyed him with amused contempt, while a man in lesser robes approached a group to relay the instructions of the First Speaker to those outside. For her part, despite copious amounts of sweat having ruined her face paint, Dellgynna remained calm and seemed interested in a group of men who were staring intently up at the sky. After a moment she mused, "We know of the yearly cycles of the sky, but what else might there be to learn in their study? Are there longer cycles?"
Of course a shaman would ask a question like that after an experience like that, Mythwyn noted in terrified exasperation.
They spent about a week in the turn around, getting everything ready and doing some additional trading for goods. Goods were exchanged and Mythwyn picked up several cloudy white crystals with yellow flecked inclusions that almost looked like that had been knocked from the dome of heaven, and a number of perfect pyrite cubes. Expensive, but they would be even more expensive back home.
As it turned out, a 'knuckle' was a way of saying "Seven warriors" among the Spirit Talkers, and the trip back was spent mostly in silence and glares. They kept to themselves for the most part, although they did go to the effort of learning how to talk with their hosts during the trip, and once they understood how the war carts worked were quite interested in learning more about them, although from commentary they were a bit worried about the extravagant expenditure on wood. The opening up a bit also meant that the tattoos they bore got some explanation, of how many of them were astrological alignments of stars - although the patterns the Spirit Talkers saw were distinctly weird and not at all what the People saw in the heavens.
Thus it was that Mythwyn and the rest of the People took considerable glee in the gobsmacked look on the faces of the warriors when they crested the last hill before they could overlook the region of cultivation, the hills rich with forests and orchards and farms, the bottom of the valley a quilt of fields and pastures. The leader of the group of Spirit Talkers eventually gave a bit of a cough and said, "Uhh... perhaps you do know a few things about farming."
Presenting the returning caravan and the warriors who had accompanied them with a feast of welcoming, the High Chief passed along news of the conflict. The People had managed to scrape together all the labour they could without adversely affecting food budgeting to send them off to the affected villages and build walls for them. It would be a lean few years, but the chiefs there were already starting to swear loyalty to the High Chief and the People. It would take some time for them to get used to how the People did things, but many had already been emulating their management practices - if only to keep their food stores better protected from the nomads! While the walls were only just beginning and had to start in the least threatened settlements where the workers could do their jobs in relative peace, they were already presenting problems for the nomads that tried to punch deep into the contested territory, only to find that there were berms of earth blocking paths to the most valuable targets.
Seeing as it was his caravan and thus the warriors were his guests, Mythwyn felt compelled to accompany the High Chief when he took the seven of them up north to see the fighting. While it took most of a lunar cycle to get there and then find a raiding party in progress, what Mythwyn saw he would tell his grandchildren until he died. When the telltale signs of a raid group were seen and the People's warriors went into ambush positions, the Spirit Talkers also got into concealment, but they all stood standing straight and in eerie silence. As the raiding band of a few dozen nomads mounted on their war carts made its way down a grassy valley, the warriors began to quietly mumble something to themselves while rhythmically thumping the heads of their demon clubs on the ground. The High Chief glared at them, but they had chosen their spot well enough that they could not give away the ambush with their antics. Mythwyn, while stringing his own bow, got a bit closer to them to check on them, and found them all in unnatural synchronicity, and their pupils freakishly tiny in the dark of their masks. Their thumping weapons were also soon joined by their feet, and their chant became a bit more audible.
Having picked up a bit of their language, Mythwyn figured out the gist of their mantra quickly enough.
"The spirits are with us, and we are with the spirits. The spirits are with us, and we are with the spirits. The spirits..." And on and on that chant went, muttered just at the range of hearing, and as they went on they got faster and faster and more and more frenzied. Now looking concerned, the High Chief signaled the warriors to strike, at a hand signal ordering the loosing of arrows from half the ambushing force.
It was also the loosing of the Spirit Talker warriors. Taking off like arrows launched from a single bow, they charged down the slope of the hill towards the enemy position, as one letting out war cries that were at once leonine roars and unearthly shrieks. The sight of seven huge men dressed in hideous masks and lurid paints, wielding massive clubs and screaming like the dead come for the souls of the living was enough to break the spirits of the nomads, who panicked and got in each other's way instead of responding sensibly to the attacking warriors or the arrows being fired at them - although the People had to stop soon enough lest they hit their erstwhile allies. Not that they needed it, the shock of the assault and the fact that the Spirit Talkers were swinging their clubs hard enough to break the necks of horses was enough to completely break the morale of the raiders. Those that managed to get themselves unentangled from each other also fled straight into the other half of the People's warriors, still waiting in ambush.
The battle was not completely onesided though, for all of the Spirit Talkers were wounded, and one lay still. All of the People grimaced at that, but the warriors just picked up their fallen comrade and said that they were not to be disturbed while they lay him to rest. They then went off into the woods and a fire could be seen in the night. When they returned, the travel sack one of them had brought with seemed ominously and suspiciously full, but not so full as to account for all of a person, especially a person their size.
All of the People conspicuously refrained from asking. While they could definitely learn much from these people, there was a question of if they wanted to.
The next few years passed as the walls went up to protect their allies, who were increasingly just another extension of the People, and they opened up limited trade with the mysterious and intensely dangerous Spirit Talkers, who while they had little interest in extended combat with the northern nomads when that group was more interested in fighting the People, they also made it clear that they would be always up for conflicts with the Dead Priests, and somewhat more disturbingly anyone else in the lowlands, including any Western Confederacy settlers. Apparently they had proclaimed the entire area cursed and made war in general on the entire area, although they focused the majority of their efforts on their ancestral nemeses.
Finally though, news came back that Patrikwos, the chief of the Storm Clan and instigator of all of this, had passed away of old age and too much beer and women. While a bitter, unfitting end for one such as he, who deserved to fall in combat, the next wave of news was considerably better. His sons squabbled among each other, and the tribes that their father had driven off had returned to the area with a vengeance, having worked out how to build and fight with war carts themselves. While the northern plains were likely to never be free of raiders - the returning clans not much better than Patrikwos' lot-, the Storm Clan was irrevocably fractured... and, curiously enough, an offer had come to the People.
One of Patrikwos' grandsons had decided that his father wasn't going to win out against his uncles and he and his kin probably weren't going to make it out of the fight in one piece, and figured that the only people who could protect them were the only people who had ever stood up to his grandfather. His mother was from one of the tribes his father had forced into submission, and he had been made the leader of an extended clan early to cement his grandfather's rule. He was offering fealty to the High Chief in exchange for protection, which practically meant that he and his people would have to be resettled somewhere. There was probably enough land that could be safely turned over to pasture that it could be done... but the People, especially the People who had once been the primary target of the northern raiders, wouldn't like it.
Then again, the man himself had been too young to participate in the worst of the raiding and by his own account had only really ridden with his father, and hadn't done any skulltaking, and he was asking for sanctuary and safety, which was something the People had a hard time rejecting out of hand.
The response to the offer was...
[] No, we will not accept you among us (Possible conflict with Love Thy Neighbour)
[] Escort them to the lowlands, where they can be safe from their relatives but are on their own after
[] You must live as half-exiles until you can demonstrate proper behaviour (Strong chance of being rejected)
[] If you behave yourselves, you may settle (Strong chance of causing strife)
Black Soil - Production is now regular and huge amounts of trash are turned to black soil every year, but there's always room for more production [Gardeners] [King]
Build Wall - Long experience with retaining walls has lead to the idea of a settlement wall for protection (Coastal village completed)
Build War Wagons - Increasing the number of war wagons would increase the general strategic and battlefield mobility of forces, although would be expensive to do so
Establish Annual Festival - People already like to celebrate at certain times of the year, but with the level of control over food distribution a new and particularly lavish festival can be established
Expand Farms - The people have brought an enormous amount of land under cultivation in the valley, but there is more available in more marginal areas, and in the forests around the fishing village
Expand Fishing - There are managed cultivation zones along the shore, and dedicating more people to the tasks can increase the yields of fish and luxuries brought in
Expand Forests - The People have knowledge of how to regrow and repair forests, which extends to bringing them to places they have never been, with considerable effort
Expand Pasture - While the traders mostly just take their animals where there is good grazing, specific areas can be set aside around the settlements that can be made ideal for the protected grazing of herds
Expand Places to Spirits - The current places dedicated to the spirits and wisdom are nice, but they could be bigger and grander, especially after seeing the Spirit Talkers...
Expand Snail Cultivation - While now more reliably grown and harvested, the snail domestication has only managed to hold environmental changes at bay rather than increase production. More investment would increase cultivation
Expand Warriors - More men can be inducted into the ranks of the warriors every year and not face major food shortfalls
New Settlement - The land is not particularly good for farming in between the valley and the sea, but there are places where a settlement could be set up, serving as a stop over point along the journey between the two settlements, especially now that the forests in between are ripe for grooming
New Trails - The People are well tied together, but improved trails to the groups that are traded without could ease the flow of goods and ideas
Step-Farms - Step farms have been established and have grown across the valley, but there are still plenty of hills to resculpt [Gardeners][King]
Study Forests - The holy site within the sacred forest is the repository of lore on the forests and the things within them, but could the shamans learn more?
Trade Mission - Sending a major caravan to another large group can bring new opportunities and find out more about the outside world
War Mission - You can send raiding parties against groups that have declared themselves hostile.
Mega-Projects - Mega-Projects can require many generations to complete, take an unknown amount of time to do so, and drain Econ while active, but can produce massive benefits once complete. Once chosen, the occupy the Main Focus slot until either completed or stopped early. Early stopping once started does not refund any of the investments and increases social strife. To reduce confusion, mega-projects are not listed as part of the voting project list and must be "written-in".
Grand Canal - The hills between the valley and the sea are rough and the rivers there fast and wild. In one man's dream there is the vision of an artificial river cut through the land, tame and managed [Gardeners][King]
Great Dam - The river can run wild and dangerous when the rains come strong, but could it not be controlled by the same principles by which the water on the hills is channelled and contained, merely on a larger scale? [Gardeners][King]
Build Wall - Long experience with retaining walls has lead to the idea of a settlement wall for protection (Coastal village completed)
Build War Wagons - Increasing the number of war wagons would increase the general strategic and battlefield mobility of forces, although would be expensive to do so
Establish Annual Festival - People already like to celebrate at certain times of the year, but with the level of control over food distribution a new and particularly lavish festival can be established
Expand Farms - The people have brought an enormous amount of land under cultivation in the valley, but there is more available in more marginal areas, and in the forests around the fishing village
Expand Fishing - There are managed cultivation zones along the shore, and dedicating more people to the tasks can increase the yields of fish and luxuries brought in
Expand Forests - The People have knowledge of how to regrow and repair forests, which extends to bringing them to places they have never been, with considerable effort
Expand Pasture - While the traders mostly just take their animals where there is good grazing, specific areas can be set aside around the settlements that can be made ideal for the protected grazing of herds
Expand Places to Spirits - The current places dedicated to the spirits and wisdom are nice, but they could be bigger and grander, especially after seeing the Spirit Talkers...
Expand Snail Cultivation - While now more reliably grown and harvested, the snail domestication has only managed to hold environmental changes at bay rather than increase production. More investment would increase cultivation
Expand Warriors - More men can be inducted into the ranks of the warriors every year and not face major food shortfalls
New Settlement - The land is not particularly good for farming in between the valley and the sea, but there are places where a settlement could be set up, serving as a stop over point along the journey between the two settlements, especially now that the forests in between are ripe for grooming
New Trails - The People are well tied together, but improved trails to the groups that are traded without could ease the flow of goods and ideas
Step-Farms - Step farms have been established and have grown across the valley, but there are still plenty of hills to resculpt [Gardeners][King]
Study Forests - The holy site within the sacred forest is the repository of lore on the forests and the things within them, but could the shamans learn more?
Trade Mission - Sending a major caravan to another large group can bring new opportunities and find out more about the outside world
War Mission - You can send raiding parties against groups that have declared themselves hostile.
Mega-Projects - Mega-Projects can require many generations to complete, take an unknown amount of time to do so, and drain Econ while active, but can produce massive benefits once complete. Once chosen, the occupy the Main Focus slot until either completed or stopped early. Early stopping once started does not refund any of the investments and increases social strife. To reduce confusion, mega-projects are not listed as part of the voting project list and must be "written-in".
Grand Canal - The hills between the valley and the sea are rough and the rivers there fast and wild. In one man's dream there is the vision of an artificial river cut through the land, tame and managed [Gardeners][King]
Great Dam - The river can run wild and dangerous when the rains come strong, but could it not be controlled by the same principles by which the water on the hills is channelled and contained, merely on a larger scale? [Gardeners][King]
[] Black Soil
[] Build Wall
[] Build War Wagons
[] Establish Annual Festival
[] Expand Farms
[] Expand Fishing
[] Expand Forests
[] Expand Pasture
[] Expand Place to Spirits
[] Expand Snail Cultivation
[] Expand Warriors
[] New Settlement
[] New Trails
[] Step-Farms
[] Study Forests
[] Trade Mission
-Target Options: Spirit Talkers, Western Confederation, Dead Priests, Northern Nomads, Into the Wild
[] War Mission
-Target Options: Dead Priests, Northern Nomads
Villages for projects: Valley, lower valley, coasta, northern hills
Holy sites: Waterfall, sacred forest
Early Ancient Kingdom (Elective) -> Ancient Kingdom (Elective)
Among the powerful groups, it is now common that there is a single man at the centre of all things who delegates outwards. This sub-type involves the king being selected by those in the rulership class rather than inheriting.
Pros: Access to additional infrastructure projects, bonus to collective action
Cons: Certain actions like new settlement development do not happen organically, but require direct intervention
Legacy Bonus: +1 Centralization Tolerance
Eye for an Eye -> Protective Justice
Punishment and retribution are not justice, but tools of justice. Justice exists to encourage desirable behaviours, and thus can be best served by discouraging bad behaviour before it happens.
Pros: Justice is an objective, and thus can be served without retribution or retaliation
Cons: Sometimes the call for justice comes early...
Umi-san
Procrastinating.
- Location
- ꙮ
[] Escort them to the lowlands, where they can be safe from their relatives but are on their own after
[] If you behave yourselves, you may settle (strong chance of causing strife)
The former is the most logical choice, but the second one has a chance of improving Love Thy Neighbor by increasing a charity/forgiveness aspect to it. If Annual Festival can balance out strife, it might be a decent choice. But we would want to avoid a PS trigger so...
[X][Main] Establish Annual Festival
[X][Secondary] Step-Farms
[X][Secondary] New Settlement
[] If you behave yourselves, you may settle (strong chance of causing strife)
The former is the most logical choice, but the second one has a chance of improving Love Thy Neighbor by increasing a charity/forgiveness aspect to it. If Annual Festival can balance out strife, it might be a decent choice. But we would want to avoid a PS trigger so...
[X][Main] Establish Annual Festival
[X][Secondary] Step-Farms
[X][Secondary] New Settlement
- Location
- Austria
Yes!
+2 Centralization tolerance means we can go full Centralization 6.
Protective Justice means that if we get writing, we get a good chance of having developed law.
Tribes fucking fractured! And we get to assimilate them!
Also, Mysticism 6. And Economy 0. Ugh. We need to do a lot of economy actions.
Okay, about settlement. I think we've just got 'free' settlement up on the north hills, near steppes, and allowing those guys to settle may create yet another one?
@Academia Nut , did northern hill chiefs count as another settlement?
+2 Centralization tolerance means we can go full Centralization 6.
Protective Justice means that if we get writing, we get a good chance of having developed law.
Tribes fucking fractured! And we get to assimilate them!
Also, Mysticism 6. And Economy 0. Ugh. We need to do a lot of economy actions.
Okay, about settlement. I think we've just got 'free' settlement up on the north hills, near steppes, and allowing those guys to settle may create yet another one?
@Academia Nut , did northern hill chiefs count as another settlement?