"We shall build our holy site here, for it's deep spiritual significance!"
"Plus it's a convenient place to fish all the bodies out of the river."
"That too. Wasn't gonna mention it though..."
[X] The lowlander settlers
[X] Driving them out (Can only be taken if the blame is placed on the settlers)
This will not grind against Sharing Circle. We believe in helping people, but that doesn't mean we're willing to help our enemies. The lowlanders have done awful shit for generations upon generations so it's perfectly fine if we not only don't help these settlers, but instead drive them out.
And yeah, we want to emphasise that we absolutely do not tolerate the awful shit the lowlanders have gotten up to. Driving them out reinforces that.
As for helping them with farming, that is a terrible idea. The biggest weakness of the lowlanders was their shitty farming and their vulnerability to the environment. Removing their greatest weaknesses from them while they still retain their old culture will only lead us to ruin. At absolute most we should do no more than send traders to them, at least for now. They must forget their old ways before we give them the tools to prosper.
How a dam speeds up canal construction remains an inexplicable leap of logic. Your dams must be built where the water already flows, to trap it and gather it.
A dam is a challenge of engineering knowledge and expertise. The danger is orders of magnitude higher than a canal because if you screw up a canal, you need to do more work. If you screw up a dam, it means in the next generations to come, everything downstream gets Harzivan'ed.
A canal requires extensive earthworks, but not special skill.
So look at the logical elements here:
Canal:
-Aided by:
--Roads and the ability to ferry workers and construction materials.
--Step Farms and the ability to both feed more specialists and experience in learning how well large structures deal with water.
--Walls and the improvements in brickwork, masonry and construction techniques in general
--Expanded fishing and the ability to both feed more specialists and the improved boatworks to use a partial canal to transport materials
--Expanded pastures and the ability to make more use of animal labor for digging and moving materials
--New settlement and the ability to improve organization of resources, as well as the ability of the settlement to provide a supply midpoint for the canal.
--Megastructure experience
--Development of engineers to plan out the depths and sidings, as well as how to handle erosion.
-Aids:
--Development of specialist artisan caste for constructions. Given the scale of the construction, you'd have actual architects and engineers arise.
--Development of megastructure experience.
--Development of logistics and centralization resistance.
--Development of hidden hydrology experience, particularly the things you learn when you have tons of water on a structure.
-Consequences:
--Trade routes will change. The heavy traffic such a structure would require during it's construction will reshape trade routes, and settlements along it will recieve disproportionate trade as you can travel faster along a canal even without boats, due to cleared land.
--Rerouted water can affect the lowlands, depending on whether the canal finds an alternative route to the sea(favors us if we link it to the fishing village), or relink to it. Some of them might be a bit salty about that.
--Disease will spread much faster along the route.
-Risks: Low. Failed canals costs time and manpower.
Dam:
-Aided by:
--Step Farms and the ability to both feed more specialists and experience in learning how well large structures deal with water.
--Walls and the improvements in brickwork, masonry and construction techniques in general
--Expanded pastures and the ability to make more use of animal labor for digging and moving materials
--Megastructure experience
--Hydrology experience to understand what large amounts of water does to seemingly solid earth.
--Geographical experience with the building area to understand it's stability.
--Development of engineers to assess loads and necessary stresses.
-Aids:
--Development of specialist artisan caste for constructions. Given the scale of the construction, you'd have actual architects and engineers arise.
--Development of megastructure experience.
--Development of logistics and centralization resistance.
--Development of hidden hydrology experience, particularly the things you learn when you have tons of water on a structure.
-Consequences:
--Ruination of flooding based agriculture downstream. Dams trap silt even if they let the water through. The floods can still happen, but the soil will not be replenished. On the other hand if we figure this out our farms will be ludicrously rich if we seasonally dredge the dam to prevent buildup(and we will want to, because the silt piling up will gradually choke the water outflows and stress the dam)
--Significant reduction of water availability downstream until it reaches capacity, but stabilizes flow. Depending on management it can absorb small floods and droughts.
--Potentially induce earthquakes, depending on construction and geography. This will be transient, but terrifying, especially for anything built on hills.
--Ecological changes. Expect more large animals to move into the area to take advantage of a reliable watering hole.
--Disease increase. Until the ecology balances out again, the newly flooded area would result in increases in insects, algae and other microorganisms.
-Risks: High. Failed dams can destroy dozens of villages downstream, with little to no warning
Anyway, while we could probably start the canals safely even without the prereqs, we cannot say the same for dams. Expertise carries over for stonework and earthworks, techniques to build wide also translates to institutional skills needed to build tall...and I'd probably prefer to learn that you need older tree roots to reinforce waterbearing walls without massive use of stone on canals than on dams.
As for trading food, it's much more common than you think. Hell, it's our main trade good, we sell shittons of food, especially non-perishable grains for crafts and luxuries.
Nice pro/con list. I don't see how the canal teaches us how seemingly solid earth reacts when there's tons of water on it, as it instead teaches us how erosion reacts with bricks and stonework, since there won't be tons of water on a single part, unlike with the dam. You seem to be listing the same aids to dev each and that each does the same aids for each other, which isn't really true. Obviously, both benefit from improved stonework and more available labor. Idk if dams actually need the same variety of hydrology knowledge, as already stated. Nor do I know if the actual construction process of the dam - a durability-senstitive additive process - is similar in any way to construction of the canal - a deductive and friction-reducing process.
I'm assuming we'd dig a canal from the dam to the ocean - though idk tbh. The dam helps make the canal because we can either let 0 water through - to dig easier - or let a lot more water through - to push away obstructions. Both of them develop brickwork and stonework and etc. I agree that we could probably start the canals safely w/o the pre-reqs, cus we'll be spending a lot of time digging, but will we?? Everyone seems set on just doing all the walls and literally everything except the megaprojects beforehand. I'll agree that the dam comes with more risk, but based on how everyone's leaning and the fact that it can be used to help clear the canal - if they're physically connected - it just seems more useful.
But hell, you seem really convinced and have convinced me that canals are less risky to start early, so if you get people to start on the canal earlier then I'll not keep posting dam-advocacy responses that you then use a page-long response to reply to.
Spiritual Value Obtained Harmony
To live in harmony with oneself, ones neighbours, and ones environment is to live in harmony with the spirits. To live in disharmony is to invite disaster.
Pros: Bonus to collective action
Cons: Disharmony is to be corrected
Alright, now that we have a new turn up, I'd like to once again go over our progress.
General
Diplomacy 4
Economy 5
Martial 2
Organizational
Centralization 4
Hierarchy 3
Cultural
Art 3
Mysticism 1
General
Diplomacy 4
Economy 4
Martial 2
Organizational
Centralization 4
Hierarchy 3
Cultural
Art 3
Mysticism 2
Our Economy has dropped a bit, but our Mysticism has increased. I'm not sure what the effects of Mysticism are, but I'm hoping it'll let us counter the spirit talker's influence once we raise it up a bit. Our Economy is still pretty strong, but I do want to take a turn or two to raise it before we start doing any Mega Projects like the dam or canal.
Spiritual Values Harmony
To live in harmony with oneself, ones neighbours, and ones environment is to live in harmony with the spirits. To live in disharmony is to invite disaster.
Pros: Bonus to collective action
Cons: Disharmony is to be corrected
Also, we now have a Spiritual Value! All our other values (Gardeners, Eye for an Eye, and Sharing Circle) have been Social Values, so this is a new thing. Harmony might be a bit of a double edged sword since it encourages collectivism but discourages individualism. At its best, it ensures that everyone is getting along and working together. At its worst, it might turn us into an oppressive, stagnant shithole where everyone is terrified of standing out. We'll need to keep an eye on this to ensure that it doesn't stifle innovation or creativity among our people.
Administration
Memory
Proto-Writing
Construction
Wood
Masonry
Energy Production
Muscle Power
Food Production
Agriculture
Irrigation
Orchards
Materials
Stone
Pottery
Science
Animism
Transportation
Animal Husbandry
Solid Wheel Carts
Watercraft
Great Canoes
Early Sailboats
Administration
Memory
Proto-Writing
Construction
Wood
Masonry
Energy Production
Muscle Power
Food Production
Agriculture
Irrigation
Orchards
Materials
Stone
Pottery
Science
Animism
Transportation
Animal Husbandry
Solid Wheel Carts
Watercraft
Great Canoes
Early Sailboats
No real changes here. We've been working on shoring up our current infrastructure rather then inventing new stuff.
Artistry
Self-expressive flourishes
Administrators
Ad-hoc
Intellectuals
Elders
Leadership
Non-hereditary specialist
Merchants
Hereditary family
Property
Communal
Warriors
Non-hereditary specialist
Artistry
Self-expressive flourishes
Specialists
Administrators
Ad-hoc
Entertainers
Amateur group activity
Non-caste semi-specialists
Intellectuals
Elders
Leadership
Non-hereditary specialist
Merchants
Hereditary family
Property
Communal
Warriors
Non-hereditary specialist
Now this is where we've got some interesting changes. We have a new category called Entertainers, which seems to be focused on providing non material services. Right now it's filled with amateurs and part timers, but eventually I'm hoping that we can get some actual specialists since it would really boost our culture.
As for the other changes, we're developing Specialists in Art, which seems to be a nice side effect of our decision to regulate gambling and prostitution. Over time, this might lead to our people developing their own distinct art or architectural style.
Interesting enough, the merchants are the only ones who seem to be hereditary. They've been like this since the beginning, even after we've assimilated them.
On the one hand, the merchants need to travel far and wide, so learning the craft from a young age can be beneficial. On the other, it might lead to certain families gaining more wealth and power over time. It's not really a big deal at the moment, but we might want to keep an eye on it anyway.
----------------------------
So to sum up our previous turn:
It turned out that picking Developing a Place for Spirits was actually enough to offset all the potential strife we got for not sending tribute to the spirit talkers, which is nice. We now have a little proto-temple at the waterfall between our valley and coastal villages.
Our people have come up with an interesting system for their society. Before, there were two kinds of people: those who created food (farmers and fishermen) and those who did not but helped the tribe in other ways (warriors, artisans, elders and chiefs). Now, we have a third kind: entertainers. At the moment, it's just prostitutes and gamblers, but it looks like we're also getting specialized artisans, which is nice. The tribe regulates activities of the third kind, reducing the chance of illness and taking a small portion of their earnings as an early version of taxes.
We've also taken the chance to reorganize all our villages, which should hopefully improve efficiency and cleanliness. Combined with our growing Mysticism, it seems to be what triggered our new Harmony Spiritual Value. Having better organized homes and setting up a spiritual place has made our people happier, which is good to see.
Unfortunately, we've also had refugees sneaking into our lands and sickness spreading through the population. While we didn't lose too many people (yay Centralization!), our people are still unhappy about what happened and are looking for someone to blame.
Right now we have two choices to make: who do we blame for the sickness and what do we do about the lowlander refugees?
Place the blame...
[] Disturbing the dead
This seems to be one of the more reasonable options. Messing with the dead is a common taboo for a reason, after all. However, it might lead to problems later on when we want to settle elsewhere ("We can't build here! There are bodies in the ground!") [] Tolerating bad behaviour
Eh... I personally don't like this. Our Harmony trait already discourages bad behavior. I'm worried that this might lead to witch-hunts where our people turn on a minority group (the entertainers, in this case) whenever there's a problem. Even if it doesn't, it's going to affect our burgeoning art and entertainment, which I'd like to avoid if possible. [] The lowlander settlers
I don't really like this, but it's honestly a fairly reasonable option. However, blaming outsiders whenever we have a problem might not always be a good idea... [] These things happen
Que sera sera? This is the "shit happens, deal with it" answer. Our people might be unhappy with the idea that there isn't anyone to blame for their problems, but we might be able to channel that into our religion somehow ("The spirits are unhappy! We need to work harder!")
So for me the choices go:
These things happen>Disturbing the dead>The lowlander settlers>Tolerating bad behavior
For our second choice, we have:
The settlers would be dealt with by...
[] Sending experts to get them farming correctly (Cannot be taken if blame is placed on the settlers)
I like this option. It lets us make contact with them while establishing our dominance. If they're willing to listen, they might be more inclined to like us for showing them better ways to grow food. If they're aggressive, at least we'll know for sure and can send in our warriors to chase them out before they start causing any trouble
[] Sending traders to them (Cannot be taken if blame is placed on the settlers)
This also makes contact with them, but presents us in a more neutral light by meeting them as peers rather then children who need to be taught
[] Ignoring them
I don't really like this option because it means that we'll have no idea what they're up to. If they're so close by, I'd like to be certain whether or not they're going to try to raid us eventually
[] Shunning them
Probably a bad idea? It has the whole "we don't know what they're up to" part of ignoring them along with treating them badly, which might cause resentment and make them decide that we're enemies. Also, it clashes with our Sharing Circle trait, which could lead to internal strife
[] Driving them out (Can only be taken if the blame is placed on the settlers)
Not my preferred choice, but I can understand the reasoning behind it. They are on our land, after all. Still, I'd like to make peaceful contact if possible.
So in this case, the choices for me are:
Sending experts>Sending Traders>Driving them out>Ignoring them>Shunning them
As such, I'll vote for:
[X] Disturbing the dead
[X] Sending experts to get them farming correctly (Cannot be taken if blame is placed on the settlers)
On the matter of a taboo over the dead interfering with the development of medicine, I'm sure that some enterprising doctors will eventually disect someone eventually, and we can just collectively decide that sometimes it's okay, or say that it's a meritous service to donate yourself to medicine after you die, and proper reward will be given to the house of the deceased (and possibly sacrificed at the place of honored dead as well).
[X] The lowlander settlers
[X] Driving them out (Can only be taken if the blame is placed on the settlers)
This will not grind against Sharing Circle. We believe in helping people, but that doesn't mean we're willing to help our enemies. The lowlanders have done awful shit for generations upon generations so it's perfectly fine if we not only don't help these settlers, but instead drive them out.
And yeah, we want to emphasise that we absolutely do not tolerate the awful shit the lowlanders have gotten up to. Driving them out reinforces that.
As for helping them with farming, that is a terrible idea. The biggest weakness of the lowlanders was their shitty farming and their vulnerability to the environment. Removing their greatest weaknesses from them while they still retain their old culture will only lead us to ruin. At absolute most we should do no more than send traders to them, at least for now. They must forget their old ways before we give them the tools to prosper.
[X] These things happen
[X] Sending experts to get them farming correctly
The chance of getting up to date information from the possible slaves would be a really good thing.
Blaming prostitution on the outbreak of disease doesn't really work well, since it would stunt our art and entertainment development.
Blaming it on disturbing the dead will increase our mysticism, which I don't hate but it'll be a problem later if we let our people get all superstitious when we discover dead people in a previously settled land (i'm looking at you, lowlanders...I bet your entire area is full of corpses). I'd like to be able to settle new land without everyone saying no to settling an area that has a corpse or two.
It's not "blaming outsiders whenever we have a problem", it's "blaming the worst people we've ever heard of who've been shitheads for generations and had plague brought down upon them". We got our Eye for an Eye value specifically because we've internalised the concept of limited punishment, so it's not going to start a trend of blaming outsiders.
Thanks, and so am I. I think that may be because we've been working on altering both the Fisher tribes and our own to communal living, but the Travelers have been mostly ignored and since they were already headed in that direction...
This will not grind against Sharing Circle. We believe in helping people, but that doesn't mean we're willing to help our enemies. The lowlanders have done awful shit for generations upon generations so it's perfectly fine if we not only don't help these settlers, but instead drive them out.
And yeah, we want to emphasise that we absolutely do not tolerate the awful shit the lowlanders have gotten up to. Driving them out reinforces that.
As for helping them with farming, that is a terrible idea. The biggest weakness of the lowlanders was their shitty farming and their vulnerability to the environment. Removing their greatest weaknesses from them while they still retain their old culture will only lead us to ruin. At absolute most we should do no more than send traders to them, at least for now. They must forget their old ways before we give them the tools to prosper.
But do you really want to punish them for something their ancestors have done? A person shouldn't be judged for what their parents did as I have no more control over what my ancestors did than anyone does. They have moved away from their ancestral lands as our own people have, shouldn't we at least give them a chance?
You forget that farming as we do is full time operation that requires all hands on deck before they manage to make enough to spend on alternate professions.
This seems to be one of the more reasonable options. Messing with the dead is a common taboo for a reason, after all. However, it might lead to problems later on when we want to develop medicine
I don't see it being a problem until much later. As of now, none of the options we have seem to advance medicine significantly and those that do are most likely to the understanding of herbs and necessity of cleanliness. Funeral ceremonies would even help advance those fields.
It's not "blaming outsiders whenever we have a problem", it's "blaming the worst people we've ever heard of who've been shitheads for generation and had plague brought down upon them". We got our Eye for an Eye value specifically because we've internalised the concept of limited punishment, so it's not going to start a trend of blaming outsiders.
I feel that this is not being very "eye-for-an-eye" but rather blaming an entire group of people for the actions of some, or perhaps just for the way their society functioned. Our "eye for an eye" came specifically from NOT BLAMING FOR THE ACTIONS OF A FEW. Guess what blaming a group of settlers for the actions/behavior of a bunch of people that they probably don't even know is? Not that.
Yes, their culture is troubled and if we let that remain and they leave with our knowledge we will to some degree be screwing ourselves. But a) our knowledge takes personal dedication and isn't very easily taught, so the people we teach will be the farming underclass and b) we will be infecting them with our way of living as we teach.
Edit:
Sivantic, they live "a few days" away, in an area still within the valley, just not really. Aka, in our land. And basically anyone who's in the area between the valley and the ocean is in our land, because the other half of us is in the ocean and we'll be steadily spreading to meet them.
I feel we should note that there's a distinct possibility that by teaching the lowlanders (which I still voted for), we could end up losing our farming technologies to the lowlanders. This sounds ... bad. Very bad. We don't want to feed them any better.
The point w/ the snails is that the choice magically grants us them. The issue appears to be that the type of snail that they like to eat doesn't grow in shallower water, so if we grow that snail in shallower water and then introduce the purple ones and leave them be for a while it'll all be okay. This might take building shallow pools shaded by awnings or something, but regardless will definitely enhance our knowledge of coastal ecosystems in the < 30 meter depth range. *cough* and perhaps our knowledge of retaining water *cough*
IRL mollusc farming basically involves working and sinking pilings(pillars) into the sea water out past the low tide zone, to increase the surface area they can grow on. This has certain difficulties like "how you get the pillars out there" and "how do you get the pillars to stay there"
You see, the smaller molluscs they feed on in turn feed on algae and plankton, which increases the amount of stone surface area for them to live on by creating artificial reefs.
They probably can't tolerate dirty water as well, which might be why they live past the tidal zone, which regularly churns grit into the water.
Still, it depends a lot on how well we can understand them. It's famously difficult to cultivate picky creatures like that. We'd require long term observations to make it work without accidentally wiping them out.
"An individual owes their labour to the group in exchange for their bread, but I think that we all agree that we do not owe our labours to any individual person within the group. However, their actions still affect the group, and they would be unable to perform their work without the group. Thus they do owe the group a portion of what the take from others in their personal activities," she explained, before holding up a stalling hand at the next round of arguments. "Obviously what that portion should be, and how we decide what actions are worthy of group attention, and so on is a discussion for another day."
We have bread already?
Didn't expect that, but I suppose you could make flour just fine with two rocks without a mill.
At the prompting of the people from the sea and the traders, it was agreed upon that certain activities that had previously been regarded of as group activities should instead be considered personal endeavours. Those representing some of the more specialized artisans, such as those who worked cloth in the off seasons, suggested that perhaps parts of their work should be reclassified as well, with things like basic clothing being something everyone needed and thus was owed to everyone, but more complex designs that required additional effort should instead be classified differently and thus the contribution to the community assessed differently.
Kickass, that'd be the rise of specialist artists and we can see on the front page that Entertainers have improved from people doing whatever, into semi-specialists.
A Festival would tip it over the edge, but the decrease in economy must be compensated for first. Roads should help.
Middens and latrines had filled up and then been buried over and new houses built in their place. When it rained there were areas that filled with water and became stagnant and foul smelling. There were warrens that allowed vermin to disappear into depths where they could not be dealt with when they chewed into storehouses.
During the reorganization of the villages, whenever they dug out a foundation and found bodies who they were uncertain the family of, they also loaded them into carts to be taken to the site for burial as honoured ancestors.
A whole family was reported to have the rash-sickness that had run rampant through the lowlands.
As the season passed, the issue only got worse as despite best measures to isolate the sick to prevent the spread, it seemed to hop over their barriers like a bonfire throwing sparks onto dry grass.
Okay, so lets look at the plague rationally:
-First occurance of the disease came from a family. Not traders or travelers. One whole family. This points to the source being a group activity done by them and not done by anyone else, that the source is internal or vermin bourne.
-The plague was already spreading before the lowlanders arrived. We just got the report when we noticed they were there. So it didn't come from them.
-The plague bypassed quarantines. That means it had a local source that kept reinfecting people.
-Our villages are in relatively damp ground because we have old latrines filled up and a lot of irrigation flow.
-This plague only showed up in the lowlands after the drought and floods left lots of dead everywhere rotting without enough of the living to dispose of them
-The plague is high lethality and spreads by close contact. Entire families wiped out, combined with a quarantine, means that the lowlanders cannot have traveled very far while sick or they'd all be dead.
-The plague ended when winter arrived. Winter would be when people stopped traveling and digging because it's too cold. This means the reorganization would be halted during winter.
Thus:
-This plague came from the corpses dug up during the reorganization. Digging foundations for their new homes is a family activity, everyone will chip in to move the earth, and move the dead bodies in the carts.
-The plague bypassed quarantines because the reorganization was still going on. People kept digging up the dead, loading them onto carts and then driving the carts down to the holy place for reburial. This meant they've been traveling and eating alongside a dead body, with limited water to wash hands between contact.
Given its place of beauty, political neutrality, and being close enough to half-way between the two villages, a site near the waterfall that sat along the trip between the two villages was chosen as the location where they would build their place to the spirits. Also, if anyone had an accident on the river above the waterfall, the site was the best place to fish their bodies out and give them a proper burial, lest their spirits rest unquiet and return to haunt their loved ones in death.
Surprisingly, the holy place sounds like it's on the site of the new settlement? If we hook up a road and canal that'd be a natural trade center, with a wonder of nature to marvel over.
...and pick out the corpse of anyone who fell into the river. Handy for travelers who lost people to the river
The site was mostly just a cluster of buildings that housed important artifacts of ancestors or strange curios that showed the intervention of spirits in the world, tended to by elders in the fading twilight of their lives, select members of their extended families who cared for them while they could pass on knowledge one last time, and a rotating group of young warriors who guarded the place and could be taught humility by a few knocks from gnarled knuckles when being stupid.
I feel we should note that there's a distinct possibility that by teaching the lowlanders (which I still voted for), we could end up losing our farming technologies to the lowlanders. This sounds ... bad. Very bad. We don't want to feed them any better.
It also won't be satisfactorily dominant - aka our way or else. We're basically rewarding them for settling near us by asking if they need/want anything.
It also won't be satisfactorily dominant - aka our way or else. We're basically rewarding them for settling near us by asking if they need/want anything.
Yes, their culture is troubled and if we let that remain and they leave with our knowledge we will to some degree be screwing ourselves. But a) our knowledge takes personal dedication and isn't very easily taught, so the people we teach will be the farming underclass and b) we will be infecting them with our way of living as we teach.
Edit:
Sivantic, they live "a few days" away, in an area still within the valley, just not really. Aka, in our land. And basically anyone who's in the area between the valley and the ocean is in our land, because the other half of us is in the ocean and we'll be steadily spreading to meet them
There's also the fact that they can't really practice their own way of life either as they moved all the way until they were only a few days away from us.
Still don't see it as something to throw a hissy fit about. If we had actively worked that land then heck yeah, but we haven't.
I feel we should note that there's a distinct possibility that by teaching the lowlanders (which I still voted for), we could end up losing our farming technologies to the lowlanders. This sounds ... bad. Very bad. We don't want to feed them any better.
That however implies that they would go through the trouble of teaching each other. When history has already shown that they are really competitive towards each. If it works, they aren't likely to turn around go back and try and teach others. That would just get them enslaved.
If we heard about them, they likely heard about us, especially since we are a major part of the local land. It would be bad for them to try to get on our badside, especially since we would be sending warriors with them to avoid mischief.
So then who cares if they react badly? Also, as far as I know, don't our choices last for a couple years or something?
Edit:
Sivvie, this is a we-basically-travel-at-foot-speed type game, where all the travel is through basically wildbrush. So a few days travel is like, <100 miles or something. Like, I get that this isn't land that we conquered but I'm paranoid and don't like how close these warlike people are and what they'll do if they learn that the land is nice for farming and invite their desperately sad relatives and then we get invaded and die of their measles-infested bodies swarming our beautiful, clean town.
@Lone Wolf@Umi-san I don't know how it happened, but both your votes have
[] Sending experts to get them farming correctly (Cannot be taken if blame is placed upon the settlers)
when the majority of the votes have
[] Sending experts to get them farming correctly (Cannot be taken if blame is placed on the settlers)
Anyway still way early for a proper tally but, Send Experts and and Things Happen are in the lead strongly and moderately respectively.
Sadly, I don't think this is a viable option either.
Trade is nice, but acknowledges their 'independence' so to speak, and doesn't establish a power dynamic. We're no longer the small community talking with other small communities on an equal basis. There needs to be some sort of sovereign control established. The farming methods education establishes a 'we're better, be like us' dynamic in all other interactions, thus subsuming them and turning them into us. Either we culturally dominate them or we get rid of them. There isn't a middle ground.
I look at it like this: 'Come to the Dark side; we have cookies. If you don't, death.'
