[X] Apologize. In the end he meant well and that weighs more than his methods.
-[X] But in the future you'd appreciate not being kept in the dark, especially when the consequences affect you so greatly.
I completely get why he kept us in the dark. He was hoping, perhaps foolishly, that we'd be spared the brunt of the tribe's paranoia, but in the end even if that backfired he did mean well. There is literally no point in continuing to be angry at him. The man is dying, and along with Atl and Manauia we're one of the only ones he has left. Let's not spitefully take that away from him. The less stress and regret he has to deal with the easier the rest of his life gets for him.
And that aside, there's also the fact that he can teach us a lot more in his twilight years if we're not being a spiteful little shit and he's not drowning in guilt.
[X] Apologize. In the end he meant well and that weighs more than his methods.
-[X] But in the future you'd appreciate not being kept in the dark, especially when the consequences affect you so greatly.
I don't know the reasons behind each vote, but this just feels right. And IRL, when something just feels right to me, it has never led to a bad path... Yes, this is an horrible explanation, but the truth, nonetheless.
[X] Apologize. In the end he meant well and that weighs more than his methods.
-[X] But in the future you'd appreciate not being kept in the dark, especially when the consequences affect you so greatly.
[X] Apologize. In the end he meant well and that weighs more than his methods.
-[X] But in the future you'd appreciate not being kept in the dark, especially when the consequences affect you so greatly.
[X] Apologize. In the end he meant welland that weighs more than his methods.
-[X] But in the future you'd appreciate notbeing kept in the dark, especially when the consequences affect you so greatly.
[X] Apologize. In the end he meant well and that weighs more than his methods.
-[X] But in the future you'd appreciate not being kept in the dark, especially when the consequences affect you so greatly.
[X] Apologize. In the end he meant well and that weighs more than his methods.
-[X] But in the future you'd appreciate not being kept in the dark, especially when the consequences affect you so greatly.
[X] Apologize. In the end he meant well and that weighs more than his methods.
-[X] But in the future you'd appreciate not being kept in the dark, especially when the consequences affect you so greatly.
I take it the next update will also have our Shaman/Mental/Social Training results for the past 2 years?
You blink once and think back on that day. Now that he has spelled it out for you, it seems so obvious. True, it was a decaying carcass moving around and yet it was not truly decaying. It was more like the jaguar cape of the hunters, except far less taken care of. And while rotting bodies normally attracted all manners of insects, there had been just the one kind in this one. "The glowing moths? They are spirits? All of them?"
"Yes and no. If they are one great spirit in many bodies or a myriad of tiny ones that work in perfect accord, I can not truly say, though I suspect the latter. Flesh Moths they were called by my master. Harbingers by the tribe at large, back in those long ago days where we last saw them, for each one is an ill omen all in itself." As you glance down at the floor, you notice that his drawing wasn't so idle. A small image of a wolf is there and he carefully pokes tiny holes around it. "Not every one of their hosts looks like the one you saw. At first, their victims look just fine."
You wait a bit for him to finish a drawing of a man approaching the wolf. "A single one of them is all that it takes." At that he adds a sharp line from one of the dots to the man. "They burrow into the flesh with ease. It barely hurts as they slip right through your skin. They crawl around and lay their eggs, just like a true insect would, but the maggots will not have to feast on rotten remains. You will not feel any pain or great discomfort as they consume your flesh and weave their nest in its place."
As he finishes drawing the small cavity in the man's arm, he looks first you and then Atl straight in the eyes. "There are signs of their presence. Many subtle ones that might have entirely different reasons. The only true way to check is to pierce the skin and pray that it is just blood spilling forth." At this he points to many healed wounds on his left hand and arm. You always assumed he had hurt himself with the shaking somehow, but you can guess what he will say next.
"A slight numbness to the arm now and then. Maybe a prickling in your toes. Others might notice your hand shaking. As they consume more and more of their host, his movements will become slightly wrong." Here he draws more cavities into the man. The arms. The legs. The body. Finally, the skull. "He will forget things as they spread to the skull. Speak a bit oddly at first as the spirits start to steer the hollow shell left behind. Always seeking a new home to lay their eggs within."
Is anyone else as relieved as I am we remembered to use Jungle's Scent before going into the ruins? Good god, this is the kind of shit that can wipe out the entire tribe. @Azel, these spirits are insane.
Is anyone else as relieved as I am we remembered to use Jungle's Scent before going into the ruins? Good god, this is the kind of shit that can wipe out the entire tribe. @Azel, these spirits are insane.
[X] Apologize. In the end he meant well and that weighs more than his methods.
-[X] But in the future you'd appreciate not being kept in the dark, especially when the consequences affect you so greatly.
[X] Apologize. In the end he meant well and that weighs more than his methods.
-[X] But in the future you'd appreciate not being kept in the dark, especially when the consequences affect you so greatly.
[X] Apologize. In the end he meant well and that weighs more than his methods.
-[X] But in the future you'd appreciate not being kept in the dark, especially when the consequences affect you so greatly.
There are other benefits to this vote not mentioned, and that's stress plays a great deal in your health getting worse even dementia. So forgiving him should mean that he stays healthier longer, thus be able to provide guidance longer.
[X] Apologize. In the end he meant well and that weighs more than his methods.
-[X] But in the future you'd appreciate not being kept in the dark, especially when the consequences affect you so greatly.
Is anyone else as relieved as I am we remembered to use Jungle's Scent before going into the ruins? Good god, this is the kind of shit that can wipe out the entire tribe. @Azel, these spirits are insane.
[X] Apologize. In the end he meant well and that weighs more than his methods.
-[X] But in the future you'd appreciate not being kept in the dark, especially when the consequences affect you so greatly.
Adhoc vote count started by Azel on Jan 5, 2018 at 4:24 PM, finished with 423 posts and 15 votes.
[X] Apologize. In the end he meant well and that weighs more than his methods.
-[X] But in the future you'd appreciate not being kept in the dark, especially when the consequences affect you so greatly.
You take a few calming breaths. It still hurts that Mahuizoh was hiding this from you, but he is right. It doesn't really make you feel any better about the situation to know the reasons for it. Quite the opposite, if you are honest with yourself. "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have lost my temper..." Then you sit back down, and it is your turn to stare at the floor. He meant you well, even if you don't like what he did. After he cared for you for five years and taught you most of what you know today, you can't really be angry at him for a single bad judgement.
"There is nothing to feel sorry for. I shouldn't have kept you two in the dark for so long. I'm just glad that..." You glance up as he trails off and catch him shaking is head with an uneasy smile. "What's done is done, and all that matters is that we are still here together."
That is what makes you spirits slowly lift again. Those who should be your family by blood have barely talked to you in years past, and at some point that bond had simply faded. But you still have a family. In its own odd way, Mahuizoh, Manauia, Atl and you have become one over with time and even more so in the last year for all the troubles hounding you. Maybe that is what matters in the end. That you always stuck together, even if the times were tough.
Not much more is said on this day. Nothing more really needs to be said.
The return to the site near the ruins comes and goes without any major events. The four of you stay well away from the ruins themselves this time, since you don't want to fan the flames any more then necessary, which makes stocking up on some necessary herbs a lot less convenient. So you still spend most of the time away from the camp and can thus at least evade the gossiping following you on every step these days. Many in the tribe seem to expect you to summon your dark spirits any day now and build a throne out of their skulls or something equally dastardly. That they maybe shouldn't talk about these things so loudly that you can overhear them that easily seems to not have occurred to them. Especially the new hunter apprentices seem to have all the subtlety of a falling tree.
The offering to the spirits comes and goes without any issues either, and so your tribe moves on to its last stop before reaching the farmers village again. Mahuizoh had hoped that this would put an end to the whole matter, but he was disappointed yet again. Not that you had really expected anything else after they had a whole year to get used to slandering your group. Though you are pleased to note that it at least peters off somewhat. The hunters seem not any more trusting of you than before just because the maleficent trap was not sprung on them yet, but the other villagers have apparently enough of the whole matter for now and slowly start talking to you again.
Probably that is something you have to thank Atl for. He is in the tent of the chief every few days now, far more often than Mahuizoh even before the whole unpleasantness, and every time he comes back out with a happy face the tribe seems a little bit more at ease around you. For all the other talents your teachers have instilled in you, talking is not one of them. Something you can only blame yourself for, since Mahuizoh was offering to teach you about those matters long ago. Maybe this is a good moment to take him up on that offer.
Misdirection
You have learned to artfully steer a conversation to or away from topics without others even noticing. With a successful Intrigue check, you can make others reveal information you desire and make them think they told you it voluntarily. Likewise, you can avoid answering a question in the same fashion.
Attributes
Main Action (Social) -> +1 Charisma
Attribute point from additional Main action?
28 -> No
As you think back to those days a year later, you realize how quickly time can fly. There is still tension in the tribe, even if it is very muted by now, and you think it will never quite go away again. Yet it is not a small and solemn group commemorating this day, but most of the tribe is in attendance. Atl is obviously the center of attention, for today he will finish his apprenticeship. You are still a bit sore about the fact that he gets to do this now when you learned for as many years under Mahuizoh as him and must still do for two more. The shaman himself looks healthier then you have seen him in far too long. He still stands slightly hunched, but he is freely walking around and chatting with people, or more likely bragging about Atl. At last, the chieftain steps into the free spot left for him and the ceremony can begin.
Mahuizoh walks to the center of the circle as the tribe goes quiet. In his hands he holds a jar of herbs and a single feather of a parrot. "Six years ago, I'd taken a young boy under my care. To teach him the ways of our people, so that he can become a man in time. To teach him the ways of a shaman, so that he may offer counsel and healing to all those in need of them. Step before me, Atl."
As commanded he steps forward to the old man. Not much is left of the careless and bumbling boy you've got to know on that day so long ago. He has become a young man now, tall and maybe even a bit handsome, even with his still slender frame. Still a bit timid and in your opinion, but you know that he has earned his right to stand here today. "I heed your call, master. What do you require of me?"
"I have required of you to heed my words, and so you did. I have required you to learn what I had to teach, and you took your lessons well. No more and no less a master wishes from his apprentice. No longer will I require these things from you, for apprentice you shall no longer be." With these words he gives him first the feather, which Atl sticks into a loop on the necklace he had prepared for this. Then he takes the jar too and tastes a pinch of the herbs before hanging them from another leather loop on his belt. "A boy has come to me, and a man I shall now release again."
With this Mahuizoh takes two steps back. He is still within the circle, but the attention now rests solely on Atl. "Then Atl I shall be no longer, for it is the name of a child. There was strife within the tribe while I was yet an apprentice, but seeing the many smiling faces here today, I know that it has been overcome." A bit of an exaggeration in your opinion and yet this is probably the perfect moment to just declare the whole thing over. Nobody is going to gainsay him right now. "To honor this, I shall now be named Icnoyotl. Friendship."
Mahuizoh gives him a deep bow and you hold your breath for a moment, hoping he won't have another of the fainting spells he had trouble with for a few weeks now. He comes back up without any trouble, though, and smiles at his now former apprentice. "Then I wish you well on all your paths, Icnoyotl." With this he takes another two steps back and joins the crowd. They too now bow to the young men among their midst in silent greeting.
And just like that, the spell is broken and as the tribe rises, so does the chatter. Instead of joining the fray of people wishing to talk to him, you just idly drift out of the crowd. There will be enough time to talk to him later in the tent. He will still sleep there after all, and not that much will change for now, except for his name. Why he went from a nice, short and sensible name like Atl to such a mouthful still eludes you, though. He will be stuck with that mouthful of symbolism for his entire life now.
"You've seen the new shaman of the tribe in that circle, you know."
The voice startles you for a moment before you spot Manauia next to you. No matter how much you trained with her, she always managed to surprise you anyway. "It's ill-mannered to name a successor while he still lives, you know? And a second candidate will be available by then." Trust her to ruin the festive mood for you. It's not that she didn't have a point, though. Mahuizoh's health was declining more and more, and while he had greatly looked forward to today, nobody had really spoken about your turn in two years. He might not be there anymore to send you off. That thought was hurting you a lot, and so you quickly buried it again.
Her spear clanks on the ground as she walks beside you back to your tent. "That's not what I meant. The tribe has learned to like him quite a lot. Not as headstrong as Mahuizoh sometimes was. Not as adventurous as you can be. Calm and wisdom they see in him and soft spoken on top of it."
You close your eyes and swallow that well known lump of irritation again. It was hardly surprising that the tribe still holds a bit of a grudge against you, what with you being the one to discover the Flesh Moth host back then by exploring random places. Nothing like in the direct aftermath and still enough to make them slightly wary whenever you are out of sight and might poke dangerous things again. "There's still time left for me to convince them I'm just as worthy."
"Do you even want to?" You stop in your tracks and quizzically look at her. "Come on, little shaman. That title hardly describes you anymore. Taking lessons from a huntress is not exactly normal, and I somehow don't see you with a mortar and pestle or a few snot nosed apprentices for the rest of your life. Have you even ever honestly thought about if you would want that title?"
Admittedly, you kind of assumed that it would be a given that you become a shaman in time. You were a shaman apprentice, after all. And yet you never really thought about what it would mean.
"It's nothing you need to decide now Yaxkin, but consider it. Two more years until you are a grown woman. You should think about what to do with your life."
You shake your head at her and resume your walk. Maybe it is indeed time to plan for your future.
What do you wish to achieve with your life?
[] [Goal] Write-In
As the final years of your apprenticeship come near, you must one last time consider what to study. Sadly Mahuizohs failing health makes it rather stressful for him to teach you. Only one Main action can be picked from those topics offered by him.
Pick 2 Main activities:
[] [Main] Healing and Plant Lore
[] [Main] Spirit Lore
[] [Main] Social Skills
[] [Main] Fighting. Pick two skills to focus on.
-[] Bladed Weapons
-[] Bludgeoning Weapons
-[] Spears
-[] Bows
[] [Main] Tracking and Stealth
[] [Main] Survival and Animal Handling
Pick 4 secondary activities:
[] [Secondary] Train a single skill: Write-In
(Alchemy is unavailable, since Mahuizoh only knows the basics of the field himself.)
[] [Secondary] Pick another Main action (Takes two Secondarys): Write-In
[] [Secondary] Explore the ruins when you tribe is in the area again. Pick two:
-[] The Palace
-[] The Catacombs
-[] The Warrior's Compound
-[] The Serpent's Home
-[] The Temple
-[] The Granaries
[] [Secondary] Make a bid to become the new Shaman of the tribe once Mahuizoh is no more.
[] [Secondary] Attend the offerings to the spirits.
(The tribe is still a bit wary around you when it comes to spirits. Neither Mahuizoh nor Icnoyotl want you to do this.)
[] [Secondary] Gather herbs and perform Alchemy once the stars are right. (Write-In what. Up to 6 doses can be made for every time this action is taken.)
[] [Secondary] Do something different: Write-In
AN: This chapter took far longer then expected.
The life goal vote is partially to round out Yaxkin's character and partially for me to see in which direction you people want to go from here on. Try to keep the goals in line with what Yaxkin might reasonable want though. You can add that continent spanning empire to the list at a later date.
