To feed a little the (very interesting) discussion : In the World they are supernatural hot spots and safe spots, for SPOILER
In Europe, the most famous safe spot is Rome, and the most famous hot spot is Transylvania (no matter the world, the Balkans are cursed).
There are a lot of hots spots in the Americas, and only one safe spot, lake Titicaca.
Well, not necessarily.
There are two religious orders that dealt with the supernatural : The Order of St.Michael, devoted to the Dragonslayer, and the Order of St.Lazarus, the Resurrected. They do not have the same role or methods.
Ohh we're going that route with old dracs mythology great if it wasn't the fact i was already invested in the new world i would do anything to see what the prince of darkness is gonna do in the upcoming war cause its up his alley to chaos and gain more followers for himself.
Once again, the people get to work, carrying this year's harvest into the town, doing good work with their new tools, scythes and scourges already proving their worth.
The harvest is good, both for food and herbs, a bounty of maize, squash, beans and wheat gathered and prepared for the Winter all season, and our wise folks meticulously drying as much herbs as they can, filling their reserves with incense, unguent and many other medicines.
In this land under the threat of Winter, at least the soil is bountiful, our fields showing no signs of depletion, even if our more experienced farmers prepare new ways of sowing and cultivating for next year.
The Wilds Unending trigger, no harvest roll. Good harvest of food and herbs, enough to face two Old World winters with rationing.
[X] Dealt with the Eyesvines [All sub-options are free] --[X][Vine] Speak with the vines
When the days were still hot, before the forces of Winter began to muster, Sara went into the field, to speak with the vines. Beforehand, she had strengthened herwill through prayers and discussions with the wise souls of the Freed, who now come weekly to seek the presence of the Death-Singer.
So, with fresh ashes on her face, Mourners around her and a few militiamen ready to act if the vines grow hostile, Sara began to sing the breathless song, and reach with her soul the whispering and whimpering vines, the Mourners acting as anchors.
When Sara touched the vines, she felt a presence, far away, that did not feel like the forces of Winter, but neither like the spirits of the dead and the wilds, or even the King.
It extended an invitation that she prudently followed, warning the Mourners to get her back at the first signs of treachery.
Dragged by a soul like a black and red vine, she felt herself moved faster than the winds, away from Union and into the Wilds, and below her, she could see dark forest covered in EyesVines, silent servants black like the deepest night serving it, and bringing preys to their masters.
She reached a tall, dark tower that seemed not built but grew, the stone forming a smooth, almost organic tube reaching toward the sky. She passed through the stone, her soul unaffected by matter, and reached a great hall, shaped like one of the honeycombs of a beehive she once saw, back in England.
In it, sit what perhaps once looked like a man, Two men-height of mummified skin over visible bones, two pits where should be eyes. His throne is one enormous Eyesvine, as wide as four men, going from floor to ceiling, and on his brow is a shining crown of gelatinous blood, connected by thin tendrils to his throne.
She could see his servants around him, eyeless crows and spiders watching you, the bone-white spiders walking on pale webs covering the dark walls, and the black crows coming and going, always a few croaking into the ears of the thing on the throne.
After taking all of this in, she tried to speak, but found she couldnot. A dry laugh escaped the lipless mouth of the thing on the Throne.
- A, you are a powerful little thing if you can even try to speak here, under all the wards held by those old walls ! I can see how you attracted the King's attention, little thing that could become great.
But sadly, you cannot, and I have little time to give you, so listen and remember. Once there was a thing stalking the land, unbound by Winter. It could not move if watched, but would slowly corrupt by its very presence those that watched it.
So those that once lived on this land hatched a plan. They attracted it under a tower of stone-grow with a sacrifice, and folded the land near the tower so that nothing could enter, and nothing could leave. In the tower they put a vine bound to it, that would take and move the eyes of other beings, so that it would be ever watched by eyes without true will behind them. To watch over the vine, they choose one of their own to be bound for all times to the Tower and the vine, and gave him servants to help in his task.
And I am still at it ! After so long, you stop counting the years !
Anyways, let's cut it short : The folding has broken, and the Tower can be reached again. It has been quite rowdy since a few years back, and I must spend quite a bit of time keeping it in check, which means some of my unsupervised vines have spread beyond their attributed land, near where you dwell.
I do not know if it has corrupted them, or something else has, what I know is that those rebel vines do not obey anymore, and strain this Tower without giving blood and eyes to keep it trapped.
What I ask is simple : destroy not the vines near your land, for they will try to save themselves by calling on the Tower, but destroy the nodes you will find deep in their territories. You cannot miss them, they look like the big boy I am stuck on !
Cut the nodes, and they will not be able to draw on the Tower, and die by themselves ! Far less work for you, and a hurdle solved for me ! I will even give you a little reward, when I have the time…
She then felt like a shadow had begun to cover the hall, like being put under a suffocating, cold blanket.
- It is waking up again, as you can see. Well, let's send you back home, then. Keep the little fellow in your field feed, will you, I can get something from this one. And don't forget what I told you, trust me, you wouldn't want to see this thing freed !
With a croaking, dry laugh in her ears, Sara found herself once again in her body, the vine now silent.
So was her report to the Council.
Meet the Eyeless Lord of the Tower ! Learned about IT ! Unlock new actions against the Eyesvines ! Unlock actions to get fruits of flesh !
Wilds
-[X] Hunt --[X] Game [0/30] Natural 1 ! Reduced consequences from Omake
This season, a few brave fellows left town to hunt in the Wilds. However, the tracks did not bring them to the habitual places, but an isolated clearing in the woods, covered by freshly turned earth.
They walked toward the clearing, but the earth fell under their feet. Under the earth, they say, was a pool of glowing green, slowly evaporating in poisonous fumes, devouring the flesh of animals and trees alike under the earth.
If they had walked a few paces more, many hunters would have fallen into the pits, and be burned by it, but they were thankfully no more than splashed, and spent the rest of the season ensuring that the pool and any others they could find was burned away, the acid being, thank the Lord, flammable.
According to the Winter Walkers, this is probably the work of Many-limbed Devourers whipped into frenzy by...something
No progress on action.
--[X] A Wider Hunt [Away with the pests] [141/150] (49+(52+12,16+12)) Information obtained
Dark news came from the Warrior's Son this season. According to him, the Tribute-Takers have spread their dealing far and wide around our lands, dark monuments and signs of raiding parties found all over, pests and vermin chained and bound to the dark will of the Tribute-Taker's patrons.
It seems the Tribute-Takers have exhausted the supplies of easy prey near their cursed watery home, and seek to expand and find new targets for their raids.
The Warrior's as a proposal for the Council : Next year, let him finish the Wider Hunt, but this time, to hunt as much for monsters and Tribute-Takers alike. He and his scouts have found many places where they are weak and overextended, and a few good men could reap a bloody harvest and gather precious information from prisoners.
The Tribute Takers have spread beyond the land somewhat controlled by Union. The rewards for finishing this project will be modified, since the Warrior's Son will use the Wider Hunt to hit the Tribute Takers where they are vulnerable.
--[X] Lords [Risky] [Away with the pests] ---[X] [Lords] Bravery and Strength [Over 100/60] Over 100 progress reached, Blades bonus activate, trigger And so Felt the Lord
In the depth of the wilds lie the domain of a great Lord, one who has vanquished even his own kind on the fields of battle. One taller than an elephant of the Old World, with skin hard as stone and antlers like steel blades.
Undefeated, looming over lesser Lords, he wandered his domain, dominating the remains of his foes decorating the soil of his favored glades, where he slept away uneventful years.
One day, lesser beings came to trouble his domain. This has happened many times before, and many times he had crushed such insolent beings, worthy to be hunted only when gathered in the hives of death woods and stolen skins.
Like so many, they tried to harm him with the tools used to compensate for the weakness of their bodies, this time not with wood or stone, but with something like the flesh of the great worms, put on sticks of wood or strange balls spitted out by fiery staffs. Curious.
The Lord decided to hunt the interloper down, but to preserve their tools, and add them to his trophies.
The Lord walked, following the lesser ones as they fled before him. No need to run. No matter how fast the lesser beings go, their weak flesh would grow weary and fall, will the Lord could walk day and night for weeks without any fatigue. Watching inferiors fruitlessly struggle was one of the pleasures of an eternal life.
Will tracking the lesser as they run in the woods, the Lord surveyed the land. How delightful to see the world again, now that it had been opened anew to his kin! And how skillful were those pitiful beings, see how they carefully shaped the Wilds to adapt it to their weakness ! It almost made him want to keep a few, as pets and to see what they would produce.
But every time he tried, their weakness was their doom. Not even able to handle a little punishment….
Speaking of, it seemed they had already succumbed to their weakness, trying to catch their breath and find their path in a little glade. How well, so it ended. Would he spare a few ?
No, they still had disrespected him, even if it was somewhat petty to care about the actions of such pathetic beings.
As the Lord pondered and almost reached the lesser beings, to cleanly and rapidly crush them, the Lord felt the soil crumble away under his feet.
How, a trap ? Always so inventive those little things...What's that in the pit ?
Then the Lord felt the unmistakable bites of fresh Razorweeds thorns, and his thoughts became filled with anger and pain.
They had dared ! Using this abomination, that did not care for might ! The flesh-cutter and soul-killer, the thing that the Lord had purged with the greatest of diligence from his domains.
Pathetic things that dared hurt him ! For this, he would crush them, then find their hives, and crush them, with their mates and spawns and all other things they hold dear in their worthless little hearts !
In his anger, as he struggled to liberate himself from the pit and the thorns, the Lord did not notice behind him 12 skeletons rising, shaking away their disguise of fallen leaves. It did not notice as 12 pairs of feet walked in perfect unison toward him.
But he noticed when 12 pairs of limbs jumped forward, and 12 old, cold blades pierced him.
Then the Lord lost all reason, as cold filled his body, and shacked himself with fury, seeking to free himself from the pain, from the cold that hurt and cut and destroyed and…
But it did not matter. With vice like Death itself, the skeletal body of the Blades held to the body of the Lord, and the Blades, as one, rose and fell, and rose and fell, ever deeper into flesh…
For the poor skirmishers, watching this spectacle, it seemed to take hours. In the end, the Lord was reduced to a mass of bleeding flesh, failing without strength. Will he was still alive, the Blades continued their work, guided by the hunters above them. First, take out the thorns, then cut the skins, take away the bones and organs…
Lords are hardly being, they can endure much before dying. The wilds hear the screams of the Lord for a long time, in both sound and spirit.
You have gathered an elephant worth of meat, supernaturally warm furs, steel-hard bones and antlers, and skin harder than stone.
From the Trophies of the Lord, you have gathered precious resources for the wise ones, in preserved, rare remnants.
New experimental crafting actions unlocked due to new materials.
Due to high progress, Union as felt a strong Lord of the local Wilds, and in a particularly impactful manners. The Wilds will now respect and fear you more.
Our fishermen came back with more than fish.
Yes, the water of Moundlake is rich in life, but it is connected to the land of the Tribute Takers. According to the fishermen, they had found old signs of them on the island. They were doing...something on it.
They describe the inside of the exploded Mound, and the strange patterns in it. Something that looks like two white eyes and a black spear.
When they hear of them, the Winter Walters gasp.
Every one of them knows of those signs. They are the symbols of the First Walker. We have found his tomb, and it is empty.
Obtained a quarter of a season of fishes. Unlocked rivers raids toward the Tribute Takers. Unlocked Path of the First Walker questline. There are still waterways to survey on the Moundlake.
Town
[X] A Stronger Wall [183/125] (41+7;52+2;+25)
Project with simple and complex labors, Blades die act as a normal die.
Quality roll 49, Almost Masterwork
With the guidance and help of John Granit, and the quite distressing assistance of the Blades, our people build the new wall.
The Blades are tireless, and work day and night, away from town to not disturb the people with their unseemly appearance. In the day they cut planks and stacks, and in the night they carry them in Town and dig a ditch around it.
The pointed stacks are put deep into the grounds by the people, in two ranks, with a walkway of planks between the two ranks.
At the same time, Better platforms are raised for the canon of Union, to more easily use them, made of dirt covered by a floor of planks.
John Granit slowly work the wood of the Giants into steel-hard planks, and use them to bind and reinforce the stacks together, so that not even a Lord may break them easily, and on the walls engrave words of prayer to the Lord, and stories he heard from the Winter Walkers, so that the walls may defend us both in body and spirit.
When all's said and done, Union has perhaps the strongest walls in the New World.
Structurally, the walls look like a mix of those two forts.
Obtained Stockades and Ditch, enhancing defense.
Enhanced efficiency of shooter and canons due to walkways and better platforms.
Walls made more resistant to supernatural and monstrous threats by John Granit.
Morale effect of the Blades negated for this project.
[X] Principle of Monster-Hunting [Militia] [33/50] (1 Militia Die) (31+2)
Our militia trained this season, testing new tactics against unconventional foes. Fire and grapeshot against the swarms, repurposed bird traps against fliers, the use of Razorweed thorns… they still need time, but the avenues they are following are promising.
[X] Granaries and Seed-stocks [41/60] (34+7)
Our people did some good work on the granaries, raising the piles that will support them, beyond the reach of most pests, and the walls.
A little more effort to finish the roofing, and ensure everything is insulated enough to handle the Winter, and our harvest and seeds will be well protected.
Crafting
[X] Help the Craftsmen (1 Council Die)
All season, the Atelier is filled with activities, Council members working to ensure that every assistant is available and doing their best, and every material needed by the craftsmen is available almost immediately.
[X] Make tools [1 Craft ; 1 Mediocre Steel]
In the first half of the season, Arnaud makes tools, and turns the broken bits of steels, nails and horseshoes gathered by the town into scythes, chains for scourges, hammers, saws, axes, pickaxes and shovels.
Arnaud does not stop in the days, seeming to feel little fatigue from his labors. And when Sara watched him work, she felt memories of simple life and work in a little village of Aquitaine.
No matter, people can enjoy their new tools, and their easier work. They can trust that their leaders listen to them, and work for their interests.
2 Tools produced this season Union fully tooled, +1 generic Die Will of the People realized , +5 Morale and increased trust in the leadership of Union.
[X] Make good weapons [2 Craft ; 1 Good Steel]
In the second half of Autumn, he calls each of the Skirmishers to his smithy, and makes from riversteel weapons for each of them.
Knives, axes, spears or arrowheads, to each one specifications.
When the season ends, they are all armed in shining steel, the Warrior's Son now carrying a quiver of steel-headed arrows, a strong knife and a Winter-Walker axe at the belt.
And when Sara watched him, she felt memories of a young man, working feverishly toward arming the silent hunters of the Crown. 1 unit of Good Steel Weaponsproduced and given to the Warrior's Son and his Skirmishers.
[X] Help Build the Walls [1 Craft ; 1 Unit of Excellent Timber]
For John Granit, the season is spent working on the walls, and remembering one terrible Winter, when he held a door closed, with on one side his old master family, and on the other the master. +25 to A Stronger Wall, enhance the project.
[X] Produce Winter Clothing [1 Craft, 1 Normal Leather]
And from the workshop of Nixkamich, with bitter words hiding aching homesickness, come hooded coats, shirt, beeches, boots and gloves, all furred and made as to fit into one-another, forming one whole isolating the body from the cold.
Obtained enough Winter Clothing for half the Militia.
Raids, Expeditions and Diplomacy
[X] Meet our neighbors [NEW] --[X] Escapee [Meet] (2 Native Dice) (25+2;5+2+10) 42, over DC of 40
To the Escapee where sent the most diplomats of the Winter Walkers, and with a Prince they came back.
Activate Interlude : A Desperate Prince came to Union
Knowledge
[X] Study the Tribute Taker's tools [140/75] (77+2,59+2)
Due to over-completion,hidden project Give back the Gifts completed.
The Mourners spent the season singing to the tools gathered from the Tribute Takers, seeking in the world of spirit visions of their natures and goals, the Council assisting with their wisdom and knowledge to interpret the visions and spare the Mourners when they grew weary of the dark influences that imbue theses tools.
And what they found is extremely simple : the Tribute Takers have corrupted gifting and reciprocity.
As any person would tell you, relationships are built on reciprocity and gifts : I give, and will get something in return, because it is what is expected amongst good people, and relationships with the spirits are built on the same principles.
But what if you could give ill gifts to someone, and force them to give health of body, mind and spirit in exchange ? If you could forcibly trade bad luck for good ? If you could accept curses from dark spirits, and give them to new holders ?
This is what the tools are for : a means to hold and give the "gifts" of the Tribute Takers, in tokens of dark stones, bind prisoners to unfair agreement by siting them on thorns-covered rugs, and taking "expected rewards" with cruel points of barbed bones.
The Tribute Takers have even found how to use the bond between a person and their kin, community and the entities they worship to give "gifts" to the whole group with one prisoner.
This is what was discovered from visions of what the Tribute Takers have done, and will the Mourners heal from what they had witnessed before Winter, the Council presents something they had made from the tools of the Tribute Takers.
A talisman of stone, carefully engraved and soaked in blood, that should allow one to take a little of the "gifts", and give them back to the sender. And a point of sculpted bone, that should break the holding talismans of the Takers and let them deal with their "gifts" themselves.
+ Knowledge, your people can now deal and predict the "gifts" of the Tribute Takers. Discovered Occult Tradition of Forceful Gifting. 1 Gifts-Holder and 1 Gifts-Breaker made. Option to make more and projects to explore more deeply the Tribute Takers arts unlocked.
[X] The Ashes [Death] [42/25] (35+7)
All season, our people study the ashes, putting it on themselves in different parts and different ways, and exchanging the ashes between them.
As far as they understand, there are bits of souls in the ashes. Do trees have souls ? Probably only in the New World.
Anyways, when you put it on yourself long enough, the power….enter into you, and you into them. It makes hearing the ghosts easier, and gives you less nightmares when you hear them.
A breakthrough came when one of the experimenter asked the Mourners and Sara to give them the ashes they use on themselves (mostly by taking their cleaning water and boiling away the water) . When you put those ashes on yourself, you feel like a Mourner or Sara ! You can clearly hear the Dead, speak with them, and they can even confuse you with Sara!
So, when you use ashes, they is power inside, but...let's say unformed, and if you kept it long enough, the ashes are going to take the "shape" of your soul, and it would be like having tiny bits of someone's essence around, even perhaps working as a shield when something try to it your soul.
It probably only works with the ashes of New World's trees, and we shouldn't try it with the ashes of a monster, of course, but if we keep stock of ashes and put it on people during Winter, that should to protect them, even better of those are ashes used by Sara and the Mourner.
Something of note, people who used Sara's ashes say that they felt...not alive, like they were a ghost walking in a human body. Is this...something we should worry about ?
Ashes are discovered as a kind of spiritual clay, empowering the wearer and taking the shape of their souls. Stocks of ashes prepared for Winter, in particular ashes worn by Sara and the Mourners.
Unlock actions to try to incorporate shaped ashes into objects.
Sara's ash makes people feel like ghosts ?
Sara Smith, The Mourner
-[X] Wedding and other rites [68] (33+2;31+2) --[X] [Figure] Maze-mother, who tamed the Three-Sisters, patron of family, farming and cooking --[X] [Figure] Saint Joseph, the patron saint of fathers, both families and virgins, workers, especially carpenters, expecting mothers and unborn children.
DC 40/60/???
In the Town Hall stand two young people, with their families at the side, and behind them the people of Union.
On one side, Felix Fabre, son and apprentice of Arnaud the smith, the two of them being the last surviving members of their family. One looks young and happy, the other used by time and filled mostly with resignation.
On the other, Kanti of the Golden Maize, the remaining of her once massive clan still making one of the larger family of Union, all whispering with one another, most happy for Kati, others hiding disapproval, and a few hiding greed, thinking that with their family united, Arnaud will treat them better and give them better tools than everyone else. They clearly do not know the man.
And facing all, is Sara.
A small woman, with a homely face and ordinary brown hair and eyes, like thousands others in England.
But on her face, there was ashes, forming a mask white like death. In her eyes, there was a spark, like she could see right through anyone. And around her, there was a weight, like a blanket over one's shoulders.
She speak, with a voice that sound like any voice, with...something behind it.
- My Brothers and Sisters, we are gathered today to unite two souls as one, so that they may live in happiness, bring new life and light into this world, and bring happiness and goodness to all.
And each person of Union felt as if Sara is speaking in their mother tongue. And her voice rose in intensity.
- Felix, Kati, do you swear on all that this is good and wholesome in this world that you will stay faithful to one another, against Winter and all other ills ?
Both spoke at the same time.
- Yes, I swear
- Felix, do you swear that , like Saint Joseph, you will work for your family's good, that you will protect your wife and children with all your might, that you will be a good father, full of love and always ready to teach and guide your children ?
The voice of Sara had grown stronger, like a drum, the air almost shaking with every word. People can hear the sound of a carpenter hammer and of a gruff but warm voice giving advice, and see in the corner of their eyes what look like a bearded man carrying a baby.
But still, he speak.
- Yes, I swear.
- Kati, do you swear that, like Maze-Mother, you will feed and keep your family healthy, that you will use all you know to protect them, that you will soothe the pains of your children and correct them so that they may grow strong ?
Now, people can hear the rustling of maize, and smell cooking in the air, and in the corner of their eyes is a smiling woman, holding a baby in one hand and a cob of maize in the other.
But still, she speak.
- Yes, I swear.
- Do you swear both to hold true and respect in your acts and thoughts your ancestors, who toiled and suffered so that you may live, and to never forget them ?
All the people now fell as if hundreds of eyes were watching the wedding ,some from above, below, or...somewhere else, and they can see flash, a hand, a face, a bit of clothing.
Sara is barely moving her mount, but still all can hear her. And again, both speak.
- Yes, I swear
- If any, living or dead, want to oppose this union, speak now or never !
And, no matter what they think of this union or of the ceremony, none dare to speak, not with the echo of Sara's voice still filling the air.
- So be it. In the name of all that is good, off the fruits of the land of the Wilds, of our Lord above us, that is like the sun for the souls, may this union be blessed. In the name of all the saints and of the Mother of God, whose examples guide us, may this union be blessed. In the name of all the heroes that toiled so that people may live on this land, may this union be blessed. In the name of the ancestors, who have given their approval, may this union be blessed.
By the power given to me by the people of Union, all they hold dear and the Creator of All, I declare you husband and wife !
The words were spoken, words that all of Union will never forget, and that will shape their prayers.
So was the first wedding of union celebrated.
+5 Morale, wedding tradition instated, the precepts of the Cult of the Saints and Heroes begin to spread.
[X] Select Candidates
--[X] The Warrior Son [Free, no die needed]
The Warrior is an easy choice, and he has now begun to discuss in the night with the old officers, on how a man of war can learn to guide people who are not warriors or soldiers.
Warrior's Son is now a candidate, and has begun to prepare himself for leading civilians.
Andreyas Sarsas still remembered the day when his life was thrown in disarray, when he came to his royal father, and swore to reclaim relics of his line progenitor, taken in the night from the monks keeping them by beasts of darkness.
He was young, and sought to prove his worth to his aging father and the court, and left his beloved homeland with his horse, bow and sword.
With his companions, he traveled through Africa, facing monsters and men alike, losing his horse and many brave warriors to the illness of the jungle, before finding his carry in a forgotten temple to the devil, and vanquishing sword in hand all followers of evil.
When he left the temple, he was wounded, covered head to toe in blood, but victorious,and fell from exhaustion after slaying more than fifty devil worshipers.
Only to wake in chains, captured by a wandering warband from some petty noble, coming back from a season of raids with human loot.
He was sold and exchanged between many hands, each speaking of his princedom like one spoke of the teeth of a horse.
When he was sold to a smiling man with white skin, he thought himself saved, remembering the allies that had once helped his kingdom, but this man had no pity for his brothers in Christ.
And so a prince was chained in the darkness of a ship, without places to move or truly sit, with around him many poor souls from many tribes and kingdoms, forced to live in their own filth.
Then he met Failure, once wise man of his people, who renounced his name in penance for being unable to save them from the chains.
Together they survived their ordeal, only to be sold once again like cattle in a tropical island called Hispaniola, and be put to work in a field of canes, where limb were crushed during the making of sugar each day.
There, they were both selected to serve directly the sinful lord of the canes fields, may his name be forgotten and his soul rot in hell.
He was forced to degrade himself as a brute, fighting poor souls for the pleasure of a crowd like the gladiators in old Rome.
Failure was to give virility to the lord and help him in his many intrigues, this sinful being ever filled with envy for the wealth of others, even as he feasted thanks to the forced labors of others.
However, unknown to the lord, if he kept Failure under strong guards, fearing his arts, he had failed to see Andreyas's wits, and how he had learned the tongue and letters of Spain.
Using his memories of his Father's court and the secrets Failure had learned from the Lord, it was easy to reveal the intrigues of the lord, and let the island be filled with the sound of battle as conspirators turned into desperate traitors seeking to save their hides.
Andreyas and Failure had secretly recruited and prepared the slaves of the plantation, from Africa and this new land, and called upon them when chaos felt on the island, revolting, killing the guards and taking their weapons, before seizing a warship of Spain, emptied of his sailors, gone to try to calm the chaos on the island?
And so they flee on the blue sea, seeking to reach his homeland, for he was the last of the slaves to still have people not slain or in chains.
But the Devil still had plans for him, and a storm came from hell itself, turning day into night in one instant and wrecking the ships on a strange, new shore.
There, him and his adopted people were forced to build, seeking to survive until they could once again take the road home, if the ship could be repaired.
Until pales folks came near their homes, and both the gathering of supplies and the effort to repair the ship were abandoned for the building of defenses, fearing that the Spanish were here, and would take them again in bondage.
Then came the walking trees, black as night, with maws on their backs, who broke hastily built walls and crushed and devoured all on their paths, men, women and children, until they were felt by fire, axes and cannons gathered from the ship.
Now they were but a hundred, many of them wounded. They would have to hurdle, and ration the food they had for the winter.
And finally, came the messengers. People of this land, brothers by oaths with pale folks lost like his people, who had come to discuss trade, and warn them. Proven by the arts of Failure where there words, of a Winter without day, of monsters seeking to feed on flesh and souls, and of how insufficient where their reserve.
So, with Failure, he came to the town of the messengers, Union.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
In the town hall of Union, there is a Prince, strong, tall and beautiful despite the marks of abuse and hunger on him, standing proud like a king. His skin deep brown, his hair and beard well cared, on his belt a Spanish saber and on his back a bow. Next to him, an elder, wearing a mask sculpted like a crying face, with a staff on his hand, to support a bent back. Despite age and pain, his eyes are sharp.
The Prince thinks of the walls of the Town, with their cannons, and looks at the lean warrior glaring at him with distrust, a hand on the axe at his belt, and how the soldiers around the warrior follow the warrior's every movement, ready to sprung to actions. The Prince cannot take this town. Union can defend itself, and can defend the Prince's people.
The elder look at the woman standing behind the seated Council of Union, with ashes and a smile on her face. He can feel the strength of her soul, a raw might that could crush him despite all the arts he learned in his long life. This town will not bend to his arts. Union will not bend or sacrifice to demons.
So the Prince spoke before all of Union.
- I am Andreyas Sarsas, of the line of Solomon, Prince of Ethiopia. I had come by accident to this land, seeking freedoms from bondage for my followers and me, and we feared your people only because we thought they were kin with our enslavers. Now, I know of the curse of this land, and how my people are condemned to not see the new year.
The proud prince felt on his knees
- I beg of you, in the name of our Lord, full of compassion, please offer shelter to my people this Winter. Without this, we will be prey for the horrors of the dark.
Due to truly terrible rolls, the Escapee are condemned without the help of Union. Their lives are in your hands.
[] We will help you for free [] We will help you if you repay our help with (ask as much as you want)
[] The promise to repay what was spent in their defense after Winter (powder for powder, steel for steel, food for food, blood for blood)
[] The shipwreck (random rolls to see what is in it and if it can be repaired)
[] A quarter of your powder (4 units)
[] Half your powder (8 units)
[] All your powder (16 units)
[] Half the steel you gathered (2 units of Mediocre Steel)
[] All the steel you gathered (4 units of Mediocre Steel)
[] The steels weapons you have (1 unit of Good Steel Weapons)
[] The canons you had in your town (about half of the canons in Union)
[] A promise that Andreyas shall help us in battle or in the hunting in a monster (Andreyas is a very skilled fighter, better than the Warrior's Son in direct combat, but worse in hit and run)
[] A promise that Failure will help us in a mystical project (Failure is less powerful, but has more experience and learning than Sara)
[] A promise that Failure will teach what he can of his arts…(choose as many as you want) (Failure know of herbology, charm-makings, curse-making and breaking, illusions and the binding and exorcism of spirits, a roll will be made to see what he can teach)
[] To Sara
[] To the Mourners
[] To all who ask
[] We propose that the Escapee may come back to us for defense each Winter from now, in exchange of a compensation (can be taken with other options) (the Prince may refuse, other options selected will determine what the Escapee thinks you expect as compensation).
[] We do not propose, we demand (Andreyas is forced to agree)
[] Write-In
---------------------------------------------------------------
So yeah, you are in a position of absolute force over a lost Prince and escaped slaves. I blame the dice.
8 hours moratorium,and any corrections later, since I am going to beed.
If you wonders, the tally of all the resources of town will be done during the Winter Turn.
[] We will help you if you repay our help with (ask as much as you want)
[] A promise that Failure will teach what he can of his arts…(choose as many as you want) (Failure know of herbology, a roll will be made to see what he can teach)
[] All who ask
[] A promise that Failure will teach what he can of his arts…(choose as many as you want) (Failure know of the binding and exorcism of spirits, a roll will be made to see what he can teach)
[] To Sara
I think that we should be pretty generous. Maybe just repaying what we spend and good steel weapons, since if we're defending them we should be armed, and an offer to come back in the future.
[] Plan: we need powder
-[] We will help you if you repay our help with (ask as much as you want)
--[] A quarter of your powder (4 units)
--[] A promise that Failure will teach what he can of his arts…(choose as many as you want) (Failure know of herbology, charm-makings, curse-making and breaking, illusions and the binding and exorcism of spirits, a roll will be made to see what he can teach)
---[] binding and exorcism to Sara
---[] herbology to all who ask
Okay, here's my plan. We need that powder, no questions asked. It will allow to only need to craft one batch of the shitty powder next year.
Once again, the people get to work, carrying this year's harvest into the town, doing good work with their new tools, scythes and scourges already proving their worth.
The harvest is good, both for food and herbs, a bounty of maize, squash, beans and wheat gathered and prepared for the Winter all season, and our wise folks meticulously drying as much herbs as they can, filling their reserves with incense, unguent and many other medicines.
In this land under the threat of Winter, at least the soil is bountiful, our fields showing no signs of depletion, even if our more experienced farmers prepare new ways of sowing and cultivating for next year.
The Wilds Unending trigger, no harvest roll. Good harvest of food and herbs, enough to face two Old World winters with rationing.
this makes me soooo much less worried about food than I was before also makes any potenital plan for next year much less worried about hedge rolls since we have more than enough food
--[X] A Wider Hunt [Away with the pests] [141/150] (49+(52+12,16+12)) Information obtained
Dark news came from the Warrior's Son this season. According to him, the Tribute-Takers have spread their dealing far and wide around our lands, dark monuments and signs of raiding parties found all over, pests and vermin chained and bound to the dark will of the Tribute-Taker's patrons.
It seems the Tribute-Takers have exhausted the supplies of easy prey near their cursed watery home, and seek to expand and find new targets for their raids.
The Warrior's as a proposal for the Council : Next year, let him finish the Wider Hunt, but this time, to hunt as much for monsters and Tribute-Takers alike. He and his scouts have found many places where they are weak and overextended, and a few good men could reap a bloody harvest and gather precious information from prisoners.
The Tribute Takers have spread beyond the land somewhat controlled by Union. The rewards for finishing this project will be modified, since the Warrior's Son will use the Wider Hunt to hit the Tribute Takers where they are vulnerable.
mother fucking tribuate taker def want to do this when spring comes it time to show these fuckers who the boss is. Shadow will this combine with the raiding village option or our those 2 seperate thing if not. I assume they have great synergy with each other right?
You have gathered an elephant worth of meat, supernaturally warm furs, steel-hard bones and antlers, and skin harder than stone.
From the Trophies of the Lord, you have gathered precious resources for the wise ones, in preserved, rare remnants.
New experimental crafting actions unlocked due to new materials.
Due to high progress, Union as felt a strong Lord of the local Wilds, and in a particularly impactful manners. The Wilds will now respect and fear you more.
oh yah we balling this winter we are gonna have so much food we ain't gonna know what to do with it and all these cool new crafting materials super warm furs! we should go kill a lord again
Our fishermen came back with more than fish.
Yes, the water of Moundlake is rich in life, but it is connected to the land of the Tribute Takers. According to the fishermen, they had found old signs of them on the island. They were doing...something on it.
They describe the inside of the exploded Mound, and the strange patterns in it. Something that looks like two white eyes and a black spear.
When they hear of them, the Winter Walters gasp.
Every one of them knows of those signs. They are the symbols of the First Walker. We have found his tomb, and it is empty.
Obtained a quarter of a season of fishes.
Unlocked rivers raids toward the Tribute Takers.
Unlocked Path of the First Walker questline.
There are still waterways to survey on the Moundlake.
well that ominious def want to keep survey the moundlake to see what up with it and finish the first walker questline as well but another option for raids is great though we should get canoes before doing that
Obtained Stockades and Ditch, enhancing defense.
Enhanced efficiency of shooter and canons due to walkways and better platforms.
Walls made more resistant to supernatural and monstrous threats by John Granit.
Morale effect of the Blades negated for this project.
+ Knowledge, your people can now deal and predict the "gifts" of the Tribute Takers.
Discovered Occult Tradition of Forceful Gifting.
1 Gifts-Holder and 1 Gifts-Breaker made. Option to make more and projects to explore more deeply the Tribute Takers arts unlocked.
Together they survived their ordeal, only to be sold once again like cattle in a tropical island called Hispaniola, and be put to work in a field of canes, where limb were crushed during the making of sugar each day.
There, they were both selected to serve directly the sinful lord of the canes fields, may his name be forgotten and his soul rot in hell.
He was forced to degrade himself as a brute, fighting poor souls for the pleasure of a crowd like the gladiators in old Rome.
Failure was to give virility to the lord and help him in his many intrigues, this sinful being ever filled with envy for the wealth of others, even as he feasted thanks to the forced labors of others.
However, unknown to the lord, if he kept Failure under strong guards, fearing his arts, he had failed to see Andreyas's wits, and how he had learned the tongue and letters of Spain.
mother fucking god that one of the worst places to possibly go and he had it nice believe it or not. this is just tip to the scale of the horrors that will resdie there
Using his memories of his Father's court and the secrets Failure had learned from the Lord, it was easy to reveal the intrigues of the lord, and let the island be filled with the sound of battle as conspirators turned into desperate traitors seeking to save their hides.
Andreyas and Failure had secretly recruited and prepared the slaves of the plantation, from Africa and this new land, and called upon them when chaos felt on the island, revolting, killing the guards and taking their weapons, before seizing a warship of Spain, emptied of his sailors, gone to try to calm the chaos on the island?
And so they flee on the blue sea, seeking to reach his homeland, for he was the last of the slaves to still have people not slain or in chains.
But the Devil still had plans for him, and a storm came from hell itself, turning day into night in one instant and wrecking the ships on a strange, new shore.
Until pales folks came near their homes, and both the gathering of supplies and the effort to repair the ship were abandoned for the building of defenses, fearing that the Spanish were here, and would take them again in bondage.
Then came the walking trees, black as night, with maws on their backs, who broke hastily built walls and crushed and devoured all on their paths, men, women and children, until they were felt by fire, axes and cannons gathered from the ship.
Now they were but a hundred, many of them wounded. They would have to hurdle, and ration the food they had for the winter.
- I am Andreyas Sarsas, of the line of Solomon, Prince of Ethiopia. I had come by accident to this land, seeking freedoms from bondage for my followers and me, and we feared your people only because we thought they were kin with our enslavers. Now, I know of the curse of this land, and how my people are condemned to not see the new year.
The proud prince felt on his knees
- I beg of you, in the name of our Lord, full of compassion, please offer shelter to my people this Winter. Without this, we will be prey for the horrors of the dark.
Also, hmm. Seems that putting our Silent Blades to work on building things inside Union is going to have consequences for our morale. Makes sense I suppose, but a bit irritating.
Well, there'll probably be other things we can use them for.
[] Plan: We Need Allies
-[] We will help you if you repay our help with (ask as much as you want)
--[] The promise to repay what was spent in their defense after Winter (powder for powder, steel for steel, food for food, blood for blood)
--[] The steels weapons you have (1 unit of Good Steel Weapons)
--[] We propose that the Escapee may come back to us for defense each Winter from now, in exchange of a compensation (can be taken with other options) (the Prince may refuse, other options selected will determine what the Escapee thinks you expect as compensation).
This is a plan that aims to make the escapees allies in the long term without taking a major l in the short term. Repaying what was lost in their defense is basically common courtesy, and if we're defending them we should have weapons to do it with. Not going for cannons because taking those would really lower their odds of survival in the long run.
We already have one set of Good Steel weapons, which is enough to arm the Son's Skirmishers. Much better for us to have another 4 units of Powder. Having that will save us a ton of actions, which means we'll have the time to build up our own gunpowder-manufacturing before the next Winter hits.
Hmm, so they have no interest in joining us since they just want to fix their ship and go :/
I think more than exorcism, we should learn curse-breaking since that is what 'gifts' from the Tribute Takers basically are. I am unsure how useful his herbology would be considering the vastly differing species we have available(French/European and local East Coast American), and the ones he was familiar with(Caribbean and West African).
How many of us are there, by the by? The Escapees seem to number at hundred with most of them injured.
I hope we get a chance to recruit them come spring. They are a 100 people, our town has around 2k iirc, it would not be a big burden to just let them in.
I hope we get a chance to recruit them come spring. They are a 100 people, our town has around 2k iirc, it would not be a big burden to just let them in.
I still think asking only a quarter of their powder and some knowledge is a very fair deal. After all, the may feel wary of a deal that's too good to be true.
I'm lobbying for a deal that just involves them paying us back for what we lose defending them, and weapons that will be immediately useful in defending them, along with an opportunity to come back next year
