I am Arlia, shaman of this tribe! Paint on wood slab images of mighty beasts falling to our hunters!
[5] You proudly create a slab of animal drawings, both to hearten the hunters and to bring good luck in their future hunting endeavors - the effort is much appreciated, as a shaman's support is ever needed in dark times such as these. You believe these images to be of the highest quality, ones worth meditating upon.
I am Conrak Tool-Crafter, he who brings life to the inanimate! Examine what tools I have already created.
[5] There are the blades of flint, of several shapes and sizes, for scraping skin, drilling holes, working wood, drawing blood and any other purpose you can name - day and night you have labored for many months, but much of the tribe has been supplied with them by your superb skill. There is the bow, which all the hunters have, and the gathering hook, which many of the women thank you for, as it allows them to reach fruit high up on trees as well as to climb them easily in the event of danger as well as pull out tasty roots from the ground more easily. Spears and harpoons you also have made, sharp and straight. Without a doubt, you are one of the more, if not the most valued members of your tribe.
I am Nth. Kurgle robbed me of my place, and did our tribesmen wrong. I'm a better hunter than him.Incite hatred of Kurgle amongst the tribe
[1] The hunters were once of prime importance among the tribe, when the meat was plentiful and the weather colder. Both of these have changed, and now the hunters are treated with ambivalence at best, for they eat much and give little back. The women have begun to admire the tool crafters, the fishermen, the healers and the other, more useful professions to a greater degree, and could not care less about the childish infighting you espouse.
I'm Haphan, the only long-range scout of the tribe. I return from my three-months long trip to the other side of the continent.
[5] You bring good news. To the east there are fertile plains, some dry forests, many large animals. Places of great and plentiful food, unlike your drained home, ones that could support your tribe easily without fear of starvation for years to come. Indeed, even you in your travels seem to have put on some weight, and you look healthier than ever.
I am Elto, wise old fisherman. Return from long day of spearing fish to greet Haphan.
[3] Though the day has not been the best, given your very mild luck in catching any fish, you are glad that you are still more useful than the hunters, even in your old age. It gladdens your heart further to see Haphan, who evidently brings good news of other territories simply by the look of him.
I am Tuktu, foremost greatest warrior and defender of the tribe. Look for any threats to the tribe.
[3] The only real threat you see right now is the volatile dynamic developing between the hunters - they have not tasted blood for far too long, and seem to be turning on each other in desperation. You are ill-equipped for dealing with internal affairs, being used to harmony, but it appears that the needs of the tribe change with the times you experience, and quite direly at that.
I am Vukko, token evil tribe member!
Incite rebellion!
[6] Dissatisfied with the tribe that dubbed you honorless and without worth on at least two occasions, as well as sensing potential for dramatic change in your favor, you suggest, very calmly and reasonably, that the hunters, bringing nothing of worth to the tribe for some time now, should be exiled for a time until this situation is rectified. That is to say, that they are to go out and return with meat - those that do not may very well not return at all.
There is no downside, you explain. Either meat is gained, or hungry mouths are lost. It is a mathematical approach to things you believe many people should follow, and the women seem to, by and large, agree. Especially because it was you, a hunter, who proposed it - they find the idea most appealing. A sort of challenge to the hunters. A self-issued one, even. Within the hour, they declare, all hunters should take the challenge and move out, or be forcibly evicted by the whole tribe, which outnumbers them three to one.
Rebellion shall not happen when our people starve. Recruit all hunters, fishers, and gatherers to find food! Kurgle will stay somewhat close by to check on the village.
[5] The gatherers will go out searching on the double, and the fishermen are doing what they can - they appreciate your concern at any rate. But right now they believe Vukko's challenge was wisely put, and that the true worth of both you and all the other hunters will soon be revealed. After all, if you are indeed the foremost hunter, obtaining meat should not logically be a challenge at all, should it?
I am Marglabeshstius, the tribe's engraver and historian! Engrave images of our tribe winning a war with another tribe many years ago!
[2] Though your engraving is of decent quality, the tribeswomen seem less than impressed with images of strife in the current climate, and most of the tribesmen have other concerns presently.
I am Clangbunk: Great Thinker and member of the Counsel of Elders.
Determine the current tech level and ponder where plants come from.
[2] You are a sophisticated tribe, with the latest in impressive tools crafted by Conrak Tool-Crafter, whose genius has made him a far more appreciated individual and a far more trusted voice in the circle of elders than you will, in all likelihood, ever be. [1] You have never understood any of the mysteries you purport to be able to divine - plants come from the ground, forced upward by the will of the great life spirits, and the animals are born of lightning that strikes the trees, hence their quick and skittish natures, markedly unlike the confident ways of humankind, who are born of each other.
I am Chantututututu, barely tolerated idiot of the tribe! Do an amusing dance to placate those who wish me exiled!
((Edited for extra tu))
[4] You dance most adequately, and the women laugh, and the men tolerate you for yet more days. You are not a hunter, not a warrior, not a fisherman or a luminary. Some suspect you were born wrong, from the generally unsettling look of you. You do not know yourself. But you spend your time as a living reminder that, no matter how terrible things may get for the tribe, they may still laugh at you, who almost certainly has it worse. The hunters would find it a pitiful existence, but they are currently exiled until meat is brought back, while you are not. So who is the true idiot here, you ask?
SUBDUE VUKKO
RIDE VUKKO INTO SUNSET
SCOUT FOR STUFF AND THINGS
[1] You, a scout recently returned from the west, having found only deadly deserts, have celebrated your survival a tad too much, and believe you know the solution to the strife the tribe is experiencing. You walk up to Vukko, who you generally despise on sheer principle, and attempt to subdue him.
You being quite drunk on survival alone, to say nothing of your fermented traveling supplies, Vukko and his good friend Irk find it a simple matter to discreetly remove you from the premises under the excuse of taking you somewhere else to get the demons out safely, tie you up with spare bowstrings and hide you in one of their secret, quiet hiding places, of which the hunters have assuredly many by need of their professions.
I am Hatika! One of the warriors!
Ask Haphan of what news does he bring of the other tribes!
[6] He speaks of glorious lands to the east, ones replete with food and water, and so far not taken by any other tribe. These are, quite frankly, the best news you have heard all year. You decide to give your sharpest flint knife to Haphan as compensation - he has done good work, and should not go unrewarded. Haphan gladly accepts, his old knife having gone dull in his explorations. You promise to sharpen that old thing for him as well the first chance you get, and take it off his hands.
I am tuypogina apprentice thinker to clangbunk specialising in animals go out and gather plants for clangbunks research also bring back a worm for my research and some berry’s for us to eat
[6] Clangbunk being the slightly infirm man he is, it typically falls to you to gather whatever he wishes to obtain on a particular day. He never states exactly what it is he wants, and you often need to use some high quality guesswork to try and find something for him. But today you believe you will do something special - an excursion to the furthest woods, where the unknown herbs grow. You walk for a good three hours, far out of the reach of your fellow tribeswomen, until you reach the forbidding depths you seek.
There are many plants of unknown looks and behavior here, and you have heard that the creeks around here have leeches. You gather a good helping of plants, roots and all, placing them in the leather pouches tied all around your body, and wonder how best to gather the leeches. You're not sure you want to wade in the river for fear of your own safety.
I am Irk, local henchperson and general thug. I Intimidate others into joining Vukko's Glorious Liberation.
[3] Vukko has few friends by virtue of his general antisocial nature, and you happen to be one of them, in a manner of speaking. As is everything with Vukko, it is largely an economic and logical arrangement - he has ideas, you help execute them, and the two of you share in the rewards. This time, you believe it may finally pay off. Despite technically being a warrior of the tribe rather than a full hunter, you join Vukko in the execution of a plan, the first step of which is to secure more support.
However, intimidation of the other hunters brings only limited success - while you are no doubt a frightening individual to behold in most circumstances, they do not really see either you or Vukko as an adequate leader to follow - but you are pleased to note that each individual does fear the combined might of the two of you.
That is to say, each individual but Plok, the scout who recently returned. He had been missing for some time now, actually, and seems to have still believed Vukko to be his younger, more easily cowed self. You and Vukko prove him wrong, and after subduing him you put him in one of the secret hiding places that only you and Vukko know of - Plok will serve as an adequate alternate plan if the primary method Vukko has no doubt worked out by now does not function as well as expected.
I am Kutuk, the local healer. I check on the health of the tribe.
[1] The tribe is growing healthier, as the unworthy will soon be culled. You wonder if you should not put down the village idiot as well, for he is as much a waste of food as most of these hunters.
I am gatorfang
Some random smart guy
Convince others I'm their god
(Starting with the stupidest)
[2] Despite your feverish assurances that you are a god of the sun and the rain, nobody at all believes you, least of all the village idiot. You have arrived only days previously, and it is clear to the other tribesmen that you are not really a spirit of any description. You wonder if you should not try your luck elsewhere.
Kurgle, first of all men, stabs this uncouth heretic in the eye with an arrow.
[5] Angered by the growing impudence of the traveling heretic as well as your waning influence among your tribe, you calmly walk up to the ranting man wearing the alligator skull on his head, having gone a little pale, cold sweat running along your face, and plunge an arrow by hand right into his eye, the tip coming out the other side of his skull. The gibbering man stops talking at last, and dies within moments. You drag him back over to the rest of the tribe and drop him on the ground, seizing the alligator skull he so proudly displayed for yourself.
"There's your meat. Are you happy now?" you ask with barely-hidden reproach. The tribe is silent.
The level of response pleases me greatly. We shall make history yet.
Also, you people have given me the perfect excuse to listen to the Fallout 2 soundtrack.
Author
Topic: History: the Minimalist RTD (Read 125008 times)