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[Evil Marahadja]

The ancestors prepare to sleep once again going back to its tombs near the tree. But before they fall into slumber, they whisper to the wind, to the sun, to the moon, to the rainspirits.The Cairn sites shall be a place of stillness and temperate climate. When the sun is at its peak in the summer, and the people sweat, the Cairn sites shall offer a cooling wind. During winter, the area will be spared from the coldest storms. When thunder and rain pours down on our kin, we shall offer our Cairn sites as protection. This shall be a place of peace and tranquillity. Lastly, the ancestors whisper to the whole valley. "Ancestors are pleased with the Cairn sites."

Narrow focus: The Carn sites: Temperate and calm climate.

Valley focus: Whisper "Ancestors are pleased with the Cairn sites."

Sleep

(0 Power left)

That's because you did use that 15 power. 

Oh, man, that's mean. Since I forgot that change temp was nature and that I couldn't afford doing it.   

Speak to Ersa, tell her that the ancestors will only guide and aid the valley if they respect their dead. That the ancestors are happy with her families devotion to the Ancestors, and give her and her kin the task of reminding her fellow clansmen of their duty to their dead. If she succeed, her family will be rewarded forever. Tell her that the long winter in the forest is only one of many disasters that may come of they abandoned their ancestors.    (-10 GEN)

Whisper the same thing over the whole valley. (-1 GEN)

If she doesn't have any more questions, sleep.

1 GEN 15 CUL left.

[Iituem]

Oh, man, that's mean. Since I forgot that change temp was nature and that I couldn't afford doing it.   

[Oh crap, you're right!  I got your totals wrong; you actually had 18 GEN and 18 CUL.  I am refunding you 3 CUL accordingly.]

You single out the elder Esra and make yourself known to her.  One day, as she sits alone in her hut sewing hides, the shadows on the edges of the huts grow deeper until they seem to be the forms of dozens of transparent shadowy figures.  You speak as a multitude of whispers, coalescing into speech.  [-16 GEN]  You tell her the conditions of the ancestors' aid, flatter her for her family's devotion and set upon her the task of bringing the people back to the dedication of the old ways.  Suitably terrified, she agrees to act.

In fact, more than that.  At this level of speech, your words form a sort of enchantment.  Esra finds herself compelled to bring people back into the ancestral fold, come what may.

Your second command is spread thin, however.  Across the whole valley it resolves into a single, simple thought; the ancestors are displeased.  Content for now, you slumber.

[You now have 1 GEN, 18 CUL remaining.  Turn will follow later.]

[Evil Marahadja]

(Just have to point out that this is a realllllly cool game. Very much cred to the GM!)

[Harry Baldman]

(Just have to point out that this is a realllllly cool game. Very much cred to the GM!)

((Seconding this. So far it's been rather thoughtfully modeled, sophisticated and well-written, yet also simple to play. Quite the feat, GM. Quite the feat indeed.))

[Salsacookies]

( I agree, this is pretty good)

[Iituem]

Religious Revolution

Along the Blessed River, the doctrine of clean living, healthy eating and not crapping upstream of where you get your food takes root amongst the rivermen.  Furthermore, the potter families demonstrate their clear advantages over the other rivermen, putting them ahead even of the grasslander enhanced.  They carry a message also; the Blessed Spirit watches over us, and he wishes us to create.

And create they do, though not with equal ability.  The riverfolk with spare time devote themselves to pottery, but in their devotion to creating fine pots, they never really advance past the stage of moulding and then sun-drying the clay.  The development of basic medicine works more effectively, and blessed men with a bent for discovery try all manner of herbs and the like in search of better health.  Eventually a few basic tenets are worked out and passed down, providing a foundation for medicine.

The knowledge of the healing ways spreads, not being confined to a particular location, and the understanding of how to take care of one's own health finds its way to the grasslands and the forest.

On the Grasslands, a religious revolution comes to pass.  Two separate prophets emerge, Modnir and Esra of the enhanced grasslander houses.  Modnir and his family bring the secrets of rotating the crops in a basic manner, to preserve the health of the ground.  With it, they tell of the Grass that sustains them, which requires their veneration.  Esra brings fiery determination, and guilts and badgers the grasslanders and others who she claims have 'forgotten their ways', preaching a return to the veneration of the ancestors.  She supervises the construction of a simple stone shrine to the ancestors, at which she leads worship until her death.  In her passing, the House of Esra prove to be quite inventive, dedicating themselves to crafts - they refine and remember more precise methods for shaping wood and weaving baskets that add to their House's wealth and status.  This knowledge spreads to the foresters as well.

The Forest of Sleeping Giants is hit hard by the Giant's wrath.  After the double-winter, the surviving woodland creatures are sickly and weak, and selection pressures take their toll.  The number of different species in the forest fails to recover, and the forest's ecosystem suffers as a result.

Many foresters are driven out by the winter, and the words of the lone forester who encountered the giant - he tells of the wrathful Sleeping Giant that will kill those who cut too deep into the forest, and who is displeased by the building of cairns within.  The foresters rein in the building of cairns, keeping them to the very edge of the forest, struggling to survive in the deep winter.

A ray of light pierces the cold and dark, however.  Those foresters who elect to remain in the forest soon spot the Golden Bear, and they find that where the Bear treads, winter is no so harsh.  Sun breaks through the clouds, plants continue to thrive, and the weather is calmer.  Foresters leave offerings of meat and nuts for the bear, and through some divine providence it works - where they make their offerings (and leave them for the bear to consume), the winter is softer and more manageable.

After the winter ends, the gratitude to the Golden Bear remains, and the foresters almost completely covert over to his worship.  They build a simple stone shrine near the cave where the Golden Bear is believed to live, and travel there to make prayers and sacrifices.  They begin to associate the bear with warmth and sunlight, and soon enough he acquires a name; Bohromu, the Sun Bear.

The hillfolk do not make any particular advances, but their alteration makes them better suited to surviving the winter that follows.  Many of the foresters fleeing the long winter head to the hills instead, where they live quiet lives raising goats and foraging the hills.  They keep contact with their kin in the forests, and in time the veneration of Bohromu follows them up into the hills where it persists as a small cult.

In the swamp, the locals live, breed and die largely separate from the rest of the valley.  Without much contact with the other valley-folk, they stagnate and little happens to them.

Decades pass once more, and the riverbanks swell with fishermen, well-fed from the bounty of the Blessed River.  Their numbers are beginning to take a slight toll on the available fish stocks, but one that is currently barely noticeable.  The grasslands swell as well, becoming a haven for craftsmanship.  Goods from the plains are regularly traded for food from the river.  After taking into account emigration and birth rates, the population of the forest remains stable, while the hills boom with people.  In the swamps, another family moves in after a dispute with the villagers, but otherwise things remain as they ever did.


The Raiders

As your consciousness surfaces again, you become aware of rumours in the valley.  Strangers have been seen on the hills, attacking locals and stealing goats, food and tools.  They appear to operate from just outside the valley, beyond your reach, and have been harassing the valleyfolk for about a year by the time you awaken.

Spoiler: The Blessed River (click to show/hide)

Inhabitants: 248 (236 Fishermen, 11 Clay-workers, 1 Healer)
Health: Fairly Good
Happiness: Optimistic
4 Families: Creativity/Dexterity Enhancement
Primitive Healthcare
Primitive Medicine
Cult of the Blessed Spirit

Ecology: Stable
Natural Health: Fairly Good
Biodiversity: Moderate
Biomass: Above Average

General Strength: 26
Natural Strength: 12
Cultural Strength: 14

Spoiler: The Grasslands (click to show/hide)

Inhabitants: 88 (74 Farmers, 13 Craftsmen, 1 Healer)
Health: Fairly Good
Happiness: Cheerful
Primitive Agriculture
Basic Crop Management
Primitive Woodcraft
Primitive Healthcare
3 Families: Intelligence Enhancement
Cult of the Grass

Ecology: Stable
Natural Health: Fine
Biodiversity: Moderate
Biomass: Moderate

General Strength: 49
Natural Strength: 10
Cultural Strength: 18

Spoiler: The Forest of Sleeping Giants (click to show/hide)

Inhabitants: 24 (Foresters)
Health: Fairly Good
Happiness: Optimistic
Cairn Sites
Shrine to Bohromu
Primitive Healthcare
Primitive Woodcraft

Ecology: Stable
Natural Health: Fairly Good
Biodiversity: Below Average
Biomass: Moderate

General Strength: 35
Natural Strength: 17
Cultural Strength: 7

Spoiler: The Whispering Hills (click to show/hide)

Inhabitants: 54 (50 Herders, 4 Felters/Clothiers)
Health: Moderate
Happiness: Optimistic
4 Families: Enhanced toughness
Cult of Bohromu

Ecology: Stable
Natural Health: Fine
Biodiversity: Moderate
Biomass: Above Average
Whispergrass
Growth-favoured Climate
Domesticated Goats

General Strength: 26
Natural Strength: 11
Cultural Strength: 12

Spoiler: The Glowing Bog (click to show/hide)

Inhabitants: 9 (Swampfolk)
Health: Moderate
Happiness: Optimistic

Ecology: Stable
Natural Health: Good
Biodiversity: Below Average
Biomass: Moderate

General Strength: 45
Natural Strength: 23
Cultural Strength: 2

Spoiler: The Village of Narsis (click to show/hide)

Inhabitants: 427 (28 Crafters, 2 Doctors)
Health: Moderate
Happiness: Cheerful

Ecology: None
Natural Health: -
Biodiversity: Nil
Biomass: Nil

General Strength: 27
Natural Strength: 0
Cultural Strength: 30

Spoiler: OOC (click to show/hide)

Thanks, guys!  Really means a lot to hear that.  Here's a brief peek at some of the mechanics behind the scenes; no great spoilers, but should give you an idea of what's going on.

Pop: 248 | 11 2nd | 1 3rd
Pop Health: | Pop Happiness:
Ecology: | Nat. Health: | Biodiv.: | Biomass:
Culture: | Agri Effic: 1.08 | Food Import: 0 | Food Export: 11
Prod Effic: 1.1 | Goods Import: 40 | Goods Export: 0
Food Surplus: | Goods Consumed: 161 | Service Provided:

Primitive Medicine:
4 Families: Enhanced Creativity/Dexterity:
Primitive Healthcare: pop_health 0.05 |
Overfishing:
Cult of the Blessed Spirit: culture 1 |

As you might be able to work out, the riverfolk are by a heavy majority fishermen, with a small clayworking population.  They are moderately efficient fishers (able to produce 8 surplus food in every hundred), and fairly efficient crafters (11 goods per crafter).  I've also kept several numbers hidden on purpose, don't want you knowing too much about the mechanics, or where they are relative to everything else. 

[Salsacookies]

They seem to wish for something which doesn't exist, so I shall make it so. ALTER a bear population to be like what Bohromu the Sun Bear is. Also, i'd like to HEAL the forest from the damage the winter caused. Lastly, I would like to focus on the forest, and, if possible focus on the forester I spoke to

[Harry Baldman]

Narrowly Imbue (18 CUL, 22 GEN) the Three Houses of the Grasslands with a deeper connection to the land and to the Grass, providing a deeper understanding of the mysteries of the land that will complement their natural intelligence and an easier line for me to Whisper through to them.

((By the way, something that's been bothering me, shouldn't it be genii locorum? Spirits of places, rather than a spirit of places? Or is that deliberate?))

[Criptfeind]

"Fellow Spirits, many of you simply ignored the bear, and perhaps because of that we suffered such a harsh and ill thought out winter. But certainly we shall not ignore this trespass upon our lands and this violation of our people?"

[Iituem]

Narrowly Imbue (40 GEN) the Three Houses of the Grasslands with a deeper connection to the land and to the Grass, providing a deeper understanding of the mysteries of the land that will complement their natural intelligence and an easier line for me to Whisper through to them.

((By the way, something that's been bothering me, shouldn't it be genii locorum? Spirits of places, rather than a spirit of places? Or is that deliberate?))

...whoopsie daisy!  In fact, technically I suppose it would be genii loci (multiple spirits, single valley) - genius locorum is a single spirit of multiple places.  Let's just fix that...

[Iituem]

They seem to wish for something which doesn't exist, so I shall make it so. ALTER a bear population to be like what Bohromu the Sun Bear is. Also, i'd like to HEAL the forest from the damage the winter caused. Lastly, I would like to focus on the forest, and, if possible focus on the forester I spoke to

[Before I proceed with this, I need a little more information.  When you say 'alter a bear population to be like what Bohromu is', what exactly are you trying to do to them?  This will probably be a Narrow or Fine focus, unless you want to change all the bears in the forest.

Also, focusing on the forest in general is a broad focus, while trying to focus on that specific forester is a personal focus.  I can have you do both, just need confirmation on that.]

You spread your energy through the forest, carefully bolstering the various creatures and plants in small ways to encourage competition.  The effects will take some time to come to fruition, but you are confident that in a decade or so the biodiversity of the forest will be restored to what it was. [-8 NAT]

Narrowly Imbue (18 CUL, 22 GEN) the Three Houses of the Grasslands with a deeper connection to the land and to the Grass, providing a deeper understanding of the mysteries of the land that will complement their natural intelligence and an easier line for me to Whisper through to them.

((By the way, something that's been bothering me, shouldn't it be genii locorum? Spirits of places, rather than a spirit of places? Or is that deliberate?))

You pass your grace through the three enhanced families of the Grasslands; the House of Modnir, the House of Esra and the House of the elder Avray.  [-18 CUL, -22 GEN]  The members of the households experience changes over the next few weeks, feeling strange senses awaken within themselves.  They find themselves developing a natural sense for the soil beneath their feet, for the health of the plants and grasses around them, and a knack for what they need.  Unbenknownst to them, this conduit works both ways, allowing the greater Grass to speak to them with more ease.  It now costs half the strength for the Grass to whisper to the imbued members of the Houses.

This native phytomancy only affects a handful of the grasslanders, but under their guidance the farmers are able to plant, grow and harvest much more effectively.  The downside is that the rate of fertility seems to drop at first, with people having difficulty conceiving.  Eventually it becomes apparent that those with the gift can only breed with others like them, possessing either the sense of the grass, or the heightened intelligence of the original three families.  Soon there develop four distinct types of grasslander; those with both gifts; those with keen intellects but no phytomantic sense (who married outside the three families); those who can sense the grass and soil but are no more intelligent than the common man (who were of the family but had not inherited the intellect of their forebears); and the common farmers of the fields.

More and more, those of the three families and the more common folk become distinct.  What lasting effects this will have remain to be seen.

The altered humans are beginning to speciate.  Those with both gifts can only breed with those who have both or one gift, and those with one gift can breed with people who have no gifts, one gift or both.

Spoiler: The Grasslands (click to show/hide)

Inhabitants: 88 (74 Farmers, 13 Craftsmen, 1 Healer)
Health: Fairly Good
Happiness: Cheerful
Primitive Agriculture
Basic Crop Management
Primitive Woodcraft
Primitive Healthcare
3 Families: Intelligence Enhancement
3 Families: Native Phytomancy (Sense)
Cult of the Grass

Ecology: Stable
Natural Health: Fine
Biodiversity: Moderate
Biomass: Moderate

General Strength: 27
Natural Strength: 10
Cultural Strength: -

[Harry Baldman]

Finely Whisper (8/2=4 GEN) to House Modnir further technical secrets of working the land, knowledge of agriculture, irrigation and such, and affirm that the current state of the families is the gift of the Grass, for they have served it very well, and will be further rewarded if they continue to do so, and that they must urge their fellows to respect the Grass. Their lot is to focus on the perfection of the arts of the land and the formulation of the Cult of the Grass.

Finely Whisper (8/2=4 GEN) to House Esra that the Grass recognizes them as one of the Great Houses, and that from now on they have not only the capacity to lead others to prosperity with their knowledge of the land, but that the Grass tasks them with two more things - the building of walls to keep out the raiders, and the crafting of weapons to arm both the common people and their fellow Great Houses.

Finely Whisper (8/2=4 GEN) to House Avray that while they may be the least known of the Great Houses, they are still very much loved by us, and that to show this, we guide them to their new role - they are both overseers of their own fields and warriors, and their job is to train in the unfamiliar ways of combat with the weapons crafted by House Esra and to prepare the people of the Grasslands for incursions from foreign threats.

Then Narrowly View (4 GEN) their progress.

[Evil Marahadja]

(Did you forgot to write a comment on where the simple stone shrine was built or am I horrible at reading?

[Digital Hellhound]

Whisper to the people of the hills (Broad Focus, -2) to begin making weapons, to stand strong, to strike back against these raiders and thieves.

Whisper to the enhanced families (not sure of the focus - Narrow and -4?): 'The time has come for you to take charge of the people. The hills bleed with every wound you take and every animal lost. Arm yourselves - hunt these criminals down! Let none escape, and take their stolen wealth for your own.'

Also Whisper to the families - as part of that action or as another, if needed - the knowledge of making good spears, axes, armor with the materials they have or can get from trading.

Narrow View (-4) the enhanced families and their reaction.

[Iituem]

(Did you forgot to write a comment on where the simple stone shrine was built or am I horrible at reading?

I implied it rather than stating it.  The Ancestral shrine is in the Grasslands, the Shrine to Bohromu is in the Forest.  Looks like I forgot to leave a note in the statblock on the Grassland shrine's location, though.  Will amend for future.  Posts will follow later, busy atm.  Looks like people are solidly arming up, though!

A reminder; you do not derive power directly from worship.  However, religions of all kinds create culture, increasing your cultural strength.