A whole bunch fruits, some cave fish, and Some sweetened fermented slush, it is. You stare greedily at the feast before you, but, are interrupted before you get a chance to start.
"
Oracle Peter the Wondrous, seer of Oracle Miri the Heartfelt, of the Many Eyes colony. The Hive Queens send you their hatchling reports. It comes as follows. Of our current ranks of four workers, their numbers have swelled by ten new Adult workers. Of our current ranks of two soldiers, I included, our ranks have swelled to include nine more. Of the Hive Queens Caste, of the original two who sent me here, their ranks have grown by an additional seven members."
He paused for a few moments, which left you slightly confused, before you noticed the whispers in your mind. Faint, but, perceptibly that of someone telling you that you should have eaten a strong animal and some mushrooms, instead.
"
New information from the Queens, Sir. They wish to hold a Council of the Castes, to discuss the current issues affecting the Colony. They also wish you to be present for this console."
That is rare! Your tutor had often tried to get you to join one of the Council meetings, but, because of the strictness of the rules, it never did come through. This will be your first, and your very first official duty as an Oracle. Hopefully they did not birth a Seer for you, already. It would cause a huge issue for you to have to teach someone, so early on in life. You nod, and pick up a fish, and fruit, and a fist full of the fermented slush, savoring it as you are lead to the Council room.
It was small, and looked like it was still being expanded. It looked almost like a domed box, with each side there were two representatives of each caste. Two of the oldest workers, both hailing from the old Colony. Two of the soldiers, one from the old Colony, and one who, you were told, was birthed here, shortly after this place was found, and also the one who gave you the message and led you here. The last two were the two Hive Queens, both from the old colony. One much older than the other, by at least four birthing cycles.
They all spoke among themselves, until you stepped into the center of the room, like you remembered that you were supposed to do, based on the stories that the previous Oracle had told you. You felt the Queens reach out to you, with their mental probing, filling you with a sense of joy and approval. It was nice to know that you had their backing, but, you also knew that, thanks to the second feeling of probing, it was time for the meeting to begin.
One of the Queens lifted a weak, labored hand, and a feeling of calm quiet ran throughout the whole room. It was time for the Queens to speak.
"Young Oracle, Peter. This is your first meeting of the Council, so we will forgive you for not knowing all the customs of starting it, though, we are all quite surprised that you know to step into the center of the room. In the future, your will start off the meetings by raising your upper left hand, palm out, to gather our attention, let it fall into a fist, when you are sure you have all of our attentions, and then lower it to begin the meeting. The workers will address you with issues involving the growth of the colony, from now on. This is a change from the old ways, where our soldiers would handle all the message giving, to the ways of even older, when the workers were given far more responsibility. This may change further, depending on the circumstances, and. . .
The voice in your head stopped, and seemingly was redirected, almost as if quieted for a moment.
"
And when our Colony grows, if we feel it to be beneficial to change how may Caste we have, of what kind. We will adapt the meetings to the needs of the colony. We will leave it up to the Castes here to decide on the future of the clan by votes. Each caste getting one vote. For now, since we already have the floor, we will speak on the issue that we have, as of now. Prior to the death of Oracle Miri the Heartfelt, we had discussed wither or not we should keep our current ways in choosing our mates, when the breeding cycle comes around, or if it the spirits would prefer us to go back to the old ways of having the Oracle choosing, each breeding cycle, our mates from Colonies, without and within.
With that, her voice once more, left you. This time, there was a bit of emptiness left in its wake. You longed to have her back in your mind, guiding and directing you. You were quickly snapped out of your thoughts, when you realized everyone was staring directly at you, expectantly.
Current: Random: Your queens breed year round, with whomever is around them.
+10% to your new seasonal numbers count (rounded down)
- your antman type numbers are chosen for you
Past: Selective: before every breeding season, your Oracle chooses your queens breeding mates for her.
- 10% (rounded down) less to your new antmen numbers, per season
+ you choose the percentages of each caste increase with a minimum of 10% for any one, and a maximum of 80% for any one.`
As per usual, other Options are available to you, if you make them, though they will be viewed much more strictly by the Council.
+As the queens advisers, and ones who are known to put the group before all, you get a +3 to all commands towards the Colony, when outside the presence of the queens.
- if you are found by the colony to be working against them, in their eyes, your head shall be removed, and body left to rot, as a new seer becomes an Oracle in your place.
+
+ have a petition for creating things with stone. +1 to any inventions involving stone itself
- you have to deal with the issues pertaining to a natural vertical challenge, and an unnaturally natural vertical challenge
No known negative or positive traits