You decide it is definitely in your best interest to appear before your new follower; the last thing you want is for her belief to die - with no tether to the mortal world, you would be forced to sleep outside of creation again until another dreamt up a spark of your being. No, she must believe in you wholly, and right now, if you are going to survive and bring her and her people to glory.
So as she dusts the last of her dried mushroom powder on the tiny flame she's created, you channel a quarter of the meager Influence you have to appear before her. Not wanting to terrify her, you take a form that is much smaller than it could be - though your body is still massive and twists around the trees as you rise somewhat dramatically from the puff of smoke. She freezes, and you can feel the wave of both terror and awe as you settle into your temporary corporeal form.
You can feel it isn't fully proper though; as the ritual was not correct, not enough 'given' and without the proper mental barrier piercing of a good alcohol, you haven't been able to channel through her entirely. Colors ripple over your form, so you doubt she will notice, but pieces of you fade in and out of existence.
You never had this problem in the past, as your first shamans were taught the ways by your first prophets, in the early days when the veil around creation was thinner. You have learned now that shamans must devote themselves properly to a ritual, even if it is small and you must donate Influence, for you to properly manifest in the physical world.
Ignoring that for now, you make an effort to create a calming aura about yourself. You doubt in your current form it would be effectual on other beings, but you can see it easing her fear almost immediately. Her connection to you is already quite strong. As a side effect, you can almost see the new waves of thought and understanding snapping into place in her mind - your Intelligence sphere is not something you can control, and it immediately begins to stimulate her brain.
"Fear not, little one. I have heard your call and I am here, but there is precious little time."Your voice reverberates around her; even in this weak form, you are still a god - your words shake her to the very core, and her upright ears droop weakly in awe. You believe it's a good thing you decided to be gentle about this; your shaman seems to be somewhat frail.
"The years have eroded your stories, and there are things wrong in this ritual." You contemplate telling her to make a personal blood sacrifice, but she has no tool to do it with, and you do not know if her claws - worn dull by working in the village - would pierce her hide.
"You must sacrifice life to me, in the future. The blood of the self, the blood of another, or the wealth of the tribe. A simple meal's worth will not open the veil enough for me to be truly resplendant."Some of your words are foreign to her, from the old tongue, but you can tell that your intelligence enhancing effect is helping her comprehend. She hesitantly opens her mouth to speak, but is startled by a rustle of your feathers. You squint assuringly at her - a motion similar to a smile in other races.
This seems to give her enough confidence to lean forward and form words, though she still clutches her chest as though it could protect her from your form.
"Great Tzin'Gra!" she cries, and you bemusedly note that the years have caused them to forget your 'true' name.
"You have come! You are real!"It seems as though she is ready to weep; you can see, something she cannot, a connection forming between the two of you. A silver thread of energy - a sign of True Belief. Though there are many things you want to tell her, you let her speak for the moment, as it seems to be strengthening that bond.
"Please, you must help us. We are a small village ... none here believed me, they mock me, but I knew that the stories couldn't be false! I knew it! I ..." She pauses, blinking a few moments, then dips her head down as though ashamed at mentioning such petty things to you.
Seconds later she is speaking again, frantically.
"We have left the Grellt tribe, for they worship the demon Atz..." She spits, then shakes her head.
"The demon of the cave in the heart of the forest. The others don't believe in you, but they don't believe that the demon is a god, either ... but there aren't many of us, and without the numbers of the tribe ..."Through your new bond, you understand. There are several large tribes of shoulle in the forest. This village is a small splinter of one tribe, who now worships a demon unearthed from a cavern. These folk were the only ones not swayed by its influence, but they are simple - like the rest of your unfortunate children - and without greater numbers or skill it is likely they will perish. You sense from her memory that they have been here for just under a year ... and half of their numbers perished in the cold of winter.
"Silence, my child. I understand."You lift yourself with a gentle flap of your wings, though it is only for show. You hover effortlessly through magic.
"I will tell you things, things you must remember carefully. We can speak later, but only in your mind. You must remember that you are linked to me, and that it is not a trick of thought."You tilt your eyes towards her.
"First, there is one among you who talks of trapping animals. You must encourage him, and give him these ideas. It is better to trap them live, but that will not always be possible."You explain to her the basics of a simple snare trap; for her it is complicated, but she seems to understand.
"Next, when the tribe gains meat, you must not eat it immediately. Cut it into strips, and hang it over the fire. Let the smoke bathe it for some time. It will make it better, and it will keep the worms at bay so you may have meat in times where there are no plants."You explain to her the process of smoking meat; it seems a bit beyond her, but she has the basics.
"Finally, there is a liquid you must drink during sacred rituals. It will not be perfect to begin with, but it will make me stronger."You explain to her the very basics of fermentation. She doesn't understand, but she at least grasps the directions enough to remember them.
By the time you finish your explanations, your time is up. You assure her you will contact her again when the time is right.
EVENTS OF SPRING . . .
Your shaman tells the villagers of your presence. Most of them, influenced by your sphere, rationalize it as a hallucination or a demon's trick. However ...
The three hatchlings are mesmerized and immediately gain faith in you!
Your shaman tells the experimenting trapper of your ideas ...
The trapper begins to experiment with your ideas. He has a spark of belief in him, but will need more time to properly create a trap.
Your shaman tells the villagers of smoking meat ...
The female herbalists seem interested, but without a source of meat they can't test the ideas.
Your shaman experiments with basic fermenting ...
She gets badly attacked by bees trying to procure honey, but she manages. More time is needed to see if she is successful.
The tribe acts on its own ...
One new hut is built.
Nature is nature ...
All unpreserved food rots away by the end of the season.
You gain Influence ...
4 kobolds generate 1 Influence. Your next Influence milestone is at 5 believers.
SUMMER, YEAR ONE Population is denoted by male/female.
2/3 Herbalists (Gather plants and herbs from the wood, dry herbs and plants.)
1/0 Trappers (Trap animals for food and fur.)
3/3 Scratchers (Prepare and tend mushroom logs.)
3/1 Scrappers (Simple warriors that fight with tooth and claw. Mostly for defense.)
1/1 Woodcutter (Gathers wood. Includes logs, branches, and twigs.)
0/1 Shaman (Prepares magic rituals.)
3 Hatchlings (Young kobolds. Sex develops at maturity, 1 year of age.)
TOTAL: 10 males, 9 females, 3 ?. 22 total.
Huts: 6 (A hut will hold 5 kobolds. A hatchling counts as 1/2 kobold. Kobolds without homes will leave after one season homeless.)
Food, plant, fresh: 2.75 units (1 unit of food will feed 10 kobolds for a season. Unpreserved food will rot at the end of a season.)
Food, plant, dried: 1.75 units (Dried plants will not rot, but may lower morale if no fresh food is available to supplement.)
Wood: 4 units (One unit of wood is enough to build one hut. Larger projects require more. Smaller projects will require less. All forms of 'raw' wood are included.)
Scratch: 3 (A log prepared for growing mushrooms. Must be burnt carefully to prepare for growth. Produces based on skill.)
Farming (Mushroom) LV 1 (Each scratch will produce 0.5 units of fresh plant material a season. 2 scratchers needed per scratch for maintenance.
Woodcutting LV 1 (Each season, each woodworker will produce 0.5 units of wood.)
Herbalism LV 1 (Each season, male herbalists will bring in .25 fresh plant material. Each female herbalist will dry .25 plant material if available, OR will collect .13 fresh plant material.)
Trapping LV 0 (Trapping is still being discovered.)
Brewing LV 0 (Fermentation is still being discovered.)
4 kobolds believe in you.
1 kobold is beginning to believe in you.
1.75 Influence available.
Kobolds with 0 food at the end of the season will die. Hatchlings die first followed by randomly selected adults.
2.2 units of food used at end of season.
1 Influence gained at beginning of season.
2 - 2.39 units of fresh plants collected at beginning of season.
.25 - .75 units of fresh plants converted to dry plants at the beginning of season.
1 unit of wood collected at the beginning of season.
No vignette events. Since you have 1.75 Influence now, however, you may choose to take an action to direct your tribe. You are not required to take any action.For 0 Influence you may:> speak with your shaman
For 0.25 Influence you may:> Send a vision to your shaman which she will remember exactly for 24 hours
> Materialize for 10 minutes, if a ritual is completed properly (cannot currently be completed properly, may fail)
For .5 Influence you may:> Inspire a hatchling to have interest in a currently existing job
> Send a dream to any kobold beginning to believe in you (may become garbled, extremely detailed dreams are less likely to be remembered)
For 1 Influence you may:> Send a hazy dream to a non-believer
> Influence a hatchling to discover / think up a new idea for a skill / job
For other ideas / actions, ask. I'm not perfect and even if you can't do something I'll tell you how much Influence it would take to be able to do it!
Author
Topic: Rise of the (Kobold) God [ISG] : Winter Y1 VIGNETTE (Read 19709 times)