Jud didn't know whether to be exasperated or satisfied, so settled for both at once. This Velda was certainly quite a character. Let's try to approach from a different angle. Entice rather than order.
Point out to Velda that now that they possess the secrets of agriculture, they should be less dependent on hunting and foraging to supply them with food, and should reconsider moving into some nearby caves again. Promise that you will reward the tribe if they do so. Also teach her some basic composting techniques they can use to increase the fertility of the soil, along with crop rotation. Help solve any other problems the tribe might be experiencing with transitioning to agriculture.
If she agrees, use 6 power to create a boon, a mudpot/mudspring of pleasantly warm and bubbling mud, inside the caverns the tribe moved into, those who bathe in the mud have their wounds healed and illnesses cured. Tell her the properties of the mudpool.
You make the case again to Velda to move into the caverns nearby, especially given that they can afford a more sedentary lifestyle now that the first year's harvests are coming through. [3+1+1] She is reticent, but you are persistent and she eventually agrees to put the case to the rest of the tribe. By which she means dictate it arbitrarily and quash anyone who opposes her. You give her a few additional tips on composting leftovers [5] and crop rotation [6-2], both of which she absorbs with a frankly impressive retention rate.
As a reward you bring her to a spot close to the entrance of the caverns she would be moving her people into and reshape the stone there, creating a pit of bubbling mud with healing properties [6 Power]. The strength of this mudpool is such that submersion in it for several hours will actually seal and fully regenerate even wounds. It can ease sickness and with long term and regular usage it can even cure long term illnesses. Velda is duly impressed.
[4+1+1-2] The village is not terribly impressed by Velda's demands, but she argues the case well, the threat of force is a powerful persuader and once the capabilities of the mudspring are demonstrated they go along with the move. On the one hand, the clear display of divine power has swayed many of the villagers to truer belief in you, even revering your name without being forced to. On the other hand Velda's decidedly authoritarian approach is causing discontent amongst the villagers. For now they merely grumble, but this may grow with time.
[Power Income: 14]
Additionally, Velda seeks your guidance directly for the first time.
"The elders have been speaking with the tribe from the valley on the other side of the mountain. Since I have not yet had a husband chosen for me, they wish my permission to command me to marry someone of their choosing. They have selected a man to marry me, one of their more respected older men, about twice my age. They say he has the blessing of his god. Someone changed. Someone like me." There is a hint of respect to her voice. "The marriage would bring our tribes together, and his people are gifted foragers, they could be very helpful with our farms.
"Oooonnn the other hand, their tribe is weak and I have heard little to indicate they can overpower me with my powers. I could kill their elders, drum up support from the tribe and
take them. We could force them to work our fields, it would free more of the men to learn to fight, to praise you. We could even have enough of a surplus to burn sacrifices in your honour.
"What say you, great Jud?"
In the confines of his own mind, Guleran chortled, "Oh my, this one certainly is vivacious."
Come to Gorrin in a dream.
"My child, I have decided upon a course of action for the near future. I will direct my efforts towards making the home of your people more fruitful still. Go now, and continue to live your life howsoever you please, for all lives are pleasing to me in turn."
1 Power: Enhance the immediate lands of the valley tribe to grow larger, healthier crops.
You spread your influence across the valley, enriching the soil and aiding plant growth. The effect on each individual plant is minimal, but it increases the productivity of gathering significantly overall - the effect will eventually wear off as nutrients leach from the soil. You should get about ten years out of this boon, though.
Gorrin, before you depart, begs - well, somewhat insultingly asks guidance from you.
"Look, um, you're not a total shitface, okay? I mean, you're a god, you know what you're about. We've been trading fruit and skins with the tribe on the other side of the mountain, and the elders think we would benefit from being closer with them. They gather their provender from these flat bits of valley they've dug, and they do even better than we do. So they are proposing a marriage, and since I am yours they want to marry me to their chieftess. Thing is, she's a crazy bitch who kills people who disagree with her and from what I've heard she's
magic and can pop up from the ground anywhere to kill you.
"If I marry her, her tribe can do a lot to help us, but she might end up abusing our people the way she does hers. If I don't, she might attack us out of spite or pride or some other fucking mad notion. What should I do? Should I go ahead with the marriage or prepare for a fight?"
My power is currently limited, so I wait. I reward my followers if they gather me more worshipers. (Provide them with any mutation that would be useful in this endeavor.) If possible, give them mutations that would cost 2 (minus the two for their sensibility. So free ones basically). If mutating other tribemembers would gather me more followers, then I do that as well (until I am out of power of course).
[1] Your cult, rather than spreading, actually starts to become ostracised for their unusual colouration and beliefs. The surrounding tribe becomes rather hostile to them, although the actual cult becomes more faithful almost out of reaction - your income remains stable. You do what you can for your worshippers, but it becomes apparent that even though the berries reduce the cost of mutations, you still need to spend
at least 1 Power for the mutations to take. Still, you are able to extend your blessing over the whole of your cult (a mere dozen worshippers) for the minimal amount of effort [-1 Power], provided you grant the same boon. In this case, you give each one a limited spark of charisma, that they might better speak your praises in future.
12 people have become White Ones, 38 berries remain.
Urtul prays to you, and you hear his prayer; "Great Changer, I beg counsel and aid. Our cult is despised by our fellows, and we seek only to praise your name. If we stay, I fear it will come to violence in time. If you feel that is best, then I must beg your aid in the conflict. Otherwise, I have heard of a tribe in the steppe to the west and a roving people in the desert to the east. We could leave our tribe and join one of them. I doubt we could split off on our own, our numbers are too small. What would you counsel, Managone?"
Tar-Azath smiles as he sees the results of what he has done. For now the gains are low, but as his chosen grows so shall the rewards, and so shall the wonders she shall craft. Besides, given the current state of technology and how much power he has he doesn't really see any better options.
No, he'll wait for his chosen to mature, guiding her and teaching her as she grows.
[5] Anna grows and matures, now two years of age. You find a certain pride in her, as if she was your own daughter. She quickly develops her vocabulary, becoming more eloquent and proving to have a keen memory for the tribe's ancestral stories.
[FATE] While her parents are busy catching fish one day, Anna is left weaving reeds for the fish traps and nets further uphill. She hears a distant rumbling which grows quickly enough and looks up to see a terrible wave of water crashing down the river towards her parents. She lets out a scream, but both of them are deep in the water, perhaps too far to wade out of the way.
Will you intervene, and if so, how? [Bearing in mind the limitations of your divine nature.]
Give Victor's tribe a challenge to give me a great offering (like a full grown bear or a full whole nights hunt). If they succeed use 2 power to bring bountiful game throughout the year to their hunting grounds.
Regardless of whether the previous happens, bless a young wolf pup from the family in my cave with heightened intelligence, black fur and red eyes and make it easier to train. Make this hereditary and use 2 Power. Then direct Victor to kill the mother, take that pup and give the rest to any of his friends to train.
[2][3] Neither great beasts nor general game are the most plentiful in this first month, but Victor sets to it regardless. [3 +1 Teamwork +1 Elder] He is able to gather a great party of hunters together, not all of the tribe's huntsmen but still a sizeable amount. Over the course of the remainder of the month they set about the task of stripping the forest of its wildlife. [4+1-1, 2+1] While the hunting parties worked day and night to fill their catch, it was Victor and his band who happened upon the band of wolves stalking through the woods.
[5+1 (cunning) vs 3] With the element of surprise, Victor was able to set up an improvised ambush and he and his hunters fell upon the wolves, killing several of the beta wolves off the bat. [4 vs 3] The alpha fought Victor, armed with spear and shield, and one of the hunters fell, but the battle prevailed towards the huntsmen. [6+1 (tenacity), 3] With a final stroke, Victor impaled the alpha and the rest of the pack fell to the hunters.
The pack is burnt as an offering to your august majesty on the full moon, and your blessing descends upon the valley. For a single year, the forests will be filled with game drawn from elsewhere, and the Forest Tribe will thrive. You reap the rewards of prosperity and faith.
[Income now 14/turn]
[1 vs 2, 5+1 vs 5] Alone, Victor has much more difficulty fighting the mother wolf. While he does eventually strike her down with his spear, he suffers a nasty injury [3] which takes long months to heal, and leaves him with less strength in one leg thereafter. The enchantment upon the chosen wolfcub is subtle, given its hereditary nature, but he is cunning and relatively tractable - for a wolf. Whether this attempted domestication will bear fruit in future remains to be seen.
Hmph! Humans.. always impatient, I see. I suppose it would make sense, the only thing I have done to reveal my presence was to tell a old lady to tell everyone else about me. Very well then; If they want it to, I suppose that fact may be.. changed.
I shall make it so; the hunters, those that procure food for the tribe, I shall grant them a boon. While on a hunt, whenever they think of me, the will be able to 'see' the moods of the animals they are hunting. If there is any kind of fauna around them, they will see them.. and what they are thinking. If my current power is not sufficient enough, then the amount of hunters with this boon will be reduced. I shall also tell Esmeralda what I have done, so that she may tell the hunters to.. try it out, so to speak.
[-3 Power] Your sphere is the gift of the eternal and otherworldly, so sight of things otherworldly tangentially falls into your domain. Your blessing effectively 'highlights' fauna, promoting it to the attention of the hunters such that so long as only a sliver of an animal was visible to them they would notice it. While the amount of power you have invested is nowhere near what is needed for true telepathy, the blessed can discern whether an animal is experiencing fear, anger or neither. You are able to bless the six strongest hunters in the tribe this way, along with Esmerelda.
The truth of your blessing is apparent, and the tribe takes this boon as proof of your existence. The worship of the Steppe Tribe has stabilised for now.
[Power Income: 10/Turn]
Give Hugo an inheritiable Boon where medium-sized fish are naturally attracted to him. Also give lesser (they draw in only small fish) versions to two lucky fishermen who followed Gysha's example.
[-4 Power, -4 Power] You touch Hugo with your power, enchanting him such that fish of the size of trout and smaller will be drawn to him and eventually his offspring. While the effects are not immediately obvious, it soon becomes clear that he is impressively good at fishing. Two other fishermen are given weaker forms of the blessing, again heritable. Within a few generations this blessing might become spread within the tribe.
[2+2] Combined with the blessing and Gysha's existing boon, they do attribute the village's growing success to Nera, although their faith only solidifies rather than growing further. Without a clear focus, their belief is somewhat nebulous in nature.
[6 Power/Turn]
Velda [Mountain Tribe, Age 24, Female] (Expedient, Cantankerous) {Faith (Jud): 65%} [Chief of Mountain Tribe by force. Soil Merging (Heritable)]
- Pawn of Jud [5 Power/Turn]
Urtul [Edge Tribe, Age 25, Male] (Opinionated, Undemanding, Artful, Thoughtless) {Faith (Managone): 65%} [White Mutant, Charisma]
- Pawn of Managone [5 Power/Turn]
Victor [Forest Tribe, Age 42, Male] (Helpful, Tenacious) {Faith (Corvric): 65%} [Night Vision, Tenacity, Cunning, Lame Leg, respected elder of the tribe. Wolf cub.]
- Pawn of Corvric [8 Power/Turn]
Esmerelda [Steppe Tribe, Age 44, Female] (Reliable, Unfathomable, Prejudiced) {Faith (Aperius): 25%}
- Pawn of Aperius [8 Power/Turn]
Gorrin [Valley Tribe, Age 45, Male] (Colorful, Sarcastic, Profound, Independent) {Faith (Guleran): 46%} [Fast Healing]
- Pawn of Guleran [8 Power/Turn]
Anna [River Tribe, Age 3, Female] (Lyrical, Breezy) {Faith (Tar-Azath): 55%} [Divine Voice, Instrument Inspiration, Fate Sense]
- Pawn of Tar-Azath [2 Power/Turn]
It costs 2 Power per turn to make a child (<15) a Pawn, 5 Power to make a young adult (<35) a Pawn, and 8 Power to make an adult or elder a Pawn.
Irris [Mountain Tribe, Age 26, Male] (Irresponsible, Hearty, Adventurous) {Faith (Jud): 25%}
Vetnar [Valley Tribe, Age 62, Male] (Amusing, Lyrical, Calculating, Freewheeling, Inhibited, Unpredicatable) {Faith (Guleran): 5%}
Ippling [Steppe Tribe, Age 2, Male] (Casual, Aggressive, Silly) {Faith (Aperius): 50%}
Esmerelda [Steppe Tribe, Age 44, Female] (Reliable, Unfathomable, Prejudiced) {Faith (Aperius): 15%}
Sanjak [River Tribe, Age 44, Male] (Thievish, Impassive) {Faith (Tar-Azath): 30%}
Gysha [Sea Tribe, Age 65, Female] (Romantic, Uninhibited, Predictable) {Faith (Nera): 70%} [Sea Blessing]
Hugo [Sea Tribe, Age 45, Male] (Droll, Slow, Cute) {Faith (Nera): 60%} [Moderate Fish Magnetism (Heritable)]
Cataran [Edge Tribe, Age 63, Female] (Impressionable, Brilliant, Open, Ridiculous, Insouciant, Sexy) {Faith (Managone): 35%}
Ishti [Sand Tribe, Age 25, Female] (Moody) {Faith (Destun): 55%} [Powerful Healing Others Enchantment, Enmity with Tribe]
Sara [Sand Tribe, Age 43, Female] (Negativistic, Insightful) {Faith (Destun): 35%}
Alena [Forest Tribe, Age 45, Female] (Intelligent, Solitary, Frivolous, Maternal) {Faith (Corvric): 25%}
Nera (Water) - 2 Power [6 Power/Turn].
Managone (Mutation) - 1 Power [7-5 = 2 Power/Turn].
Jud (Earth) - 1 Power [14-5 = 9 Power/Turn].
Tar-Azath (Artifice) - 5 Power [2 Power/Turn].
Destun (Magic) - 7 Power [5 Power/Turn].
Guleran (Life) - 0 Power [9-8 = 1 Power/Turn].
Aperius (Aether) - 0 Power [10-8 = 2 Power/Turn].
Corvric (Darkness) - 2 Power [14-8 = 6 Power/Turn].
Author
Topic: Pawns [A God Game] (Read 7531 times)