A new species forms in the bay. Fish appear in the waters of the bay and begin spreading up the river. They currently feed on bits of reed grass that get washed out to the bay.Fish are created in the Bay and spread to the river
(1 act performed in the bay)
The Vri butcher the grass eaters by using patience and sharp rocks. They aren’t particularly mindful of the skin, they value the meat and the bones far more. The skin is usually thrown away into refuse pits the Vri dig. They bury their piss, dung and other unpleasant things into those pits to decompose. However the Vri stumbled across one of these old pits and found that the discarded skin had turned into something else, something flexible, tough and waterproof. The Vri craftsmen quickly figure out a way to recreate the process and soon the tribe has leather and some leather goods. They make leather bags, water skins and other useful objects.
The Plains Vri discover basic leather working
(1 act performed in the plains)
The craftsmen all have pleasant dreams, although on waking they can’t recall the details of the dreams they just know it was pleasant. The tribe takes this as a good omen of things to come.
The Bay Vri receive strange scrambled dreams about something in the water. When they go to investigate they find silvery fish swimming through the clear waters.
The Chieftain receives a dream about Lu’s boomerang. The details are unclear as they always are in dreams and because of this the Chieftain assumed the dreams he was receiving were connected in some way to the dreams the craftsmen had had. So he declared to the tribe that the spirits were pleased with their recreation of the boomerang.
(1 acts performed in the plains)
X'arilyg appeared to the Vri Wiseman in all his glory but the reaction he got was not what he expected. “So it’s you,” he hissed disdainfully “I can feel you’re the same one that messed with my mind before. So before you get to talking about how I should bow down and head off to somewhere in order to give up the nomadic lifestyle that makes Vri Vri there is something you should know. I learnt a little secret from a Vri named Lisr. I know where you come from. I know where your power comes from. It comes from us. It comes from our minds. In many ways we’re more powerful than you,” X'arilyg to this outburst responded to this by filling him with power and trying to alter him and his body in order to be a servant. The Wiseman gasped in shock and horror but that was quickly replaced by an expression of grim determination. “I...REJECT YOU!” he snarled as X'arilyg’s power was forcibly expelled from the mortal’s body. Standing triumphant he glared at the god before him. “The Vri do not need gods! You’ll only lead us to ruin!” As he spoke the power that had been expelled from him had begun to coalesce rapidly forming into something that looked identical to the wiseman. His rant about gods and Vri stopped abruptly when he noticed the doppelganger. The newly formed servant was surprised and shocked as well and the two stared at each confused for a second. It was X'arilyg’s servant that acted first, it realized what it needed to do and ripped out the wiseman’s throat. The servant wisewan knelt to its god before setting off to bring it worshipers.
Vri wiseman is slain and replaced by X'arilyg’s Servant wiseman.
Another Vri is turned into a servant of X'arilyg
(2 acts performed on the plains )
When Mithra first convinced some Vri to follow it there was only a small number, a scant 7 Vri. But after many years in the fertile heartlands they had increased to 17 Vri most were young but some had come of age. In time they would grow to be a full tribe. Mithra created for these Vri to servants and for the Vri that still wandered the plains it created a third servant. One to heal, one to teach and one to preach and after it had created them it slept. It took some effort for Mithra’s teacher to explain the basic ideas behind planting and cultivating crops. However the issue was in convincing the Vri of the worth of farming in the first place. They saw themselves as hunters and nomads to such an extent it was interwoven inseparably to their identity and they were reluctant to discard it. The healer had better luck. It tended to the Vri dutifully any time they became ill or wounded and in doing so helped ensure the Vri stayed devoted to Mithra. But as Mithra slept the situation in the heartland changed; the grass eaters began to run out of food. On seeing this the Vri did what the Vri always did when the grass eater numbers started dropping. They moved. They continued to worship Mithra but they returned to the plains.
Mithra creates three servants
Mithra’s teacher teaches the Vri farming but they decide against adopting it as a lifestyle.
Food becomes scarce in the Heartlands (Soon Reed grass and Mithra grain will grow abundantly again) and in response the Mithra worshiping Vri return to the plains.
Mithra receives one act from worship
(2 acts performed in the heartlands)
On the slopes of Diaq Exkit built himself two servants; Stob and Mosk. Mosk was to build tools and weapons but Stob was to preach the word of Exkit to the Mountain Vri. As his servants set out on their respective tasks he coated the slopes of his mountains with fertile ash.
Fertile ash is spread across Diaq.
Two Servants are created Stob and Mosk.
(2 acts performed on Diaq)
Astarth under the guise of an ordinary Vri moved to the plains and attempted to join a tribe. The Vri were suspicious at first of Astarth, here was a stranger they knew nothing about who had somehow grown to adulthood without knowing how to hunt or a bunch of things the Vri considered it essential to know. However once it was clear that Astarth was willing to learn their ways and pull her weight in the tribe the other Vri warmed up to her extremely quickly although the ‘spirit’ powers still made them nervous. Once the tribe collectively decided someone was a part of the tribe, then that person was a part of the tribe. There was no ritual or ceremony, just one day everyone started referring to Astarth as if she was tribe-kin. That was one of the first things she noticed about the Vri, they had almost no rituals or ceremonies to speak of. Another thing she noticed was their pride in their own independance. While being taught how to hunt she used a minor act so that the hunting party would bring back much more meat than normal. The lead hunter had noticed however and pulled her aside to politely ask her never to do that again. The idea that the meat hadn’t been properly earned bothered him greatly almost as much as it bothered him that the grass eaters hadn’t been given a chance. The Vri were acutely aware that the grass eaters were living things and had empathy for them. A big part of the hunt was earning the right to kill the grass eater by being better than it and beating it in a contest of speed, perception and stealth. When the grass eaters had no hope of survival they viewed it as little more than murder. When they hunted they always left a way for the grass eaters to escape. The quickest, smartest and healthiest grass eaters often did manage to escape. But according to the lead hunter that was part of the appeal of hunting, the thrill of struggle, the threat of failure. To him it all blended together into something exhilarating that made him feel alive.
In the evenings the tribe sings songs around the fire as they eat their dinner. There are no set words to these songs, the tribe collectively makes up the words as they sing. The tempo and melody are set by the loudest of them. This approach to singing does not produce good, harmonious songs but that was never the intent. It’s about unwinding after a hard day and laughing as the tribe’s whittier members insert particularly funny lines into the song.
When it came to children the whole tribe takes responsibility. Every day one of the tribe members would gather the children and tell them a story or show them how to do something. Every day it’d be a different tribe member and everyday it’d be something different, something new to learn. On the rare occasions when a child went missing all the tribe’s hunters would rush out to scour the surrounding areas for any signs of them. Astarth watched as a craftsman showed the children how to shape a boomerang and how to harden it with fire. There had been gentle hints that she should come up with a story or something to show them, ‘perhaps they should learn something related to healing?’
The Vri had no form of medicine so when they got sick they either got better on their own or they didn’t get better. Unlike hunting this was an area where Astarth’s ‘spirit’ powers were much more appreciated. She could use her powers to cure the sick and heal the wounded. Soon any time one of the Vri got ill they hurried to Astarth. Before she’d even realized it she’d become the tribe’s healer. With her spirit powers having a clear and understandable benefit the last vestiges of any suspicion left the tribe. But here was one Vri that never seemed to warm to her, though he never spoke ill of Astarth she couldn’t shake the feeling that the tribe’s wiseman had an intense dislike of her. Some of the other Vri had noticed it as well and commented on how out of character it was for him. One day before Astrath could figure out the reason behind his behaviour the wiseman returned to the tribe after a short stroll only a short distance away only it wasn’t the wiseman anymore, it was X'arilyg’s Servant. As a god Astrath could feel X’arilyg’s energy coursing through it. Hiding any Servant’s nature from a god would be impossible. A second much weaker servant accompanied it. The imposter wiseman spoke, it talked of worshipping X’arilyg, other things that might have gibberish, how X’arilyg was the god of the mind and how X’arilyg was necessary for individualism. Astrath murmured to herself that the creature before them wasn’t the wiseman. Hearing that the Vri standing next to her gave her an odd look when she made that comment but quickly started to realize that was the only logical explanation. The wiseman’s distrust of the spirits that called themselves gods was well known but beyond that he had focused on keeping what was left of the tribe together. The things he was saying now went against everything he had stood for previously. Panicked yells from the Vri on watch forced the tribe’s hunters to leave aside the issue of what had happened to their wiseman and focus on the giant black beast approaching them. The ground shakes and shudders as if the plains themselves shake with fear at the approach of this creature. Desperately the hunters try to drive it back, their boomerangs bouncing off of it’s hide harmlessly. Then it speaks declaring itself the Servant of Lu. The Vri are cowed by the sight of this creature. It is by a significant margin the most powerful Servant they’ve encountered. Atu continues talking, it says it’s here to prove the wiseman has been twisted, to show the effects of insanity and to recruit the strong to worship Lu. Mithra’s preacher isn’t far behind arguing that the Vri should worship Mithra and head for the Heartlands were Mithra can provide them a better life. To add to the confusion Oba’s preacher had recently returned in order to try and convince more Vri to worship its god.
Preaching contest
Participants; Atu, Imposter Wiseman(he got started before you arrived), Preacher, Caretaker 1.
(1d6 per point)
Atu, 6 preach: 6,2,5,1,6,2 (22)
Imposter Wiseman, 5 preach: 2,4,6,3,5 (20)
Preacher, 5 preach: 2,2,1,1,1 (7)
Caretaker 1, 5 preach: 2,5,5,6,5 (23)
Atu chases off the wiseman with threats of devouring him, all the while the preachers argue and posture. But the easily convinced have already left the tribe to try and live as the gods demand. Those that remain are the most stubborn and prideful. Further complicating issues is the question of what had been done to the wiseman. Even unsure of what exactly had happened to him the tribe is horrified by it. To them it was the first direct attack on a tribe member by a spirit. Then there is the giant beast; they are scared to tell it no, that they won’t worship its god. Yet they are reluctant to bow to a god whose servant threatens to eat people. To make matters even worse in a blunder by Mithra’s preacher it reminded Atu that that Lu promised to give it those Lu had deemed weak. They were being talked about as if they were objects to be owned, their wiseman had been turned into something else and Atu loomed, seeming to the Vri as an implicit threat. With their wiseman gone the tribe turned to their only member they believed could know enough about the spirits or have the power to see the tribe to safety. They look to their healer to protect them. So, what do you do Astarth?
Astarth integrates with the tribe.
Preachers from all over descend on the tribe seeking converts but due to mutual interference and the impressionable members having already left (causing it to increase in difficulty) the preacher contest stalemates.
The imposter wiseman continues to flee until he comes across a group of exiled mushroom adicts. His words find purchase in their already slightly damaged minds and he convinces them to offer thanks and praise to X’arilyg.
X’arilyg receives a tiny number of worshipers and an act
((A minor note here on minor acts; with a few exceptions the targets of minor acts should be singular. So you can’t use one to teach a whole bunch of people a thing but you can use it to teach a single person that thing. Though there is still a risk of failure))
On the waters of the bay strange new plants can be seen. They grow quickly and soon the waters of the bay are choked with these new plants. However Vri are not naturally buoyant ((unlike humans who are)) and the Bay is the single largest body of water they have seen in their history which means they do not know how to swim and as such the Spung Rafts are out of reach for them. Their inability to get to the Spung Rafts doesn’t mean they can’t reach fish. The Bay Vri have taken to lurking by the water’s edge and using their large powerful hands to snatch fish from the water. Another plant appeared in the Bay this time it was a scraggly bush. Before Oba or his caretaker could explain the Vri started testing the plump berries the bush bore for poison. Once they decided the berries weren’t poisonous they started added it to all their meals. It wasn’t long before yet again the Bay was facing a food crisis as the number of children exploded. It would be awhile before any of these children could fend for themselves so the Bay Vri struggled to gather enough food to provide for them as far more children than normal were born. The Vri were having problems coping with the ever increasing number of dependants.
Spung Rafts are created, but they are out of reach of the Vri.
Vriberries are created and are responsible for a population boom the Vri have no infrastructure to support
Oba receives two act
(3 acts performed in the Bay Lesser Calamity Triggered!)
Work of a Smith
One of Oba’s followers creates a small stone tribute to Oba. It’s a small stone pillar that bears a passing resemblance if you squint. However whatever way he set it up means it taps into reality itself and strengths the whole area against future calamities. The Vri responsible has no idea how he did it unfortunately.
Pillar of Stability: Passive: This artifact cannot be moved and all Calamities require an extra act to trigger in the area it is in. The effects of this artifact are in play even if it is not wielded. Active: If a Lesser calamity would be drawn in the area this artifact is in you must lose this artifact and cancel the calamity.
Exkit plants some fire-spice into the fertile ash of Diaq. The lack of competing plant life allows the fire-spice to grow unimpeded and the warmth of the mountain. However sharp biting winds blow against the mountain slopes ensuring that the fire-spice can only grow in crevices, cracks, valleys and other areas where light can shine in but it is sheltered from the wind. This makes the Diaq fire-spice difficult to find but something about growing on the slopes of a volcano makes it far more potent.
FIre-Spice is spread to Diaq
Low-downs appear on the slopes of Diaq they are good at rummaging around and wedging themselves under rocks to get at the mountain potatoes. Despite the dangerous conditions the low-downs spread across the mountain. A timid yet strong creature.
Low-downs are created
The mountain Vri live in perpetual cold. They warm themselves on precious fires hidden in mountain caves. In the cold they are hard to start again if they go out. The mountain Vri are hungry. Their latest raids on the plains Vri have been repulsed, often viciously and the Mountain Potatoes while a blessing cannot support them fully. As a people they are dying and they are desperate. They need fire and food to survive. It was to these people that Stob went to and preached of the great spirit of fire and the great spirit of food. On the Plains the messenger of order delivered its message to disorderly nomads who put no value order and the god of civilisation asked for worship from people who didn’t even understand the concept of civilisation. But the Mountain Vri understood fire and they valued it greatly and unlike the plains Vri to whom godly messengers were becoming a regular occurrence they were ideologically virgin grounds. The gods of fire and food matched what they wanted and what they were terrified to be without. Stob was incredibly successful and in short order belief in the spirit of fire and the spirit of food was spreading through the mountain Vri like wildfire. Soon there was a steady flow of pilgrims heading to the fire mountain of Diaq. While Mosk may not have been the greatest craftsman by supernatural standards he did excellent work with the limited materials he could find on the mountain (so the Vri could copy him). Working with obsidian is very similar to flintknapping, with a steady hand, a tough rock, some obsidian and some patience you could create a fine blade. However flint blades were never anywhere near as incredibly sharp as obsidian. A well made piece of obsidian can be sharper than modern day surgical tools. It has a drawback that it is very brittle and can break very easily. But even with that drawback it was far, far better than the thrown rocks the raiders had been using. With obsidian blades affixed to the ends of long sticks to make spears and obsidian placed into the side of thicker heavier sticks to make axes the Mountain Vri had never been so well equipped with weapons. Many Vri pilgrims came, some came to see the fire mountain home of Exkit the great fire spirit, others came because of the promise of food but more than a few came seeking weapons. More Vri than Exkit even realized lived in the mountains descended on the slopes of Diaq. Some died from getting caught in toxic fumes, others died from falling into lava tunnels but most came to Diaq without issue and slaughtered Low-downs hungrily for their meat as they went. Mosk struggled to produce enough weapons to outfit the Vri who came to see him. They were simply coming to him in such numbers that he couldn’t keep up.
Stob preaches about the god of fire and the god of food to the mountain people and it’s super effective!
Both Exkit and Gnyr get 2 acts each
Mosk provides weapons to the mountain Vri
(3 acts performed in Diaq Lesser Calamity triggered!)
Lesser Curse of undeath
The recently dead stir and rise. Low-downs killed for their meat rise up and attack the Vri that killed them. The Vri that died on the mountainside to the hazards of Diaq attack the living. The Vri are caught completely by surprise by this and are panicked at the sight of the undead as the concept that this is something that is even possible is something that never occured them which is why at the sight of the undead they completely freak out. Eventually some semblance of order is restored to the mountain side. Superior weaponry prevailed over undead flesh but it took the Vri some time and some losses to figure out how to put down the undead for good. In the confusion Mosk was slain by an undead Vri. As a servant of a god he is not permanently dead however death has scattered his essence and he will a number of turns equal to his power value (3) before he’s reformed to the point you can manifest him again.
A new God forms Hixiux
The plains
Endless, flat and featureless.
Mortals
Vri-stone age mortals(boomerangs, tools, dedicated craftsmen, basic leather working)
Addict Vri
Mithra Vri
Animals
Grass eaters- ponderous four legged grazing animals
Plants
Reed Grass, Captivations
Gods here
Lu, X'arilyg, Astarth
Servants
Caretaker (Oba, preacher 5)
Atu (Lu, 10 combat, 6 magic, 6 preacher, 4 wisdom/knowledge.)
Mithra Preacher (Mithra, 5 preacher)
Wiseman (X'arilyg, 5 preacher, 1 combat)
The Swamp
Deep pools of stagnant water and mud that is easy to get stuck in
Mortals
None
Animals
None
Plants
Reed Grass, Captivations (Thriving)
Gods here
None
The Mountains
The tall mountains are rocky and snow covered.
Mortals
Vri raiders (they raid the plains Vri when they can)
Animals
Plants
Mountain potato
Gods here
none
The Rivershore
A clean river, with fertile banks
Mortals
(Vri tribesmen visit)
Animals
Grass Eater (Numerous), Fish,
Plants
Reed Grass (Rapidly growing along the banks)
Gods here
Acter
Mithra Heartlands
A wide open fertile area that borders the rivershore
Mortals
None (don’t worry they’ll come back)
Animals
Grass Eater (numbers are decreasing),
Gods here
Mithra
Servants
Healer
Teacher
The Diaq
A tall volcano that spits out ash and lava.
Mortals
(Mountain Vri pilgrims)
Animals
Low-Downs
Plants
Mountain Potato, Fire-Spice (rare but extra potent)
Gods here
Exkit
Ignus Valley
A valley in the mountains with large salt deposits
Mortals
None
Animals
None
Plants
Spices, Fire Spices, Sinensis
Gods here
Gnyr
The Bay
A beautiful bay
Mortals
Vri worshipers of Oba (numerous-dangerous population boom)
Animals
Fish, Grass Eaters( spreading here from Rivershore
Plants
Reed Grass (Spreading here from rivershore), Spung Raft, VriBerry
Gods here
Oba
Servants
Caretaker (Oba, preacher 5)
Silver Knight (Oba, combat 5)
Author
Topic: Calamities of the new gods (Read 6368 times)