Print

Please login or register.
1 Hour 1 Day 1 Week 1 Month Forever
Login with username, password and session length

[EagleV]

Spoiler: Explore (click to show/hide)

"Yesterday," the priest said, "we finished building or homes. We have food, we have shelter. From now on, we can spare some men to explore the lands around us. We will also start focusing on less basic needs. Our temple is no more than an altar, we have no defences but our warriors, and those lack the weapons they need."

"Agreed," said Axayacoloc. "I will send out scouts first thing tomorrow, and we will start building."

---

Tlilotl the Eagle-Eyed was exhausted when he reached the top of the mountain. For two months had he been traveling southwards, and the hills had gradually become higher. Now he was standing on the summit of one of the first mountains, which had been surprisingly easy to climb. He decided to go down to the slopes he came from, set up a camp and rest for the night. He would then return to the camp, and report nothing interesting but increasing amounts of obsidian, and very fertile grounds in the hills close to the mountains.

A deep rumble woke him. He sat up in his makeshift tent and listened, and again the rumble came from the mountains. The floor started shaking, and Tlitol dashed out of his tent.

The mountain he climbed the day before had become a giant, red hot cone, as magma slowly flowed down it's flanks. And Tlilotl ran. The magma was too slow to catch him, but soon after he had reached the forested hills, the first shrubs and trees cathed fire. And he kept running, even when his legs felt as if they were on fire themselves, he kept running, and he stumbled more and more, but every time he stood up and started running again. But still, as the fire consumed miles and miles of forest, it kept coming closer and he could feel the heat of the burning trees behind him, and he kept running.

---

A messenger entered the temple, now a two-story granite building, and fell on his knees before Axayacoloc. "The scout from the East has returned, sir, he is sleeping now. But he mentioned strange creatures, all different yet all working together, there were great and hairy and small and quick ones, and then some between, and all had strange shapes and weird heads, and they were torturing an elephant. And they had kidnapped a Cuahuatl baby!"

---

NOTE: There were also scouts sent north and east, but those didn't find anything of interest.

Spoiler: Build (click to show/hide)

A wooden pallisade protected the village from animals now, and the temple had grown in size. Not only was it still entirely made of granite, the story of the Cuahuatl since the exodus was also carved in a obsidian fresco around the lower story. There was much more place however, and a single priest dedicated himself to carving every mayor event that would happen in the stone.

There were lots of workshops now, and every day one could hear masons, carpenters, weapon makers and leatherworkers shouting to their disciples, there was a dug-out arena on the town square where every week the bravest Cuahuatl would fight for the best piece of meat the hunters had brought, and after the scout from the east had returned, a small group of warriors set out to create a defensive position in the eastern mountain pass. It was no more than a wooden wall between the cliffs, a few huts with basic furniture, and a foodstock carved into the cool stone of the mountains, but manned by the brave warriors armed with clubs of wood and obsidian and scarred by decades of experience, it should hold out for a surprisingly long time, should it ever come under attack.

Spoiler: Weapon Image (click to show/hide)

NOTE: The spear is only used by hunters, the club by warriors. They are made by slabs of obsidian hold in place by wooden sockets. And no, that is not my drawing, and no, I'm not as awesomely good at 3d as Armok is )

Spoiler: Map (click to show/hide)

   |≈≈≈≈≈≈≈..~⌂♠♠⌂⌂⌂⌂~.≈≈≈≈≈......≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈|                 
   |≈≈≈≈≈....~▲♠C♠♠▲Z~~.≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈|
   |≈≈≈≈.~.~~⌂⌂▲⌂⌂▲⌂~~.~≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈~~~~≈≈≈|                 
0  |≈≈≈≈≈~~~~~⌂▲▲▲▲⌂~~~~≈≈≈~~~~~≈≈≈≈≈~~O~~≈≈|


The yellow mountain is where the wall is built, but it is by no means a village - only a small garrison.
The red mountain is where the volcano is.

[TheNewerMartianEmperor]

New Day:

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

The dance was finished, and the capital of the new world was given it's name. People often forget the power that names have. When you give a name to a thing, it becomes just that little bit more then what it was before. In world such as these, anything with a name is more then it was without one. The Maehī knew this, and so the important things had to earn a name. Which is why it took a year for the capital to be named.

Kahi was walking through the town, now named Raho'i Mah, looking at the festivities. The Anniversary had come, and with it a new year. He saw the lizard folk doing a fantastic act. He was only there for the culmination of it, where the leader of the troupe who was at the top of the tower the others had made, was catapulted into the air, where he transformed into a dozen birds, which flew off in all directions. The crowd's attention was then drawn back to the bottom of the tower, where the leader is holding up the entire thing! It was a rather popular act.

As he walked around the town, he could see the lizard people doing other stunts for the entertainment of others, as well as children running about every which way, and their parents having a celebratory drink. The air was suprisingly warm, this land's winter was rather mild, not that that would stop the lizard people from staying indoors most of the day, but it was nice. He realized that he was outside of the town walls, but he didn't care much. He then found that rock from so many months ago, and sat on it, and began to think of the future, a task that would take him the rest of the night.

What in the name of?

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

Kahi was really, really exasperated at this point.

"So, you're telling me that a mapping expedition got lost?"

"Yes sir."

He looked at the feathered one that brought this new, and rather annoying development. Apparently the expedition had failed to meet up with the other scouts at the tip of the continent. They had waited all month for them, but there was no sign. This was odd, as all the other ones had done just fine. He wondered what the hell could have gone wrong? The meeting and all that was last year, he had only just received word of it.

Having not much he could say or do about this disconcerting development, he turned his attention on other matters. It seems that the grounded one's Kaumatua had moved to create a new settlement in the heart of the continent. As far as Kahi was concerned, she could stay as far away from the capital as she wants. This view had come about from the several dozen incidents where the hatching she had taken from the strange feathered reptiles had bitten him or something he owned. But that left the grounded ones without a representative here. Oh well, he was sure one would appear amongst the people soon enough.

Your Fault:

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

"We should have chosen that other navigator" Said The rather damp, and extremely lost leader of the mapping expedition.

"But he was blind!" Protested the navigator, who took offense at that.

"Yes, but at least he could feel north on a compass." Said one of the rowers.

"And he was not the kind to insult a storm to it's face." Chipped in another.

"Oh come on, I never thought it would react like that!" Argued the navigator.

"First rule of navigating the sea, right up on the common house wall: Do Not Insult The Sea, and you broke it. We should have taken the blind guy, at least he knew that. said the captain.

The moral of the story is to always make sure your navigator actually knows how to navigate.

The Map of Doom:

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

▲⌂⌂
.m≈           
 ≈≈
  ≈
    ≈~
      ≈
        ≈
          ≈
            ≈
      ≈≈≈≈≈≈
      ≈.▲▲≈≈≈
     ≈≈▲♠♠▲≈≈
    ≈≈.▲m▲m≈≈
     ≈≈▲▲M≈≈
     ≈≈≈≈≈≈≈

[kilakan]

Knowledge is Power:

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

Yuto "You want ME to lead the expidition to the new settlement!! I'm barely out of training school."

 Master "It's not my decision, Fenir said he wanted you personally, I have no idea how you impressed him so much but you're going to be the new villages leader."

Yuto "Leader, I have no clue how to lead!"

   "Well of course you're going to have a few advisers but it's Fenir's wish, and you must follow through."

    "What about the rest of the scouts, are they going to be starting new villages two?"
 
     "No you're the only one tasked with the new village, the rest are simply mapping our area."

      "How is this resonable, I haven't even learned the Behemoth meditation yet?"

     "Ah speaking of that I want you to have my spell, and meditation book.  It will teach you everything you could have ever learned in this town." 
   The book is encrusted with various bones, gems and coloured leather.  It seems as if it was a living creature all of it's own, opening to the spell or meditation that it's master wants with barely a thought.
Yuto " I don't know what to say..."
Master" just tell me that you will never let it fall into the wrong hands, and make sure you protect yourself to."
Yuto "I promise."

3 Month's later:

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

   
   ≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈|                 
   ≈≈~~~~≈≈≈|                 
   ≈≈o~O~~≈≈|                 
   ≈≈≈~~~≈≈≈|                 
   ≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈|                 


  Slowly the docks, huts and worker's shops began to take shape.  Construction was all a very new concept to Yuto, however with the help of the other Tiroko, and his master's book. It seemed like everything would be ready very soon.
  Not two weeks after the first fishing operations began, a letter came from Fenir for Yuto.
                                                                             
                                                             Letter:
    It has come to my attention that we are surronded on all sides by ocean, and as such I would like to send a scout out to map the nearby continents.  I have also been informed that great beasts roam the oceans, yet the sky seems fairly free of beasts.  As you are reading this letter, a transport fashioned after a great bird is being sent to your new village.  I have sent to you our foremost expert on battle, our best fleshworker, 2 construction workers, and a child grower.  I would like you along with these people I have metioned, to start another new settlement to the west, I hopes of making contact. I have also included a necklace that when worn will allow you to communicate directly with me.  Best of Luck
   Fenir,

  Yuto "AH curse my luck, not only am I sent away from my master before training was done but know I have to start ANOTHER new settlement.... AHHHH!!!"

Across the Ocean

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

After a few un-eventfull months flying across the sea, Yuto's expidition party finally spotted land.
                                 
   |≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈|                 
   |≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈~~~~≈≈≈|                 
0  l≈~~o~~≈≈≈≈≈O~O~~≈≈|                 
   |~⌂⌂~~~~≈≈≈≈≈~~~≈≈≈|                 
   |⌂⌂▲⌂⌂⌂⌂~≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈|   
Red O-Settlements
Green o-communities
grey o-army or moving people.
   Just as the flying contraption landed, it broke apart into hundreds of little pieces of gore.  Having little wheres else to go, the 5 unfortunate Tiroko, including Yuto, began building small shelters, while the master of war and battle, whose name was Feast, began hunting the surrounding desert in hopes of catching some meat for the hungry settlers.  Yuto, in hopes of getting a transport out of this new land, contacted Fenir using the necklace.  As he put it on a deafening roar split through his head from the inside, quickly removing the necklace, convinced it was broken to, he tossed it into the sea.  Saddened with the knowledge that they may be lost forever, Yuto reluctantly went to help with the growth meditation which was used to grow their buildings from little more then a bone or two.  A few weeks later their homes were built, they were fed, and plans for a lookout tower, with a Tiroko pod growth chamber at the base had begun. 

Meanwhile, In the Capital-

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

Fenir was sitting atop his tower, waiting a reply from Yuto and the expedition group when a great, red scaled beast broke through the clouds.  As the beast hurtled towards him, it opened it's mouth and out shot a great fireball.  With barely enough time to react Fenir covered himself in a bone shield to protect from the fire.  As the shield peeled off and put itself out, Fenir leapt from his tower, and with an unimaginable feat of agility, landed on the creatures neck.  As Fenir and the beast hurtled through the skies, with the beast trying to throw him off, Fenir slowly pulled himself towards the beasts head.  Using his ceremonial dagger Fenir cut the beasts skin just below it's head.  With all his strength he pushed his hand into the wound, and grabbed hold of the beasts spine.  Pressing his will into the creatures head, they struggled, each trying to gain hold of the others consciousness finally with a roar of defiance, the beast came under Fenir's control.  Puzzled Fenir almost felt if he had heard someones voice inside the beasts roar, no matter the beast was his now.

End of the year-

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

The main settlement had grown quite large, now supporting 4 or 5 workshops of various sizes, and a special one using the beast Fenir had captured to produce explosive crystal from it's fire breath.  Everyone know had 2 story homes and there was around 500 Tiroko now, not including work beasts.  The Settlement on the ocean just to the east, now had homes for all, a booming fishing industry, a small workshop, and a small tower, and pod chamber.  Yuto's small outpost had gained 10 new Tiroko, had a small tower, homes and a sigle workshop making weapons and a new airbird.

[Dwarfaholic]

((I just noticed my guys can move 12 squares this turn, no roads, through mountains, no problems. That's 6000 km. Hardcore.

Lots of scouts moving this turn.))

The Scouts of the Western Plains:

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

After having left Erithmonorarum with the other, Tenatos and the other scouts quickly elected to go west, in the direction of lower ground and, hopefully, something interesting. The ground soon changed from the rocky and forbidding terrain of the Erithnarumkolar (Our home mountain range) mountains into a slopy and grassy hill texture. Grass, they noticed, grew on every world the Erithreans had visited. What a successful species.

After a few months, the scouting team reached was faced by a veritable wall of strange protruding from the ground. Quick communication via Sensing with the capital told them that these 'trees' were not dangerous and not to be harmed. Studies were inconclusive, but it seemed these 'trees' were just another form of vegetation. Multiple forms of vegetation! Fascinating.

After a month of investigating the 'trees' and travel, the scout team exited the forest. They encountered another alien environment; that of huge fields of long grass and a few lonesome trees. Plains. They reported their findings and, after staring in awe at the innumerable grass stalks, set off.

The Scouts of the Southern Glacier:

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

Well, this was certainly new.

Very, very new.


The southern scout team had been moving southwards for a bit over two months when they encountered what would be later called a glacier. To them, the sight of a huge, reflective surface filling an enormous valley was something they would never forget. They didn't know what it was, or if it was dangerous, but still the normally cautious Erithreans couldn't help but descend into the valley to investigate. They barely rememberd to Message their findings back to Erithnarum.

The surface of the glacier was soft and, the Erithreans discovered, couldn't support their weight very well. Luckily, there was a layer of hard substance under the soft outside, so the scouts didn't sink into the glacier.

After a few hours of research, the Erithreans also discovered that the glacier was quite cold. They elected to leave the investigation of the glacier for later, while taking some samples of both the outer shell and inner core with them.

After a few days of south-bound travel, the Erithreans checked on their samples, only to discover that they had disappeared, replaced with clear water. Some kind of powerful magic was clearly at work here, but the scouts didn't have time to investigate. Someone from Erithnarum would probably be sent to the glacier anyways.

The Scouts of the Eastern Coast:

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

The eastern scouts, as well, quickly left the mountains and descended into the hills. They didn't find any forests or plains, though. Instead, they found the sea.

"So much... water."
"Beautiful."

When they discovered the water was not fit for drinking, they almost cried. Still, it could maybe used for something.

The Scouts of the Northern Mountains:

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

Possibly the most uneventful of all scouting groups, the northern scouting group only managed to track the reach of the mountain range to the north. There was one interesting find, though.

A great, crystal-clear mountain lake situated in an extinct volcano, surrounded on three sides by sheer rock faces and a nice, open slope on the last side. Nobody knew how deep the lake was, and the scouts weren't exactly eager to find out. After Messaging the superiors and marking the place, the scouts set off northwards, towards the sea.

The Founding of Erithnarum-t-Dornema:

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

"The scouts said the lake should be somewhere around... ah, there it is."
"Wow. That's just... beautiful. But where's the magma?"
The leader of the settlers, Tousomornuatus, a mage, turned to the Erithreans following him.
"The purpose of this colonisation is to see whether we can live without a constant source of magma. If we can build a city on a location like this, with no magma but vast reserves of water, Machinatus argues we have the capability to settle any corner of this world. Understood? Good.

Now, we can't inhabit the lake itself like we would with a typical volcanic city, so we're going to have to dig into the cliff faces and the ground below the lake. Before we can dig very much downwards, though, somebody's going to have to investigate the depth of this lake."
"Um, sir, how on earth would we do that? We know we can't 'swim', so what do we do?"
"Oh, don't worry. I have plans..."

The rock faces surrounding the lake on three sides were hollowed out and filled with sleeping quarters, military training rooms and battlements for ballistas and infantry alike. The rock material that was carried out was, along with harder stones quarried from nearby mountains, used to lay the foundations for some massive ground buildings, including a large wall on the fourth face to complete the protection given by the three rock faces.

The Tezari:

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

The Western scouts, month 4.

They had been moving on the plains for a month then Tenatos suddenly noticed something moving to the north of them. The whole group instantly dropped to the ground, rendering them pracically invisibly if not for the huge trail of stomped grass from where they'd walked.

What is it?
I don't know, looks like some sort of flying... what is it?
Brief communication with Erithmonorarum. Checking of records.
'Insect'.
Okay. Now it's got a name. I wonder if it's intelligent.
The Tezari scout buzzed around the plains, somehow completely oblivious of the incredibly obvious Erithrean scouting team. After a few rounds of patrolling the area, the scout buzzed away, perhaps to report to it's masters. Cautiously the Erithreans rose up and continued their way West.

Erithmonorarum:

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

With the building of the gate to block the small gap made in the ridge surrounding the crater and the few on-ground buildings now complete, the Erithreans focused on gathering plants from the surrounding areas and building a sort of garden inside the crater for easier study of the vegetation of this world. After the first plants died of poisoned air and a lack of soil, it was decided that studies would be conducted elsewhere, perhaps the newly-founded city of Erithnarum-t-Dornema, which had abundant supplies of water.

So instead of gathering plants for harvesting, the Erithreans located as many nearby mountain lakes as they could and started the massive project of building aqueducts from each lake to feed the city and it's lust for the clear, nurturing liquid.

Ice, ice, baby:

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

It really was as beautiful as the scouts had said. The vast whiteness of the glacier stunned Chief Scientist Trentomurates for a minute until he remembered his purpose here and ordered his men to work, collecting samples and securing lodgings for the team.
The coldness of the glacier was a surprise to the research team, and they had to resort to bringing wood and brush from a forest some way south to light a fire and keep warm. This just excited Trentomurates even more. What a fascinating substance! The mere presence of it somehow made the area around it cooler!

If only he could find out what it was...

Map:

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

0  |                     ≈≈~~~~~            |                 
   |                    ≈≈~⌂⌂~~~~≈≈         |                 
   |                     ≈≈⌂⌂▲⌂⌂⌂⌂~≈        |                 
   |                    ≈~⌂⌂⌂E▲⌂~~≈         |                 
   |                  ≈≈≈.T.⌂⌂▲▲⌂⌂≈≈        |                 
-5 |                  ≈≈...♠⌂⌂E⌂⌂≈≈≈        |                   
   |                  ≈≈≈..♠♠▲▲▲▲▲⌂≈≈       |                 
   |                   ≈≈≈♠.⌂⌂▲█⌂⌂⌂≈≈       |                 
   |                   ≈≈..♠♠♠⌂⌂♠≈≈≈≈       |                 
   |                   ≈≈≈...♠♠♠≈≈≈         |                 
-10|                    ≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈          |                   
    ----------------------------------------

[Emperor_Jonathan]

Spoiler: Building Continues. (click to show/hide)

The early months of the year were fairly unexciting. However, ice was molded into a wall around the small village, to keep out predators such as the wolves that roam the tundra. More continued to be found in the surrounding country and by the third month enough ice was brought in by the various expeditions to the glaciers that several large, coastal faring boats. From the 57 Covad in the village at the time, 15, including Nanyt, were chosen to spread out and settle elsewhere on the continent. This brought the population down to 42. Soon, they set off to find new land...

Spoiler: They Set out! (click to show/hide)

Three boats were upon the shore, coastal faring boats. They had enough supplies for a month and could fit five in each. Nanyt order the boats out, paddling out into the calmer oceans, there they looked out on the horizon, to the west, south of the glacier, was land. Perhaps that was the best place to start?

Spoiler: A Few Month Later (click to show/hide)

A few (3) months later the fifteen were standing upon the shores of an unknown land, not to dissimilar to their landing place the endless tundra stretched west and north, behind them and to the south was ocean and to the north-west was mountains. Ordering out hunters Nanyt set out to the west, heading to the south of the mountain, before turning north.

Spoiler: Next Month (click to show/hide)

Just into winter they came upon the perfect spot, to the north-west was forest to the north and to the west was mountains, except for the ocean to the south-east all around was tundra. They settled down and made a small camp, but the beginning of a mighty city. Eight were sent out for wood to the northeast, later they returned with game from the forest as well. They came back telling of a glacier to the north-west of the forest, but tundra all around.

Spoiler: Map (click to show/hide)

≈≈≈█
≈.J█..█         
≈≈≈.⌂♠. 
 ≈≈.J⌂.
 ≈≈≈..

[Navian]

It's a First Post!

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

In deep seclusion, a grove of pines appeared in the rough terrain of the land known as (8,27)... as did the dwellings at and about the ruined temple and the catacombs beneath. Lekesha Khon arose from her stylish coffin sleeper and checked out the art nouveau magic mirror across the room. It looked like the transition had gone alright. There was a panic above as everyone tried to sort out what happened.

Seemed about right. Few had been warned or suspected this, those who were aware would be those most deserving to take charge. Lekesha hopped onto her lounge. This tomb was heavily warded, and it would take a while for anyone to get around to clearing the traps blocking the way to her swanky pad. In the meantime, she'd watch and see who might in the future be more worthy to speak to than the doll her mother had given her.

She threw down the one corresponding to Apura herself, representing the woman she was before her ascension to godhood. In a puff of mist, the doll quickly assumed full life and size, although it was only a simulacrum.

"Good morning, Lekesha. Up and at it so soon?"

Apura the doll loomed over her. Lekesha hated that. Even just a copy of her mother with a mere fraction of the power was still enough to push her around. Still enough to pick her up like a rag doll, even--without using her hands!

"Yeah, well, I'm bored. There's nothing to do but wait for things to get in order. There are too many idiots out there."

Her confidante and advisor made a dreadful sound. "Tsk, tsk, tsk. Do you really have no one you can trust? A leader that has 'nothing to do but wait' would seem to have gone wrong somewhere."

The daughter and heiress to the house of Khon was quite peeved. "I haven't had time! Anyone I've spent any time around since being resurrected had been either a tutor, a slave, or some other member of an inferior race. And you didn't let me bring any soldiers."

"You have the chance to form your own doctrine, Lekesha. Few daughters are so lucky as to have such a proving ground. I am here to help you learn, not to do things for you. Have you at least giving thought to what to name your new settlement?"

"Zahnamia, after the temple. Fine, you want me to do things my way? I'll show you firsthand what my way is. And you are here to do things for me! I'd like a salad, and bring me some stew. And fluff my pillows while you're at it."

The doll sighed, even while going about her assigned tasks. "You know very well that's not what I meant. Very well, enjoy your vacation if that is what you make of it. The price of failure is a missed opportunity, nothing more. Though I suppose it may mean the deaths of thousands as well."

Lekesha lounged upside-down to show her disdain for the people above. "As if I care. I'm never going to be your puppet. Your training doesn't work. I'm not interested in being a ruler."

Apura assembled and quickly prepared the food from conjured ingredients, looking on toward her ward with some dismay. "You don't understand, and I suppose you can't. Be advised that yours truly, your humble servant in maternal guise, can be quite the mighty glacier. In time you may reconsider being such a royal pain."

Lekesha flopped over, turned around, and sat down more defensively on the couch. "Veiled threats won't get the salad done faster." She proceeded to snack on a stray carrot out of spite.

Somewhere high above, Zahnamia reached a milestone--its first murder. A boy framed for theft lay dying, as he'd been too slow on the uptake to refuse a melon proffered by fleeing gangers. One young woman had ingratiated herself with a local farmer and added a new dagger to her collection. Things were looking up.

More detail! More description!

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

The breed of elves in question here are dark-skinned with pale hair and eye colours. Unnatural hues are fairly common, although most have white hair and either pale blue or grey eyes. Living underground for the most part, they are small but not too frail, and females tend to be larger and stronger than males, as their original creator was an elven deity of the 'radical feminist' persuasion.

The only serious path to power for males in this society is magical study, which most females are disinclined to bother with given that they tend to have ready access to granted powers even without study.

[Armok]

<RESERVED POST>

[NUKE9.13]

Spoiler: Oh yeah this stuff happens all the time. (click to show/hide)

Larry the lumberjack skipped along the river bank, investigating each tree and painting red crosses on ones suitable for cutting. He looked up at the sky. It was getting late, he should probably set up camp. No, he could hear the roar of the waterfall in the distance, and he couldn't go further. Then he could walk back to the town tomorrow with nothing to do.
The roar grew louder as he walked. By the time he reached a clearing from where he could see the river become temporarily vertical, the roar was ear-splitting, and it occurred to him that he wouldn't be able to sleep with that sort of noise in the background. Well, he could stick his socks into his ears, or something.
Suddenly he heard the cry of a thunderlizard pierce through the roar of the waterfall. It sounded like it was coming from above. He craned his neck to look at the top of the waterfall. He heard a the lizard roar again and then he saw it, clinging to a rocky outcrop over the waterfall. Larry laughed at the creatures predicament and lay back to watch it struggle, and when a surge of water knocked it off and sent it plummeting down, crying in distress all the way, he spent several minutes laughing so hard that he seriously thought he might die from suffocation, and wondered briefly if watching this spectacle had been worth it. Definitely, he concluded.
After he got his breath back he walked closer to the base of the waterfall to see what had become of the doomed beastie. To his amusement the corpse was being fought over by a huge number of lungfish, and had already been stripped of huge amounts of meat. No doubt it would be nothing more than a skeleton within minutes. As he watched the lungfish scramble over each other to get at the remaining scraps of meat he heard what sounded very much like another thunderlizard. He looked up through the spray and saw a flash of scales and then a thump, and saw that, indeed, another thunderlizard had fallen down the waterfall, and the water that had broken it's fall (along with every bone in it's body) was already heaving with lungfish who had given up on the first lizard. Larry nearly killed himself again, and pondered if they could get an elephant up there, when another cry, another flash of scales and another thump marked the demise of a third thunderlizard.
Larry was, once again, gasping for breath. When a fourth lizard fell to it's doom, however, he started to think that this may be more than a piece of bad luck on one thunderlizard's part followed by it's relatives trying to save it. The lungfish had already polished off the second thunderlizard, and had left the third with flesh still clinging to it's bones and had started on the fourth. There really were a lot of lungfish. And other fish. Come to thing of it scavengers of every variety had gathered round the waterfall. Larry backed away and watched as lizard after lizard plunged to their deaths and were polished clean by scavengers. That night the lizards stopped, but the next day they started falling again.
Larry didn't bother to pack his things. He dropped it all and ran back to town as fast as he could. When he arrived back in town that evening it only took a few minutes of explaining to send the entire town rushing to the waterfall. The next day, they all watched in great amusment as lizard after lizard fell down the falls. Several jesters clambered up the plateau, and reported back that thousands of thunderlizards were heading south, through a valley from the north, across the river just before it went vertical, and south through another valley. For every ten that made it, they explained, one got washed away down the river, mostly elderly lizards, or young ones that were separated from their mothers. It was, everyone agreed, a miracle of nature and geography that the thunderlizards would have to make a huge detour to take any path but the one that took them over the deadly falls, but that it was only natural and a good way of culling the weak before heading to the grazing plains or wherever to the south. Yes. Completely natural. And hilarious.
Zyrius arrived the next day.
"Allright, allright, show us the reason that the city has been abandoned"
"Just here, sir. They're not falling so regularly now, but there are jesters up on the plateau who are raising flags every time one is about to fall."
Three flags appeared up on the plateau.
Zyrius watched as one after another, three distraught thunderlizards were carried over the falls. Keeping his face carefully straight, he asked:
“This happens every year, you say?”
“So it would appear”
“Oh dear oh dear.”
“What is it?”
“Waterfall filled with meat. Meat falls. Carne falls. Carnefall.”
“Oh. Oh. Oooh. That’s bad, right?”
“Probably bad. Perhaps terrible.”

Spoiler: Oh wait no it doesn't (click to show/hide)

Zyrius pushed open the doors to the church and stepped inside. His shoes echoed on the stone floor and off the pillars and statues and all that religious parnaphralia that is a requirement in churches. He got on his knees before the altar and said:
“Are you there, god? It’s me, Zyrius.”
He paused.
“King Zyrius the third...  of the Zyrius Empire... of the jesters?”
He paused again.
“Recently banished by my son... formerly Bartholomew, now King Zyrius the fourth?”
“Oh, that Zyrius!” boomed a voice from the heavens “Man, yeah, Zyrius. What’s up?”
“Well, I have a small matter to discuss”
“Do tell, do tell”
“There is a waterfall not a days travel to the west here”
“Waterfalls are not my area of expertise, really”
“No, but this one is rather special. See, it appears that every year the entire population of thunderlizards travels south on the river just above said waterfall”
“I see.”
“Naturally some get swept away”
“Naturally”
“And down the falls”
“Haha, that must be great. But, hey, it’s just one of those coincidences. Moving on,”
“Waterfalls filled with meat on a regular basis, lord. Meat falls. One might say, carne falls.”
“...Oh, alright, you got me. What d’you want, a prize?”
“An explanation would be best”
“Just marking my territory. To be fair, the thunderlizards used to migrate just a little while downstream. And the valleys were there, practically. I just made them a little wider, and filled the rest with rubble, a bit. It only took a small nudge to get the beasts to go to the west a bit. And there was a section of river somewhere that had magical boosting powers, so it’s not like I made that myself, I just moved it a bit.”
“But why? It is needlessly chaotic! You always say that we must cling to every shred of normality and order that comes our way”
“Well I say that, but it’s really a lot more complex. See, you did not get kicked out of your lands by coincidence. There is a... game going on, and, well, I needed a good leader. I need you to lead the jesters to victory. Only, if the jesters are just colourful people trying desperately to act human, they’re boring. A little fun is necessary to liven up the game, see?”
Zyrius sighed.
“Yes, sir. You could have said, you know?”
“Eeeh, it would have been more funny if you didn’t know. I must ask that you don’t tell anyone else on pain of death, of course.”
“My lips are sealed”
“Excellent. Whilst we’re on the subject, eh, could you act a bit more expansive? Stability is all fine and well but we don’t have eternity here, so it would be nice if you could hurry up and become big and dangerous, hey? Encourage people to have the sort of fun that happens in private, if you know what I mean. If you need more food, well, there’s a huge floodplain downstream a few hundred kilometres. Set up a farming town there and you will be swimming in food.”
Zyrius sighed again.
“Yes sir.”
“That’s the spirit.”

A jester hung a sign over the gates of the new city walls. On it was painted in multicoloured paint 'Welcome to Karne Falls, capital of the Zyrius Empire'.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

A small group of jesters walked out of the city, leading their camelsaurs loaded with tents and farming equipment down the river. For the first day of travel the river was slow and calm, but by the second day they were clambering down past rapids, through the steep valley that held the river. They walked for more than a week past the endless rapids, but eventually the river became less steep. After two weeks of walking the river had become wide, and was definitely making floodplains of the banks. They walked for a few more days, then decided to settle along on one of the last rocky hills near the river. The hill was steep on most sides, but had a natural ramp leading up from the west, and had a flattish top. It was the perfect place to build a village. Easily defended, near the river, and also elevated as that the yearly floods would not threaten houses.
Tents were set up and the jesters set to work; digging irrigation channels in the floodplains and removing the local plants. The river was still in the flooding phase, so they could not sow yet- an advantage, as it meant no labour would be split in trying to prepare the fields and planting crops. When the first fields had been prepared to their satisfaction, and everyone was caked in mud, they set to work making their cluster of tents into a town. They set bricks to dry in the sun in their thousands, and chipped away at the rock of the hill to make walls and houses.
When the river retreated they planted their crops. When their crops were grown, they harvested them and planted some more. When they were grown they harvested them and planted some more. Around about that time some more jesters came down river. They brought luxuries and tools and helped them finish their walls and houses to a decent standard. They then took the excess harvest, loaded it onto their camelsaurs and carried it back with them to Karne Falls.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

Where it was dearly needed, as the city had experienced a carefully constructed baby boom. Zyrius knew how to make baby booms happen; he had encouraged the construction of large houses with plenty of extra room at low prices. He had subtlety made shellfish a common item in food handouts. He had made the abundance of food clear. And it had worked. Too well, perhaps, as the cities food stores were dropping quite fast with all the eating for two, and, later, the actual second eater.
The newborns were mostly tiger-legs, but there were also a few fox-tailed beasties, and a few strange pods, that 'hatched' into strange undead beasties after a few days. They clad themselves in their own pods, which had become colourful jester's clothes, but still stank of rotting flesh. Not that the jesters minded. These undead were great hunters, and instant growers-up.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

Puppets, carved from local trees, were sent out, eight in all, in the cardinal directions. Their each walk 6 tiles in a direction and then return, unless blocked by either enemies (one of them has a fight with EagleV's dudes at the mountain pass), or the sea. On the way back, one of them meets Akroma's stranded dude. More on that next turn.

[Istrian]

((I need to clarify something about settlements and communities.

A settlement is a capital letter on the map. It represents the capital of a region. As capital, it is surrounded by many communities around it (within a range of 1 to 4 tiles, depending on size), most of them not marked on the map because it would clutter it and also because a tile can contain dozens of such communities.

A remarkable community, represented by a #, is simply a community which is important to a player for RP reasons. There is no need to mark down every single community you have.

When declaring you have a new remarkable community somewhere, please mark it down with a # and explain (if you can) how it is important.

When building a new settlement, please use your civ's capital letter.

BTW, if you already want shorter turn lengths (for instance to plan wars), please say so.

Thank you for your understanding and enjoy the game.))

Turn 3
Duration : 12 Months

    1   5    1    1    2    2    3    3    4                         
             0    5    0    5    0    5    0
    ----------------------------------------
10 |≈≈≈█████≈≈≈≈≈████████████████████≈≈≈≈≈≈≈|                   
   |≈.J█..█R██≈≈≈≈████≈≈≈≈≈███⌂♠♠♠♠███≈≈≈≈≈≈|                 
   |≈≈≈.⌂♠...≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈.♠♠⌂⌂A⌂⌂⌂♠♠.≈≈≈≈≈≈≈|                 
   |≈≈≈.J⌂.♠.≈≈█≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈.♠♠⌂⌂▲▲▲⌂⌂⌂♠♠≈≈≈≈██≈|                 
   |≈≈≈≈..♠≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈.♠⌂⌂⌂⌂▲▲♠♠.≈≈≈███≈|                 
5  |≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈.♠♠Y#▲⌂⌂..≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈|                 
   |≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈..♠♠......≈≈≈≈.#.⌂⌂▲⌂⌂≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈|                 
   |≈≈≈≈≈≈≈..~⌂♠♠⌂⌂⌂⌂~y≈≈≈≈≈.....m≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈|                 
   |≈≈≈≈≈....~▲♠C♠♠#Z~#.≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈|                 
   |≈≈≈≈.~.~~⌂⌂▲⌂⌂▲⌂~~.~≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈~~~~≈≈≈|                 
0  |≈≈≈≈≈~~~~~⌂▲▲▲▲⌂~~~~≈≈≈~~o~~≈≈≈≈≈O~O~~≈≈|                 
   |≈≈≈≈≈X~~~~~⌂⌂⌂▲⌂⌂~~~≈≈~⌂⌂~~~~≈≈≈≈≈~~~≈≈≈|                 
   |≈≈≈≈≈≈≈~~~~~♠⌂⌂▲⌂~~~≈≈⌂⌂▲⌂⌂⌂⌂~≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈|                 
   |≈≈....≈≈..♠♠♠⌂⌂▲⌂⌂~≈≈~⌂⌂⌂E▲⌂~~≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈|                 
   |≈..♠♠♠.≈≈≈≈...⌂⌂⌂~≈≈≈.T.⌂⌂▲▲⌂⌂≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈|                 
-5 |..⌂▲⌂⌂...≈≈≈≈≈⌂⌂≈≈≈≈...♠⌂⌂E⌂⌂≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈|                   
   |.♠⌂⌂▲⌂⌂..≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈..♠♠▲▲▲▲▲⌂≈≈≈.▲▲≈≈≈|                 
   |..♠G▲▲⌂⌂.≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈♠.⌂⌂▲█⌂⌂⌂≈≈≈▲♠♠▲≈≈|                 
   |≈⌂⌂▲▲⌂⌂♠.≈≈██≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈..♠♠♠⌂⌂♠≈≈≈≈.▲#▲#≈≈|                 
   |≈≈⌂⌂▲▲⌂⌂≈≈≈≈≈≈≈██≈≈≈≈≈...♠♠♠≈≈≈≈≈≈▲▲M≈≈≈|                 
-10|≈≈≈⌂⌂⌂♠♠≈≈≈≈≈████≈██≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈|                   
    ----------------------------------------

≈ sea / ocean
▲ high mountains
⌂ hills
. plains / savanna / tundra
~ hot desert
█ glacier
♠ forest / jungle

# minor community of remarkable interest, for ownership, check list

below

G = Poltifar (Gemma Liberi)
O = kilakan (Tiroko)
R = Diakron (Rimga)
T = Virex (Tezari)
E = Dwarfaholic (Eritheans)
M = NewMartian (Maehī)
Y = Akroma (Inari)
Z = Nuke (Jesters)
J = Emperor Jonathan (Covad)
C = EagleV (Cuahuatl)
X = commondragon (Craft-work Insects)
A = Navian (dark elves)


Regional Capitals

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

---------------------------------------------------------------
Erithreans

Erithmonorarum    (27,-5)   Hamlet(0)    Expansion slows Growth

Erithnarum        (26,-3)   Outpost(2)   Newly Founded
---------------------------------------------------------------
Inari  *

Sei'ankyou        (26,5)    Village(0)   Prosperous and Growing
  + fishing community (25,4)  .
  + mining community  (27,5)  ⌂

19,3 : a lost fisherman
---------------------------------------------------------------
Tiroko *

Bal'Gorak         (36,0)    Hamlet(0)    Expansion slows Growth

                  (34,0)    Outpost(2)   Newly Founded

26,0 : a camp of survivors
---------------------------------------------------------------
Covad

Unnamed           (3,9)     Hamlet(0)    Expansion slows Growth

Unnamed           (5,7)     Outpost(2)   Newly Founded
---------------------------------------------------------------
Maehi 

Raho'i Mah        (38,-9)   Village(0)   Prosperous and Growing
  + 2 remarkable communities (36,-6) ♠ (38,-8) .

30,3 : a shipwrecked expedition
---------------------------------------------------------------
Cuahuatl 

Cholitual         (13,2)    Village(0)   Prosperous and Growing
  + small fort and huge wall (16,2) ▲
---------------------------------------------------------------
Jesters

Karne Falls       (17,2)    Village(0)   Prosperous and Crazy
  + farms in a desert (19,2) ~
---------------------------------------------------------------
Tezari

Unnamed           (23,-4)   Hamlet(0)    Forgotten by Deity
---------------------------------------------------------------
Craft-work Insects

Unnamed           (6,-1)    Hamlet(0)    Forgotten by Deity
---------------------------------------------------------------
Gemma Liberi

Unnamed           (4,-7)    Outpost(0)   Divine Inanimation
---------------------------------------------------------------
Rimga

Unnamed           (8,9)     Outpost(0)   Forgotten by Deity
---------------------------------------------------------------
Dark Elves

Unnamed           (27,8)    Hamlet(2)    Prosperous and Growing

[Navian]

Time goes by:

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

As the months rolled by under the changing moon, Lekesha Khon learned much about her people and the surrounding area by means of idle spectation.

They were lively and doing well, having long since determined who was to be in charge, that idle priestess had been replaced by a wise ranger in leadership of the main community of Zahnamia, one who was not so attached to the trees to resist leading her people underground into better lodgings than the grove alone could provide them.

Other factions were performing expeditions ever deeper into the mountainous wilds, drowen males being driven to seek out their own fortune in mines and caverns while remaining as dependant as ever on their female wardens, as it should be.

More often, Lekesha found herself relying on the mechanisms of communication and suggestion to inspire her followers. She found it much easier to tolerate administration of the colony when she thought of it as a game of manipulation and subterfuge, without all the politics and hard work. It was such fun to humiliate the men she did not like, and favour the most competant women with her guidance.

At last she drew close enough to them to lead them to her lair for a suitable indoctrination. It was getting lonely in the cold stone depths, after all. Through Lekesha, some of these women would soon recieve Apura's greatest blessing, though how, exactly, did not bear thinking about. They soon be revered, and once possessing heirs to their lineage in such a way, they could go on to found houses of their own, forming a drowen nobility.

Things did not go all well for Lekesha, however. Her Apura doll kept trying to bother her with pesky 'economics' lessons, and she thought food, shelter, and effective equipment were all her people needed for their growth and expansion. Fortunate, then, that the males sought out and returned with greater wealth very much without intervention.

Ghost's Thoughts

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

The de facto ruler of Zahnamia governed without desire. An elderly dark elf of ethereal nature, frail but deadly--as was communicated wordlessly--she lived humbly in a secret place, and made herself available as a troubleshooter to those who were honest with her.

Ghost (as she was called) had her suspicions about what had landed Zahnamia's now-residents on this world, but it was not something she cared to concern herself with. The cold, harsh wilderness loomed on all sides, and while it was bountiful, more development would be needed to sustain growth in the future. Most elves lived a subsistent lifestyle and there was little industry, even less research.

Given a new world and a new chance, Ghost would like to establish a legacy before her illness claimed her at last. But she had waited decades. Surely another year or two wouldn't hurt. To be the first to step up to the plate would likely see her head cut off before long. Taking initiative would have to be left to the young and foolish.

[Virex]

Spoiler: Otherkin (click to show/hide)

He had been observing the strange beings moving through his lands for some time now. They seemed to be a kind of scouts, yet he was unable to discern a boil they hailed. This would need to be adressed later.

Most importent right now was that something was tampering with his watterworks. Having to supply several square kilometers of gardens with fresh watter was a daunting task on it's own, and he could use no interference right now.

Several airial scouts had followed the river up to the glacier, but were unable to continue due to the low temperatures and the large distance from the home boil. To fix this he would send out a small mycolith to the cold borderlands. From there he would send out wooled scouts to find the source.

Spoiler: Mycolith (click to show/hide)

A small part of the giant boil finaly came lose, carried upon some sort of wheel-shapped appendages and pulled forward by several large workers. He didn't have time to grow special workers for this, so he had send out large carriers to do the job. Steadely the small boil increased it's distance with the large boil.

~~~~

Two whooled scouts had been following the river up to a large lake inside a crater, probably heated by a geiser. Part of it was frozen though, and there were sings that the lake was once warmer then the measely 3 degrees above watterfreezing. Obviously, the geiser was dieing and he'd need to find a new source of watter. But where?
The two wolled scouts continued their exploration of the eastern mountains, finding several small geiser-lakes, but non usefull for feulling the Boil

Spoiler: The Canal (click to show/hide)

Watter levels were running low and food was running out. Luckely, it'd soon be over. Desperate for watter, Isdin as he had come to call himself, had started a large project once again. From the main boil, several giant vines spread out towards the sea. The land around these vines slowely descended. At their end a new Mycolith had appeared, endlessly spewing out water into the cannal. Fresh watter filtered from the silty seas to the west. It was an expencive procedure but absolutely neccesary.

Spoiler: People of the mountains (click to show/hide)

More Otherkin! A whole boil of them! Like them theuir boil also seemed to be made from rock, and it lacked plants. He;d have to find out how this boil got it's food. But first things first.

The whooly scout slowly appraoched the gate of the other boil and let out a deep growl. The gate slowly opened, revealing a sight ona  giant lake. (Primitive mechanisms, but a large watter source. This must still be a young boil)

Punching through the Ather Isdin sent out a message to the boil. No response. Again. No response. Somehow this boil couldn't hear him.

He let his wooled scouts growl again looking for a tone that this boil could understand. Apparently, this worked, because some workers came out and looked at the wooled scouts, quite dumbfound. They wer chattering in a strange nois, and he tried to force his Wooled scouts to make similar noises, but it didn't work. He'd need to adjust their vocal cords. But first they'd need to return to his western mycolith for resupplies.

Spoiler: Eagle Eyes, Rock songs (click to show/hide)

2 Months had past and still he hadn't made propper contact with the other boil. A second boil of the same kind was found, further south. Maybe they'd. Two of his feathered scouts flew over the walls and tried to emulate the sounds these rock-workers made. Maybe they'd respond. Maybe.

Spoiler: Watter Veins (click to show/hide)

Besides these strange boils, Isdin had also discovered something of interest to his more expansion-minded part. The sea he was tapping watter from teemed with life. There was a whole ecosystem just for the grabs. His winged scouts were already collecting specimens and soon his tentacled scouts would start looking around this strange new world.

He felt a smile from above.
"You're doing well young boil. You're mastering the ways of the seas and if you manage to reach the other boils, you'll learn about the treasures locked away deep underneat you. You know your destiny. Act upon it."
The vined figured looked down upon the board and smiled. then he picked up what loocked like a small flower and placed it upon the board.

"The will be your sigil. Any Seedling born under it will be a part of you. You need not fear concurence from your own kin as long as you own this flower. Tend it and it'll live forever. Forget it and you'll lose all your gardens."

That day, new life started to sprout in Isdin. Life with wings, seeds and most importantly, an insatible hunger for expansion.

Spoiler: Sargasso (click to show/hide)

    1   5    1    1    2    2    3    3    4                         
             0    5    0    5    0    5    0
    ----------------------------------------
10 |≈≈≈█████≈≈≈≈≈████████████████████≈≈≈≈≈≈≈|                   
   |≈.J█..█R██≈≈≈≈████≈≈≈≈≈███⌂♠♠♠♠███≈≈≈≈≈≈|                 
   |≈≈≈.⌂♠...≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈.♠♠⌂⌂A⌂⌂⌂♠♠.≈≈≈≈≈≈≈|                 
   |≈≈≈.J⌂.♠.≈≈█≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈.♠♠⌂⌂▲▲▲⌂⌂⌂♠♠≈≈≈≈██≈|                 
   |≈≈≈≈..♠≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈.♠⌂⌂⌂⌂▲▲♠♠.≈≈≈███≈|                 
5  |≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈.♠♠Y#▲⌂⌂..≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈|                 
   |≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈..♠♠......≈≈≈≈.#.⌂⌂▲⌂⌂≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈|                 
   |≈≈≈≈≈≈≈..~⌂♠♠⌂⌂⌂⌂~y≈≈≈≈≈.....m≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈|                 
   |≈≈≈≈≈....~▲♠C♠♠#Z~#.≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈|                 
   |≈≈≈≈.~.~~⌂⌂▲⌂⌂▲⌂~~.~≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈~~~~≈≈≈|                 
0  |≈≈≈≈≈~~~~~⌂▲▲▲▲⌂~~~~≈≈≈~~o~~≈≈≈≈≈O~O~~≈≈|                 
   |≈≈≈≈≈X~~~~~⌂⌂⌂▲⌂⌂~~~≈≈~⌂⌂~~~~≈≈≈≈≈~~~≈≈≈|                 
   |≈≈≈≈≈≈≈~~~~~♠⌂⌂▲⌂~~~≈≈⌂⌂▲⌂⌂⌂⌂~≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈|                 
   |≈≈....≈≈..♠♠♠⌂⌂▲⌂⌂~≈≈~⌂⌂⌂E▲⌂~~≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈|                 
   |≈..♠♠♠.≈≈≈≈...⌂⌂⌂~≈≈≈.T.⌂⌂▲▲⌂⌂≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈|                 
-5 |..⌂▲⌂⌂...≈≈≈≈≈⌂⌂≈≈≈≈...♠⌂⌂E⌂⌂≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈|                   
   |.♠⌂⌂▲⌂⌂..≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈..♠♠▲▲▲▲▲⌂≈≈≈.▲▲≈≈≈|                 
   |..♠G▲▲⌂⌂.≈≈≈≈≈≈≈T≈≈≈≈≈♠.⌂⌂▲█⌂⌂⌂≈≈≈▲♠♠▲≈≈|                 
   |≈⌂⌂▲▲⌂⌂♠.≈≈██≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈..♠♠♠⌂⌂♠≈≈≈≈.▲#▲#≈≈|                 
   |≈≈⌂⌂▲▲⌂⌂≈≈≈≈≈≈≈██≈≈≈≈≈...♠♠♠≈≈≈≈≈≈▲▲M≈≈≈|                 
-10|≈≈≈⌂⌂⌂♠♠≈≈≈≈≈████≈██≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈|                   
    ----------------------------------------

"Isdin, I've landed upon a particulary green spot inside the southren sea. The watter is warm, the algea abundant and your buoancy genes work as expected."

"Good. Remember that there are no plants to speak of here. You'll need to grow your own photosynthesis. Besides that, the seas are excelent hunting grounds.Good luck, you're the first of our kin on the watter. Show Virex that our kin is truely worthy of his gaze. Grow!"

[Akroma]

Spoiler: The strangest visitors (click to show/hide)

Nobunaga was brooding over the records of the old wars. It was no easy task to judge which weapon and spell was a good one, and which ones were bad ideas. He had to admit, the Tengu were formidable foes. Whenever the Inari came up with new strategies, the Tengu wopuld soon find the appropriate answer.

And so he was left circling dozens of dozens things that needed some review, quickly bored with his task looking at the sheer amount of weapons that the Inari had designed with magic. But the task was very serious, and so was he. He needed prototypes to test them, and he needed them soon, so they were ready for production once those foolish twins would finaly admit that they were needed.

A knock on the door interrupted his work.

"Master Nobunaga! Come quickly. A fisher from the southeast has come to the town, he is reporting that some sort of monsters have been spooking through his village!"


Monsters?, nobunaga thought to himself. Could it be that the prophecy already takes hold?

Outside, there was a rather young fisher, who was leading a horse by the hand. He seemed very excited and scared.

"Grand master! It is terrible. Weird creatures. Hybrids between man and animal, they have come across our town!"


"Calm down, clam down. What have they done?"


"N.nothing. They just stood there, talking in weird tounges. The people of the village chased them away with torches."


"hmmm..."

Nobunaga was not sure wether this was good or bad. On the one hand, these creatures didn't seem overly aggressive...on the other hand, if they are sentinents, these were probably not some random onsters, but part of a bigger group...a group big enough to wage war...


"Officer, mount a small force. We are going to investigate this spook."

----------------------


The search was long and hard. The area was just too big. Occasionaly, a village could report having seen them, but the directions were vague at best. The force was already thinking about giving up the hunt, when a suspicious campfire shown through the night.

The creatures sitting at it were strange indeed. 10 in total, 3 of them looked like Inari, but without any ears or tails. 4 were covered in leathery skin and hard plates, almost like a turtle. 2 others were feathered, looking almost like Tengu. And the last one was entirely covered in scales, like some sort of walking lizard.
They were not armed, unaware and up against their numbers on horses...it would be easy enough to kill them and never let them return home witha  report of what they found. Nobunaga was contemplating. If he killed them now, one of his men would surely report to the twins. they knew of the order not to kill visitors from far-away countries....

"Well, here goes nothing"

Slowly, the group approached the weird creatures. Those stood up, but didn't make any aggressive gestures, so there probably was no imemdiate danger.
Time to make the beasts speak. Nobunaga got down from his horse, and slowly approached one of them, then tagged him with a language spell.

"Ow! What was that about?"


"I am Nobunaga, and I was sent because villager reported weird creatures spooking through the area"


"Spooking through?"

"You are tresspaing through the land of the Inari. Who are you, and why are you here?"


 "We are Mahei, and we're stuck here because of our idiotic navigator."


"Where do you come from?"


"We come from a land to the south, across the ocean. Before that, another world. I liked it more then this one."

Nobunaga was lost n thought for a second. Another world? Just like the Inari? Hmm, a clean start, and probably not overly developed, just like the Inari settlements until now....most likely not ready for war.....and hopefully, not wanting war either....


"Well, we can only offer you maps of this continent and nothing more. I will also give you some of these"


"What're these?"


 "Those are what I used on you. with them, you can teach any intelligent being the language of the Inari. Please, try to make your way back home, and if you are ready, send a proper emissary. Negotiating with lost scouts hardly leads to anything. We will also gladly give you supplies for the long journey."


 "I see. There's a problem, though. That being that I don't have a competent navigator. I wouldn't trust this twit over here to navigate out of a sack."

One of the other creatures, the lizard, replied something in an angry voice, though it was not understandable.


"With the only coordinate being "from the south" even a competent navigator won't stand much of a chance", replied Nobunaga.

"I know. What are we going to do?"


"Pray and set forth on good luck?"


 "Which does you about as well as a paper ship where crossing several thousand miles of empty sea is concerned."

"Well, you managed to land here, and found us. Surely there must be someone guiding you"


"Well then obviously we have some job to do here. Otherwise why would we have ended up here?"


"Well, you found us and can now return home with the news, for instance"


 "We would have found you eventually, and I'm still the one looking at the gigantic gulf of the ocean and no-one capable of getting us across it."


 "The Inari are no skilled sailors. I am afraid I can't offer you anythign except for supplies and a ship, should yours be damaged."


"Well that's no good. We're still stuck here."


The whiny helplessness of the creature angered Nobunaga. "Somewhere south" indeed. Somewhere across the equator of courage...

"Meditate about it, and you might find an answer, but until then, please, do not spook the villages."


"Well, where can we go to get supplies and rest and other things?"


Nobunaga took a piece of paper and wrote something on it.

 "Give this to the chieftain of any village, and he will supply you. Rest wherever."

"Thank you."


"Oh and", Nobunaga gave a quick sign, causing one of his riders to step closer.


"As long as you are within our borders, this one will watch over you. For your own safety."


"I see. Well,we had better get going."


"Yes, how else are you ever get home, if you keep wandering inland"


"We have no idea how we're going to get home from the coast."

There he went again...

"Well, after a period of misfortune, fortune returns, so it's said. Set off southwards, and you will find home."


"That reminds me, we found another place before reaching here, to the south east. Not much of note, it's just a giant desert."


"Which should make navigating easier. Use that as a way point. Return to the coast you landed, then go southeast until you hit the desert, and from there, your home can't be too far"


"Easy for you to say, you aren't the one navigating over hundreds of miles of oceans."

"You are right, I am not"

Nobunaga took a deep breath, It was hard to contain his anger.

"I am the one who gets send out to kill the monsters that harass our citizens and now those monsters refuse to leave and take the supplies that they don't earn. "


"And I'm the one who is stuck thousands of miles from his home, in a rather strange land, with about a thousand miles of angry sea between me and my bed. Not to mention the one who had the bad luck to have chosen the worst navigator on this rock."


Nobunaga was boiling at this point. Once more, he was considering to simply slay those creatures...but duty asked for otherwise...

He took a deep breath and turned to his men.

"We are leaving. These guys obviously have other problems, and won't be solving them anytime soon."

Then he turned back to the visitors

"You are already getting all the help we can get you. If you are hoping that we will give you a capable navigator for you to send on a mission "somewhere south", then you are hoping for something that won't happen. You either make your way home, or get lost trying, but I am not here to listen to you moaning about what you can't do"


"I appreciate that, and thank you from the bottom of my heart, and I never expected a navigator from you. If there is anything we can do for you, please do ask."


"Come back when you have a diplomat with you, and hopefully, a seachart to lead you home. These are troubled times, and the future has some not very nice outlooks. Reports of monsters roaming the lands are taken very seriously."


"Why, what has happened?"


"Through indirect means, I have learned of a prohecy concerning this land. One can't be cautious enough with strangers. I am however under direct order not to kill you."


 "Hmm... The thing about prophecies is that they are written by people who want things to happen. Why do you have orders not to kill us?"


"Hmpf. Trade, I believe is the motive."


"Oh, it would be."

"Well, I wish you luck on your travel home. Your situation is really not enviable."


"I wish luck on you too. Goodbye."

Spoiler: heal your craving at the circus of values (click to show/hide)

Tsubasa had been living among the Jesters for quite a while now. Everyday offered another weird observation about them. There were seemingly many different kinds of jesters. Most of them looked farily plain, the basic jester if you so will, without any tails and only with very small, odly shaped hears at the sides of their heads.
Again others were a bit smaller, and walking on weirdly shaped hindlegs, like a cat walking on it's hind-legs. Again others looked almost like the Inari, except for the unmistakable characteristics of the jesters, like the wirdly shaped heads.
Some of them looked very sickly, and slightly rotten and stinking. Tsubasa concluded that this was probably some sort of sickness, rather than a normal varriant.


The town was full of colors and music, and quite cheerful actually, if maybe a bit annoying at times. The jesters tended to do things in odd ways. Eventhough they were harvesting their crops from the fields alongside the river, the ones who harvested them did not keep it, but instead handed it to a main storehouse. Likewise, they got their bread from this storehouse. Tsubasa admired this idea, there seemed to be a great deal of sharing and sense of community amongst the Jesters, none of them seemed so egoistic to keep their own crops, but shared them with the whole village.

The way they carried things was fairly odd as well. They did not simply carry things, but instead, juggled them like acrobats. To Tsubasas shock, this also included their babies...maybe the juggling was the reason for their weird sense of humor.....?


They spent most of their time on gambling in large building especially build for that purpose. Tsubasa was a bit sad about his lack of moeny, for he would have loved to take part in the gamble.

Most remarkable about the Jesters was the way they were fishing. It was absolutely extreme, to say at least.



Despite the cheerful exterior, there was something that confused Tsubasa a lot. In the time here, he had learned a few bits of jester language, and for the parts he could not understand yet, there was still the puppets who could translate.

However, talking to Jesters was odd. They were almost always nervous. Always wanting to quickly end the conversation, and always running off once it was over.

It was very, very strange...

Spoiler: how to make it thrive part 2 (click to show/hide)

Once more the twins were brooding over the documents and records. The fisher village and the mining communities had helped a lot. There was neither a shortage of food, nor of hardware anymore.
Sei'ankyou itself had grown quite a bit, but nevertheless, public founds were running not quite as high as they'd like to. There was enough money to keep everything running, but not quite enough to grow. A solution was needed, not urgently, but as the leaders of this civilisation, Mochirechik and Kotanechik had no intention of putting the task off until it was unavoidable.


"Maybe we should just raise the taxes somewhat? Maybe, road tax ? the roads costed a lot to build and keeping them in good condition is not free either, nor are the guards who patrol it. We could raise taxes on the usage of the roads between the cities and villages."



"That seems like a good idea...but I am afraid that this could cull the trade between cities somewhat. We want everyone to trade, not only the biggest guilds that can effortlessly affort the taxes."


"Hmm, you speak wise brother....maybe we should determine the taxes paid depending on the weight of the wagon? The poorer merchants aren't bearing such high loads, and thus, do lesser damage to the streets, and because they load is less valueable, are not attracting many bandits. On the other hand the guilds with their heavy caravans are quite the opposite, which justifies higher taxes."


"That is a splendid idea. I shall put it up for discussion with the counsil."


Kotanechik took a short look at his abacus and did some math.

"We would still be a bit short on money."


"Maybe we should raise ground prices ? There is no longer much free ground near the city center, but most business wants to settle there. We could ask for more money paid for the ground, depending on demand."


"Yep, that's a good idea. That goes straight to the list."


"Still, we have to do something to fire up trade... Many of our merchants are sitting on their wares due to low demand."


"I have been pondering an idea for quite a while now. Maybe we should send out a large group of migrants far eastwards, over the mountains. Far enough for them to be forced to grow independantly, meaning that all that will weight us down will be the innitial costs of the expedition, but not the entire build up of the place. After a few years, it will have grown to produce a plus, and can start trading with us, and our merchants will love it. We will build a large street through the mountain passes, and our merchants will be quite busy."


"That sounds like a good idea, I was going to propose somethign similar."


"As always brother, as always."


"Have you thought about where we should send them?"



"I thought to leave it up to prospectors on the caravan to decide on the exact place. Until then, the general area would be somewhere here"

With those words, he placed a small dot on the map.

Spoiler: how do I hero? (click to show/hide)

Bokei was incredibly nervous. never before had he been called to the twins. What could they want?...Maybe they were finaly sick of him and would throw him out? Oh god, oh god, oh god....


"Artifact, stand up before us. We have called you here because Nobunaga had reported a very interesting prophecy to us."


Prophecy? Phew...when they know that Bokei is supposed to be a chosen hero, surely they would not kick him out of town...


"And this is, why we will send you away."


Wait...what....?!


"We are building a new town, far to the east. It will be under the rule of Lord Hakotate. Your task, as a chosen protector of our civilisation, will be to guard this new town. Nobunaga said you were instructed in the arts of calligraphy for several hundred years, and are quite capable. Make sure that no harm comes to this village, and we shall reward you greatly. No go and prepare, the caravan is going to head out tomorrow."


Bokei made his avatar bow, then left.
Protector of a whole village. not too bad. Certainly a good start for this whole chosen-hero-thingy...

   |                      ≈███⌂♠♠♠♠██       |                 
   |                    ≈.♠♠⌂⌂▲⌂⌂⌂♠♠.       |                 
   |                   ≈.♠♠⌂⌂▲▲▲⌂⌂⌂♠♠       |                 
   |                   ≈≈≈.♠⌂⌂⌂⌂▲▲♠♠.≈      |                 
5  |                    ≈.♠♠Yy▲⌂⌂..≈≈       |                 
   |                ⌂..≈≈≈≈.y.⌂⌂▲⌂⌂≈        |                 
   |                Z~.≈≈≈≈≈.....Y≈≈        |                 
   |                ~~~.≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈         |


New town founded:
the harbour city of Tomakomai

[Dwarfaholic]

Turn 3: The Erithreans.

Who are the Erithreans?

Erithreans: Rock- covered, 2m tall humanoids. Poor eyesight, electromagnosense- o.
Lived in the Deeps, a nightmare world, deep underground where rock turns into magma, until they were ported here by their god. Understandably happy with this. Slow breeders, small communities.
Eat rock. Like water.

-------------------------------------------

((Wait, those single wavy things are desert? I thought it was shallow ocean. Daamn.))

Creepy bird things:

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

Reports from both cities confirmed the suspicions of Diplomat Retunkorniatus: a foreign civilisation was trying to contact the Erithreans. For several months now peculiar bird-like creatures had flown around both Erithmonorarum and Erithnarum-t-Dornema, shouting: "Hey, what are those weird birds?" and "Hey, ma, come look at this!". Retunkorniatus suspected they were mimicking the messages they had heard from Erithrean onlookers in an attempt to communicate.

The descriptions of the bird-like creatures matched that given by the scouts swnt west almost a year ago. At the time the report had roused public interest for a while before being forgotten, but now the masses were moved once more. The Council was especially pleased to find that some of the passivated Erithreans had been roused enough to pick up on life again, and had encouraged the Diplomat to try his best in keeping up the news.

It was time to act. If he played his cards well and contacted the foreign civilisation, he could well become the New High Diplomat or even Second-in-Command. Retunkorniatus assembled a guard of loyal soldiers and volunteers and began his expedition westwards, towards the alien creatures dubbed "Fliers."

Breakthrough:

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

"Heureka!" The other scientists leaped up in surprise as Trentomurates stormed into the lodgings.
"I have it now!"
"Have what?"
"The answer to what this substance we're living on is! Come on, follow me!"
The scientists shuffled after their leader, who led them to a large bonfire.
"Observe." Trentomurates grabbed a large, flat stone and placed a piece of ice on it. He then pushed the stone near the fire and, as everybody watched, the ice melted into a small pond of water.
"This 'ice', you see, is actually solidified water. I don't know the cause yet, but I suspect it is somehow related to 'snow'."
"Well", said one of the scientists, "Magma solidifies when it's left someplace cold. Maybe the same force is in effect here." Trentomurates glared at the offender for trying to steal his moment in the limelight. The scientist took a step back.
"It was just a suggestion."
"A stupid one, too. Rock is rock, this is water. You can't drink rock, can you? No you cannot. We're going to have to spend some more time examining this substance and why exactly fire turns it into water. It maybe something in the smoke, or the light."

Underwater worlds:

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

"Wait, wait, wait. Why am I doing this again?"
Tousomornuatus sighed. The commoner in front of him was possibly the dumbest Erithrean he'd met yet. Wearily he recounted the story, yet again.

"Hey, you. Commoner!" yelled Tousomornuatus.
"What, me?"
"Yes", said the mage. "Come over here a little."
The commoner obligingly dropped his load, a slightly bended pipe, and walked over to the mage.
"What do you want, Mage?"
"What is your name, commoner?"
"I am Trokonatos, sir."
The Mage frowned.
"That is not a traditional name. There are too many syllables for your rank."
"I inherited it from my grandfather, sir. He was a soldier, until he was demoted for making widgets."
"Making widgets? Why wasn't he promoted to craftsman class?"
"The widgets didn't work, sir."
"I... see."

More later.

[EagleV]

Spoiler: I Dare You (click to show/hide)

"You there!" the captain shouted, "I want you to find that puppet, and whoever is responsible!"
The Cuahuatl sighed. "Why don't you go do it yourself? I bet you don't even dare!"
"You'll take that back," grumbled the captain.
"Sir, I challenge you to a duel. Sticks, three hits win, loser goes for the puppet."
"Fine. You know I can't refuse anyway."

The Cuahuatl danced around each other, occasionally slashing or stabbing to their opponent, whenever they saw an opening. For 15 minutes had they been fighting now, and none of them had been able to hit the other. But the younger of the two grew tired, and when he stepped back to dodge a blow, he hit a stone and stumbled. He rolled backwards and stood up before the captain could reach him, but the captain saw he was hobbled when he got closer again. The captain wanted to strike him on the side while he couldn't dodge, but the other parried and delivered a powerful counterblow to the captain's head. The captain, bleeding from a nasty gap in the head, jumped up, and before the other could react, the stick hit him full force in the stomach, and when he doubled over, once more on each side.

Defeated, he limped to the huts and packed his weapon and some rations. The fout would heal soon enough, and the captain had had worse than the head wound, so that same day he set off.

Running trough the old riverbed in the mountains, following the footsteps of the little puppet in the mud, he quickly reached the hills. While he traveled further along a now fierce river, he rethought what had happened. A single puppet had come to their garrison, and when he attacked, dozens more appeared. The others were apparently ghosts of some sort, as his brothers in arms could smash their clubs right trough them, and once the puppet had been beaten, it fled and the ghosts disappeared. A thick mist had engulfed the pass, and it was far too dangerous to pursue the puppet at that moment, but now it had cleared, and he was on his way.

After a few weeks, a village became visible. He approached it cautiously, but when he entered, he was suddenly surrounded by several weird-looking guards. At first, they only laughed and didn't tell him where the puppet was, but when he grabbed and threatened one, it became more serious and told him they had destroyed the puppet, and that it was a misunderstanding.

He was led for their king, who gave him a letter for Axayacoloc, and soon, diplomats were visiting the Jester Race and peace threaties were exchanged.

Spoiler: Brothers... (click to show/hide)

"So, I heard you're worried about your brother?"
"But... Axayacoloc-Coatl, that is not important to you at all... You shouldn't worry about the lives of lesser beings" the priest murmured.
"Tell me what's wrong, my young padawan disciple. What is his art?"
"He's a mason, Coatl, and a good one, too, but he spends so much time making those weird... mechanics."
"Mechanics?"
"Yes Coatl, he made it so that the door to our house glides open as if it were nothing, a massive granite block, and it uses all those gears and weights and so... He doesn't do what a real Cuahuatl should do..."
"How old is he?"
"12. It's the only one that failed his test this year."
"Let him come here. I will start his training today."
"As you wish, Axayacoloc-Coatl"

Spoiler: Settling (click to show/hide)

The story of the scout that returned from the volcano went trough the village in a few days, and voices were raised to move near the mountain, as the ground was fertile and there was a rainforest with lots of animal life for hunting, some said twice as much as here. Axayacoloc didn't believe those stories, but he wanted the best for his people, and it was with his blessing that a group of brave settlers went south, over the mountain, to start a new village.


   |          ▲♠C♠♠#     
   |        ~⌂⌂▲⌂⌂▲⌂   
0  |         ~⌂▲▲▲▲⌂
   |          ~⌂⌂⌂▲⌂         
   |          ~~c⌂⌂

[NUKE9.13]

Spoiler: Contact with the west. (click to show/hide)

Blue crawled out of the river and up onto the pier. There were two jesters performing extreme fishing, but they were too busy to notice him. Blue ran to the palace, and into a side door. He sat in Zyrius's rooms until he came back.
"Blue!" Zyrius cried "What on earth have you done to yourself?"
"Well sir, I encountered a wall in the mountains to the west. It was guarded"
"And they attacked you? Dammit, why?"
"Well, they tried to pick me up."
"What are you saying, blue?"
"I suppose I might of bit him a little"
"BLUE, WHAT HAVE YOU DONE?"
"He started it!"
"HE TRIED TO PICK YOU UP!"
"He asked for it! His hand was fine, anyway. He attacked me with his club too and I only just got away!"
"YOU DIDN'T EVEN KILL HIM?"
"Er, no?"
"NOW ALL HIS FRIENDS KNOW ABOUT OUR VIOLENT WAYS! BLUE, YOU- YOU- YOU- AARGH!"
"Chill, man!"
Zyrius took a deep breath.
"Yes. Relax. Ok. What did the man look like?"
"Cat man. Like the babies, but bigger"
"Ok. Ok. I can deal with this, no worries. Come here blue, we'll get you fixed up"
Zyrius picked up blue and put him in a box. Which he locked from the outside. He flipped a coin. It landed unhappy face up. He nodded, satisfied, and took the box to a carpenters workshop. He explained the situation. The carpenter laughed. Evilly. A voice from the box said: "Hey, what's going on?"
"No worries, little man" said the carpenter. "All the pain is going to go away. Ah ha ha. Mwahahahaha!!"
Later they threw the wood chips into a compost heap.

It was with great relief that Zyrius spoke with the cat man that came looking for Blue. And no complaints about sending a letter instead of a diplomat- jesters out of reach of the law tended to act unpredictably. And they needed some predictability now.

Spoiler: Contact with the east. (click to show/hide)

Red ran south along the beach. He was late- it was nearly new year, and he had a few months of travel before he made it back to Karne Falls. He was not paying much attention to his surroundings- he had come this way before, a few months ago.
But then he saw smoke. Red hissed and ran off the beach, and into the undergrowth. He crept up on the beachy camper. Sitting by an overturned boat, roasting some fish over a fire, was a fox-man. As Red peered through the bushes the man looked up and saw him. The man nervously called out (in a strange tongue) "What manner of creature are you?"
Red hesitated, then said: "That depends. What manner of creature are you?"
"I am an Inari."
Inari. Never heard of them. Well, he was trusting, at least. "Hee hee hee. I am a puppet, can't you see?"
"And..and where is your master then? I have stranded here on this beach, and can't get home, I need his help"
"Hee hee hee. You need my help? Why should I give it to you? Hee hee hee. Actually, no, I will help you. What do you need?"
"The storm has ripped my sail. Without it, I can not sail home over the ocean, the currents are not right for that. Also, water and food to sustain me on the long trip."
Red focussed his mind and a small boat, not unlike the upturned boat, appeared on the beach. An illusion, of course.
"Hee hee. Take this boat here. It is filled with all the food and water you need, and a working sail"
The man walked up to the boat. He tried to get in, but fell right through.
"Hee hee hee hee!"
"What in the name of..."
"Did you really think I would just help you?"
"Cruel puppet, why must you taunt me so? Please, tell me what you want in exchange for your help"
The gullible fool tugged on Red's deeply-buried heartstring (singular). Ah, come on. Random annoyance is, after all, not everything.
"Hee hee hee. I cannot help you here, I am a mere puppet. An illusion is all I can conjour. Perhaps at my home you can find someone to help you? If you wish, I will lead you there."
"Yes please, that would be very, very kind of you"
"Hee hee hee hee. Pack your things then, and I will lead you back."
The man took a waterskin, raped some dried fish in a piece of sail cloth, and said he was ready.

Red led the man south, to the edge of the delta, and then west. The swamp creatures stayed away from Red, so the trip went without incident. They reached the farming village after a month or so of travelling. As they walked through the farms, the man (who's name, was, apparently Tsubasa) asked if this was it.
"We won be there for a long time, hee hee. This is a small stop for food and rest. Not that I need either"
They walked up the entry ramp to the village and Red knocked on the wicker gate in the wall. A human jester came to greet them.
"What have you dragged in now, Red?" asked the man. Tsubasa looked confused.
"Hee hee, he wants help, he says" replied Red.
"And why should we help you, hey?" the man asked Tsubasa. Tsubasa looked confused.
"Dammit red, translate for me. The stupid thing doesn't speak common"
Red repeated his sentence word for word. Tsubasa seemed uncaring for the insult.
"I have not much I can over in return. But my family at home, they are quite wealthy. I am sure they will reward you properly" he said in reply to the earlier question.
"Pfft, I don't want riches from you. Red, you can come in. We'll set up a tent outside for your friend"
"Thank you, thank you for the shelter."
The jesters gave Tsubasa gruel to eat that night, and when the day came, they shooed him off.
Red didn't care. He didn't really want to hang around.

They reached Karne Falls eventually. Red led Tsubasa into the palace. Tiny was sitting down inside.
"Hello?" said Tsubasa.
Tiny looked up. "Hello. Can I help you?"
"A few months ago, my boat stranded on your beach. One of your ..puppets, or whatever they are found me, and told me that I could find help here. I need a new sail, and some supplies to make it over the ocean. I beg you, please, lend me your aid."
"I see. Well, we jesters are well known for our hospitality. Our... king is busy right now. I'll have someone find you a house and some food. Make yourself comfortable"
"That is very generous, but really, all I need is some sailing cloth and supplies. I have a family at home, and want to hold them again."
"Oh, but we insist you stay for a while. You have had a long journey, and must be tired."
"Y..yes, thank you"
"Wonderful. I shall call for someone to show you around"
"Thank you kindly"
Tiny fetched Adorable and told her to set Tsubasa up in an empty house. And to be nice. Find out about his lands.
Adorable led Tsubasa outside and along the streets.
"So, what manner of creature are you?"
"We call ourselves the Inari. We live across the ocean, eastwards from here"
"Ah? Tell me about your lands"
"The land across the ocean is mostly covered in wast grassland and conifer forests. There are many rivers, and it rains quite often. It seems to be quite the opposite of your dry land."
"It does rain here, about three days a year. And the river floods every year. But what of the people who live in your lands? What are you like?"
"We are peaceful farmers and fishers. We have settled in that land to put an end to the war with an enemy that would not stop fighting with us."
"I see. You must tell us more of your land some time, later. You can use this house whilst you are here. I'm sure you'll find your way around. Come back to palace if you're hungry"
They had arrived at a small house. Adorable opened the door.
"Thank you, thank you"

When Zyrius heard there was a foreigner in the city, he immediately declared that no man was to trick, gamble, attack, or in any way annoy him on penalty of death. Good first impressions were essential, he said. And so Tsubasa spent a few uneventful days in the city.

One day, after eating at the palace, he was asked to stay. The king, Tiny, and several other jesters joined him in a back room.
Zyrius greeted him. "Ah, our esteemed visitor. So good of you to join us"
"My pleasure"
"Well, I am sure that we can arrange something. Indeed, we were thinking of sending an expedition of our own to the east soon. They would certainly be glad to have a... native to guide them"
"I will be glad to guide you, if you need me"
Wonderful, Zyrius thought. Perhaps he did not have to worry so much.
"Wonderful, wonderful. You have no idea how glad that makes me... Say, hmmn, whatever your name is, do you like... games?"
"My name is Tsubasa, and...I guess I like games. What game in particular do you have in mind?"
"Oh, a simple gambling game. We jesters like games very much. Do you have anything of value with you, perhaps?"
"I am afraid the storm robbed me of everything"
"Well never mind, we should give you a gift of goodwill. I shall give you the chance to play a game once for free. Cards, dice, or coins?"
"I don't know the rules of your card games, so I will try the dice"
"Dice it is! The rules are simple. You throw your die. You can keep it, or throw again. You may throw three times. Once you keep a die, I throw, and try to beat your die. Say you throw a one, pass, throw a five, keep, and then I throw a two, I pass, then I throw a six, and I win. Do you understand?"
"I understand"
Zyrius passed Tsubasa a die. Tsubasa threw it. It came up a two. Tsubasa threw again. A three. Tsubasa frowned. He threw again. Another three.
"Your throws are up. My go."
Zyrius took the die and threw it. It bounced across the table and landed a six.
"I win"
"You are a lucky man."
"Luck makes the world go round, my friend"
"Yes, our people believe that too"
"You do? Wonderful, it is rare to find people who share our beliefs in that regard. So often I hear talk of science and gods, magic and percentages"
"It is true that it is wise to...tamper with luck a little, but in the end, luck alone can be a strong ally"
"Ah, no, you must never tamper with luck! That's, well, bad luck. The viewers do not like cheaters"
"Viewers?"
"Yes, viewers. Life is as a play, I always say. And the success of the actor is determined by the viewers. We must endaveour to lead entertaining lives, in order that we may be rewarded in death. Or so we believe"
"I..think I understand what you mean"
"Hmm. Well, we are just putting the finishing touches on our ocean expedition. You can leave in a few days. In the meantime, you remain our guest. Feel free to ask if you want anything"
"Thank you"

Spoiler: plins (click to show/hide)

What to do?
Firstly, get that fox man out of here and find out how powerful his country is.
Build our own wall in the mountain pass. Make it clear that jesters are not to be messed with.
Build some watchtowers around the place. Stick a puppet in each. Check if the cat people or fox people have longspeak amulets or something similar.
Grow. Food supplies are not short, but if they were less short we will grow even faster. The undead chappies are good hunters, have them get to that. We need more than just food, though. We need more metal. Get some people to look for veins. Hmmn, maybe buy some of that obsidian from the cat people? Look into that.

“Sir?”
“Yes?”
“When can we set off for the eastern sea?”
“Are you ready, then?”
“Yes sir.”
“Excellent. Yes, you can leave in two days time. You know you are taking the fox man?”
“Yes sir.”
“You know you are not to harm, fool, or trick him?”
“Yes sir.”
“Good. Now, when you arrive in the foreign lands, I want you to be friendly. Acquire maps. Investigate their society. Evaluate their strength. Take these letters with diplomatic crap to their leaders. Once, and only once you have done that, I want you to evaluate their sense of humour. Take a jester’s chest. Take cards. Take dice. Start with simple games, but offer good prizes. Not the best, but not the worst, either. And offer influential people free plays. Ramp up the games slowly, and don’t scare them. I trust you trust in your ability to tell when a gambler is nervous?”
“Yes sir.”
“Good. Tell Tiny to come in when you leave”

“Yes, M’lord?”
“Get some merchants to go visit the cat people. And get some builders to go with them. The mountain pass that the cat people guard... we will guard it too. They can hardly complain. In fact, have the builders build some houses there, and some warehouses. The merchants are to purchase obsidian, as a temporary measure against the lack of metal. On that note, find some prospectors. We need to build mines.”
“Yes, M’lord. What should the merchants offer in return?”
“Anything. Make sure one of them knows conjuring and tell him to offer samples”

Spoiler: They had to blindfold Akroma's dude to get him on (click to show/hide)

The boat lay in the river like... like, have you ever stayed up for 48 hours, being both drunk, stoned, and hyped up on sugar, and then watched a cartoon on an upside-down broken TV?
I didn’t think so.
But if you had, you might recognise this boat. Most boats are wood or metal coloured. This one had every colour visible to the human eye represented on it and then some. Bits of the boat intersected each other. It had two hulls.
Ed tapped the side a piece of the boat. With a stick. From a distance. With a mask on.
"This is a fine vessel, indeed. Does it need work still?"
"Yeah, the gyroscope still needs callibrating and we need to finish off the air purifier. If you lend a hand making the charcoal and grinding the lime it'll go a lot faster"
"Excellent"

A week later, they were ready to leave. They loaded provisions into the boat and waved their goodbyes. The boat made goodish time. I suppose.
The point is.
They are now here.


    1   5    1    1    2    2    3    3    4                         
             0    5    0    5    0    5    0
    ----------------------------------------
10 |≈≈≈█████≈≈≈≈≈████████████████████≈≈≈≈≈≈≈|                  
   |≈.J█..█R██≈≈≈≈████≈≈≈≈≈███⌂♠♠♠♠███≈≈≈≈≈≈|                
   |≈≈≈.⌂♠...≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈.♠♠⌂⌂A⌂⌂⌂♠♠.≈≈≈≈≈≈≈|                
   |≈≈≈.J⌂.♠.≈≈█≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈.♠♠⌂⌂▲▲▲⌂⌂⌂♠♠≈≈≈≈██≈|                
   |≈≈≈≈..♠≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈.♠⌂⌂⌂⌂▲▲♠♠.≈≈≈███≈|                
5  |≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈.♠♠Y#▲⌂⌂..≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈|                 
   |≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈..♠♠......≈≈≈≈.#.⌂⌂▲⌂⌂≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈|                
   |≈≈≈≈≈≈≈..~⌂♠♠⌂⌂⌂⌂~.≈≈≈z≈.....m≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈|                
   |≈≈≈≈≈....~▲♠C♠♠#Z~#.≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈|                
   |≈≈≈≈.~.~~⌂⌂▲⌂⌂▲⌂~~.~≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈~~~~≈≈≈|                
0  |≈≈≈≈≈~~~~~⌂▲▲▲▲⌂~~~~≈≈≈~~o~~≈≈≈≈≈O~O~~≈≈|                 
   |≈≈≈≈≈X~~~~~⌂⌂⌂▲⌂⌂~~~≈≈~⌂⌂~~~~≈≈≈≈≈~~~≈≈≈|                
   |≈≈≈≈≈≈≈~~~~~♠⌂⌂▲⌂~~~≈≈⌂⌂▲⌂⌂⌂⌂~≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈|                
   |≈≈....≈≈..♠♠♠⌂⌂▲⌂⌂~≈≈~⌂⌂⌂E▲⌂~~≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈|                
   |≈..♠♠♠.≈≈≈≈...⌂⌂⌂~≈≈≈.T.⌂⌂▲▲⌂⌂≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈|                
-5 |..⌂▲⌂⌂...≈≈≈≈≈⌂⌂≈≈≈≈...♠⌂⌂E⌂⌂≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈|                  
   |.♠⌂⌂▲⌂⌂..≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈..♠♠▲▲▲▲▲⌂≈≈≈.▲▲≈≈≈|                
   |..♠G▲▲⌂⌂.≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈♠.⌂⌂▲█⌂⌂⌂≈≈≈▲♠♠▲≈≈|                
   |≈⌂⌂▲▲⌂⌂♠.≈≈██≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈..♠♠♠⌂⌂♠≈≈≈≈.▲#▲#≈≈|                
   |≈≈⌂⌂▲▲⌂⌂≈≈≈≈≈≈≈██≈≈≈≈≈...♠♠♠≈≈≈≈≈≈▲▲M≈≈≈|                
-10|≈≈≈⌂⌂⌂♠♠≈≈≈≈≈████≈██≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈|                   
    ----------------------------------------