I’m either/or, personally.
1 Like
I like reading both honestly
2 Likes
i also like both
but i like history more
1 Like
The round itself is actually done. Im working on the 10th round bonus right now but it should be done later today.
3 Likes
what is the bonus for the 10th round?
Probably the perspective of the people of each civilization of one another as suggested by Blackink
Sorry guys, I’m having a lot of trouble writing the bonus round, so to make sure I don’t delay the actual round to long I’m going to post the main tonight and focus on writing the Bonus tomorrow. If anyone has any ideas on how to write this bonus I’m open to hearing it
Also as a note: Diplomatic and Military actions with a civ you are in contact with will now be a vote separate from the actual round vote
2 Likes
Round 10: Ancient Age
Notable during this time is increasing tensions in the North. In one instance, development in once related cultures shows that secrets from one tribe have been copied by the other, and in response, ranged weaponry enters the picture as a deterrent. Further to the south, several related communities seem to consolidate into allied groups, offset from other groups nearby.
To the west, one major cultural group has discovered writing, but evidence suggests that several mutually unintelligible forms of written word developed around the same time, as several pieces remain untranslatable by modern linguists, while others are well known and documented. Another major settlement seems to have collapsed following mass civil disorder, with survivors traveling northward, and the last major society of the time has stagnated for a brief period. However, analysis of the river seems to indicate a failed irrigation effort around the timeframe.
To the east, a large society seems to be rapidly developing; following the discovery of wheat and basic irrigation techniques, a settlement has exploded at the mouth of a vital river.
Unfortunately, in the central valley that dominates the continent, there is little evidence of any significant progress around this time. There is evidence of regression in one population after a significant plague, where traditional cultural practices seem to fade or cease in prominence entirely.
@agenttine- Akeer
Vote: Scouting Mission (20)
DM
Minor Status Reached
Ongoing interactions with Bananarama (Now a separate vote for interactions with Bananarama)
Akeer
Following a daring scouting mission to the North, Akeer Metlar has brought good news before the Dictate. The scouts have managed to recover samples of the odd plants spotted in the Bananarama villages, and farmers have begun to reproduce the plants in similar ways near their villages. While their exact methods still need work before they resemble the plenty of the Bananarama, even their simple planting and harvesting techniques have led to an enormous surplus of food in the Akeer villages.
An invention has mirrored this discovery on land on the sea. By analyzing and copying Bananarama fishers on the lake, Akeer artisans have recreated their most fantastic tools, the hollowed-out trees that populate the lake. However, much like the Bananarama, the Akeer lacks many trees; unless they could grow and harvest their own trees, they would lack the numbers necessary to match what the Bananarama possesses. The boats may be out of the question except for the rare few they have already created, but the Akeer has also managed to copy other fishing methods. Akeer fishers have captured and replicated a cage close to the border for their use.
The trial innovations have allowed the Akeer to produce their food independent of hunting groups, and the villages across the Akeer have expanded. Given the designs rely on accessibility to water, many of the Akeer have been abandoning the plains to make their homes alongside the lake’s southern border. The lakeside villages have grown in size and complexity, with Metlar chosen by the Dictate serving as leaders on the village councils. Any adult of proper age and fitness is granted the opportunity to join the hunting parties that have become the primary form of service in the Akeer. All Akeer who are of age and fitness are expected to have their spears and Flurks, even when out in the fields harvesting the food, fishing the lake, or in their crafting huts, and must join at least one hunt a season to practice their skills. These individuals augment a more permanent group of dedicated hunters and scouts who serve Metlar directly. The Metlar personally led groups of ten, while counting in their service several other groups that vary in size and function as nonpermanent hunters.
The Canines who live within Akeer villages have begun to show differences in size and function, those bonded with hunters often being of a breed that is of medium build, coats matching the grass, and strong jaws. Those that aid artisans and farmers often have mixed patterns to their coats and often help carry small loads for a limited time. Those that live amongst the fishers have become smaller and more agile swimmers and dive beneath the water to catch or spur fish into waiting hands.
Rumors are that the Bananarama blame Akeer hunters for a recent incident into their territory that left several dead and missing from an outskirt village bordering the Akeer, which of course, the Dictate denies as lunacy brought on by the Bananramas own incompetence. Regardless of the truth, relations have worsened, and now there are allegations that the Bananarama are attempting to come up with a weapon to counter the Akeer Metlar.
The Akeer has advanced to a society with a complex division of labor, simple metallurgy, a sustainable source of food, and an organized hierarchy of leadership. This means they have advanced to a minor status in the North. With a constant state of relations with the Bananarama, it requires more complex interaction with the Bananarama separate from any other advances. (2 regular votes and a separate diplomacy/military vote when dealing with Bananarama)
Stability: Prosperous (3)
Power: Minor (2)
Description
The Akeer Directorate live in several small villages across the continent’s northern savanna, their largest concentration being a central village located to the south of a major lake. They share with the Bananarama, whom they consider heretics and traitors. Their primary food source has been the various quadrupedal prey herds of the savanna, which they hunt alongside their carnivorous allies and with several specialized tools. One of the devices is an object meant to be thrown and break legs. The second is a spear crafted with a metalhead. The metal is relatively weak and scarce, only being used among the hunt’s elite leaders, known as Metlar, who have become leaders in their communities. They have recently acquired an agricultural product and complex fishing techniques, mirroring the Bananarama. Their limited structures mainly compose small huts and fences that house and shelter their populations and limited food sources. They live under the rule of an authoritarian dictator, the Dictate, who rose to power following a disastrous fire and supported by the Metlar.
Location: Northern Savanna (lakes, berry bushes, quadruped prey)
Technology: Boomerangs (Flurks), Structures (Fences, Housing), Fishing (Cages, Boats), Metallurgy (Metalhead spears)
Domestication: Caniens (Carnivore hunters), Plants (Wheat/Tuber)
Population: ~3,000, (several villages, mainly centered around the south side of the lake)
Diplomacy: Bananarama Splinter (Hostile, northern neighbor, share lake)
Government: Authoritarian Dictatorship (Dictate supported by Metlar)
Note: Recently, we have achieved a stable source of food (+400). Relations are worsening with the Bananarama (allegations of incursion)
Previous Votes
Previous Votes: North (18), Ranged Weapons (10), Deal with the Hunters (20), Structures (19), Agriculture (13), Agriculture 2 (1), Division of Labor (14), Improve Hunting (8), R9: Smelting (18)
@jellyfishmon- Ol’yamata
V1: Search for Copper (12)
V2: Agriculture 2 (4)
Ol'yamata
The Council of Five has put forth a challenge to their remaining people, attempting to find ways to compensate for the plague’s losses. Understandably, the different professions have gone about this challenge in distinct ways. While the anglers have continued their efforts to harvest from the river, the craftsmen have begun to search for a better and more durable material to replace the weak wood, stone, and bone they currently use. Since their new coal kilns allow them to create far hotter fires far quicker, they may be able to craft new tools if they have materials that could withstand that fire better.
The craftsmen have sent out young Matain apprentices to search the woods for anything that can replace the stone tools. Still, so far, most efforts have turned up relatively empty as the intense woods the Ol’yamata have settled mean that there are very few paths to follow, and scout groups are slowed as they attempt to cut through the thick brush. They use their portable containers to travel out on multi-day expeditions but inevitably must return to their villages before long. While their attempts to find enough material for tool usage have been foiled, the craftsmen Matain report seeing on their journeys a cave not very far from the main settlement. While it took them days to get there, it may be easier to explore it now that they know the way.
Meanwhile, the farmers of the Ol’yamata have attempted to find ways to grow better or harvest the Goma, so far their attempts have been foiled by the simple fact that the Goma rely upon the river, and any attempts to modify the river are likely to impact the anglers, which provide more of the villages current food sources. As such, the Council of Five has ruled that the river’s sustainability is far more critical than the attempts to produce more Goma. The farmer faction of the Ol’yamata view this as an attack on their profession and decry the decision but so far obey it; instead, they focus their efforts on finding another edible plant to replace the Goma far attempts have not succeeded.
Stability: Shaky (0)
Power: Minor (2)
Description
The Ol’yamata live among the western forests, living in a single central village along a larger than average stream in the woods. Their primary food source is a type of plant known as Goma and lives in buildings based around the large trees surrounding them. They share these structures with curious little creatures colloquially called the Machi, who keep out of their food through their storage containers. They are organized in a complex caste system headed by a Council of Five and have a strong cultural emphasis on personal hard work. They are recovering from a devastating plague.
Location: Western Forest (Streams, Trees, Machi)
Technology: Storage Containers, Structures (Tree Buildings)
Domestication: Goma (waterborne plants)
Population: ~1,400 (recently settled in a major village around the stream)
Government: Council of Five
Note: A recent disease outbreak has shaken the Ol’yamata, and the population has stalled as food production is relatively stable to the population.
previous votes
Previous Votes: West (17), Storage Containers (7), Portable Storage (16), Search for Water to the West (14), Agriculture (16), Structures (18), Division of Labor (18), V1: Council of Five (13)
V2: Arts and Pottery (1), R9-V1: Fishing (9)V2: Charcoal Kilns (16),
@immortaldragon- Khurissa
Vote: Agriculture (20)
Agriculture
Complex division of labor
Khurissa
Khuranna is the place of plenty and the Khurissa plan on using that plenty to support their growing population. The Shamans of the tribe have sent out their gatherers to find what exactly grows by the sea, and plan to see what they can use to support themselves.
The scouts and gathers come to a remarkable discovery, close to the initial settlement of the Khurissa is a place where rushing water meets the sea. At the mouth of that river is a plant that proliferates quickly and can be easily harvested by Khurissa gatherers. After gathering, it can be ground into edible pastes and boiled in soups. Before long, the Khurissa have set up settlements around the river, utilizing its natural flow and minor floods to plant and irrigate a series of crops alongside the river, with a larger village based around the mouth where the river meets the sea. The Tenhafen have proven especially useful around this time, able to carry most of the crops grown. Some innovative Khurissa has even taken to attaching long sticks to the sides of the Tenhafen and having them walk in lines to help dig up the ground, allowing Khurissa farmers to place seeds easily into the ground. With a combination of the quickly growing crop, predictable and minor floods along the riverside, and utilization of the Tenhafen as beasts of labor, the food surplus of the Khurissa multiplies, as does the major settlement that houses a growing number of nonfarmers such as craftsmen.
This growing population begins to specialize. The farmers provide the most significant portion of food, and artisans have focused on repairing their tools and experimenting with other materials to craft. At the same time, the shamans continue to lead their society in their promised land. However, with the increased food and the time available, the system needs to become more organized if the Khurissa are to advance, as the Shamans debate what to do now that the promised land has been reached.
Stability: Prosperous (3)
Power: Tiny (1)
Description
The Khurissa live beyond the Eastern desert, alongside a large water body with no end in sight. They were a nomadic people, only recently settling in the new area, known as the Khuranna. Noted for their fury rhetoric, they are mostly led by several prominent shamans who maintain society’s oral traditions and are trusted leaders. The Khurissa have companions known as the Tenhafen, who have been useful pack animals during their long journey known as the Aroknasesha (the Trial of Fire and Sand).
Location: Beyond the Eastern desert (Along a large water body)
Technology: Agriculture (Irrigation 1)
Domestication: Tenhafen (Herbivore pack carrying animal), wheat
Population: ~2,200 (population-based around the mouth of a river connecting to the sea)
Note: Large surplus of food due to agriculture, indicating a more complex society may be forming (+500)
previous votes
Previous votes: East (20), Go with the flow (8), Scout the River (18), Check the River (10), Train Tenhafen to cross the river (16), Coherent Crossing (9), Continue East (17), settlement (16), R9-Housing (10)
2 Likes
@omnipotentfnarr- Ack Nan
V1: Scout West (14)
V2: Irrigation (10)
Points: 0
Ack Nan
The Hierarch is Kuna, those who remember. And so he remembers the stories of long ago, when after a time of drought many people fled the valley, while it was the faithful Ack Nan who stayed and tended to the valley and allowed it to become what it is today. This story may have merit, and perhaps there are still those who survive beyond the valley. The Huniac, with the powerful flying Solkesh, have been tasked with finding these lost souls and seeing what exists beyond the Valley of Ancestors’ hills and valleys. Figuring that in the old stories, the west contained land that resembled most the Valley of Ancestors, the Huniac have begun their journeys to the west, hoping to find others’ traces. With so much time passed, however, there are scant trials to follow. Even the bird-eyes view of the Huniac scouts cannot see any real evidence of any survivors to the west yet. While these attempts have not yet found any success, Huniac scouts will continue their attempts until they find something to report back. However, this does limit the number of Solkesh fliers and their Huniac handlers available for other uses by the Hierarchy.
While the Huniac pursues their tasks to find outsiders within the Hierarchy, the Agria have begun to experiment with different techniques to increase their crops’ yield. While attempts to alter the rivers’ flow mainly fail due to inadequate tools that cannot easily dig into the ground, the Kuna have come up with another way instead. Rather than focusing on modifying the river, the Kuna believes that they can instead change the plants themselves. They instruct the Agria to harvest select berries, leaving the best to use in a breeding attempt. While so far, there has only been a moderate success, with the new generation of berries counting slightly more than before, perhaps through future continued practice, the berry bushes will become even more extensive as time goes on.
Stability: Stable (1)
Power: Minor (2)
Description
The Ack Nan lives in the Valley of the Ancestors, surrounded by rivers, trees, and hilltops. They have a varied food source, elaborate berry bushes, and select Solkesh, avian bipeds that also provide mounts, both on land and for the sky, which is housed in stone structures after being cultivated. They live in several villages spread across the central valley and several side valleys and rivers, the largest of which is located in the Valley of Ancestors. They have a complex hierarchy; at the top are the Kuna, the brains of the Ack Nan, and their default aristocracy, who often are seen living in their stone houses. Below them are the Huniac, hunters, scouts, and guards who maintain order and the Kuna rule. Then come to the Crinat, specialized crafters responsible for the construction and maintenance of tools and houses. At the bottom are the numerous Agria, who handle the berry bushes’ farming and storage, and are often inspired towards direct competition with other Agria to maintain whatever privileges they can. The Ack Nan also has the world’s first rudimentary writing system to keep tabs of food storage and numbers within the Hierarchy.
Location: Valley of Ancestors (rivers, hilltops, trees, animal prey)
Technology: Housing, Writing, Masonry
Domestication: Berry Bushes, Solkesh
Population: 5,600 (Villages centered around rivers and status based on Hierarchy)
Government: Caste-based Hierarchy
Note: Natural growth (+100), attempts will continue on their own without further votes
previous votes
Previous votes: Stay in the valley (20), Agriculture (7), Domesticate the Birds (17), Agriculture (16), Housing (9), Trade System (12), writing (19), Smithing (9), V1: Solkesh Mounts (20)
V2: Masonry (16), R9-V1: Smithing 2 (2) V2: Parchment (2),
@serialkiller- Kometenvolk
Vote: Sustain 2 (11)
Komentenvolk
The Komentenvolk wander the desert, from oases to oases, doubling back to significant landmarks such as the river as a rest stop. Their people begin to wonder whether they are better staying together or perhaps living a different life.
Stability: Steady (2)
Power: Tiny (1)
Description
The Komentenvolk is a Desert people, traveling from Oasis to Oasis and their Guides, squat creatures who instinctively know where to go for water and food, and tall Herders, who provide some much-needed mounts. After many years in the desert, the Komentenvolk discovered a way to track and read the stars and use their long journeys from oasis to oasis.
Location: Eastern Desert (Minor river, Oases, salt plains)
Technology: Star Reading
Domestication: Guides, Herders
Population: ~1,500 (nomadic population traveling from Oases to Oases with the help of Guides)
Note:
previous votes
Previous votes: East (8), Animal Friends (11), Retry Animal Search (17), Domestication (14), Domesticate amount (18), Agriculture (4), Search for fertile land (19), Agriculture(9)
@teaking- Oprectim
V1: Fishing (16)
V2: Writing (13)
Points: 0
Writing
Oprectim
The effects of the irrigation attempt weigh on the Triarchy, knowing that their food supplies must continue to grow and secure against any future downturn in their fortunes. Therefore, they come together to discuss possible ways to alleviate future food shortages. They come up with a twofold approach.
First, the Heart must find a more sustainable food source, and they go towards the farmers and hunters to come up with a solution and present itself, a solution does. While observing the water’s effects on the plants, the Heart notes that within the river, coincidentally now more visible thanks to the failed irrigation techniques, are small schools of fish. They approach their hunter subordinates with a simple proposal, using the spears and tools against the fish rather than the relatively rare forest animals. Together with the Hand’s craftsmen, they develop new tools that help capture fish, such as tying ropes to spears allowing retrieval and even making small traps for the fish using small nets. While not perfect, a subclass of fishers quickly grows that enables the Oprectim to breathe easily on their food supplies.
While the Heart worked on creating an alternative food source, the Head goes to work, making a better track of supplies within the settlement. The hope is that by knowing how much of anything is on Hand at any time, the Triarchy will better adapt to situations and focus on collecting needed supplies and noting where precisely the stores are going. The initial idea is simple enough, but finding the proper way to execute it takes time amongst the Volkid. First, the material utilized must be versatile, able to survive under the Oprectim homeland’s conditions for an extended time, but also comfortable enough for the Volkid to manipulate to show the proper markings, while not so easy as to have false markings that could confuse users. After much debate and experimentation, the agreement is that simple objects such as wood will degrade, a stone could easily break or show missed markings, and such. Eventually, the Volkid concludes that the best material is a type of reed that can be put together and heated thoroughly, giving it a sturdiness that allows it to survive the climate but lightweight enough to carry and store. A sharp stick painted a specific color with the plant’s extract that bleeds when burnt the right way will do the markings.
But with the Volkid, nothing is ever simple. Following the agreement for material, arguments begin to grow over the proper method of actually making marks. While simple slashes work for small numbers, they eventually become an eyesore and difficult to count in large quantities. Another argument grows on how to properly markdown, which each symbol symbolizes. A fish may be simple, but how to distinguish between cooked and raw, between different materials, etc. Before long, over a dozen different writing styles are proposed, debated, and rejected for various reasons. Before the weeks’ end, the Volkid are still in debate, and the others are unsure of what to do. Each profession quickly develops their writing styles, each distinct from the others of the tribe, with the Volkid in charge of that particular profession teaching their preferred style to their class and translating as necessary during the Triarchy meetings. For now, nothing more than a minor inconvenience such miscommunication doesn’t bode well for the future, especially as interactions become more complex.
Stability: Stable (1)
Power: Minor (2)
Description
The Oprectim are religious people along the Eastern edge of the Western forest. Settled in several communities along some streams near the trees’ border, the Oprectium eat a mixture of the Giopek, herbivores that provide food and some other materials, and their berry bushes. They live in longhouses that fit upwards of thirty and are sturdy enough to prevent easy collapse. They are organized in a strict caste system, once born in a place where you will die. The HeadHead conducts the Volkids meetings, the philosopher class, scientists, scholars, priests, and community leaders. The Hand accompanies the craftsmen, who build and maintain the tools of the Oprectium. The Heart shepherds the farmers, who ensure the food of the Oprectium is collected. Each of the Triarchy is a member of the Volkid. They are raised to know the tales that form the Oprectimishva, their religion, based around the idea of returning to the gods among the stars through discovery and technology. The Oprectim keeps track of their supplies in a complex and distinct writing system unique to each class.
Location: Eastern Edge of Western Forest (Trees, minor streams)
Technology: Structures (Weak Housing, Fences). Writing (Complex and class-specific)
Domestication: Giopek (herbivores) Berry Plants
Population: 5,000 (centered around the edge of Forest)
Religion: Oprectimishva
Government: Enlightened Theocratic Triarchy (Philosopher leadership)
Note: Fishing tools have been able to increase the population and food surplus (+300), but distinct writing styles and disagreements within the leadership class has potential problems
previous votes
Previous votes: West (14), Agriculture (20), Found Oprectimishva (Star Gods) (20), Structures (5), Housing (6), Physics (12), Tribal Commandments (12), Council leadership (6), V1: Writing (9), V2: Smithing (G15), R9-V1: Improve Housing (11) V2: Irrigation (9)
@MisterMustachio- BeastMen
Vote: Unite the Clans (4)
BeastMen
The recent bloodshed has shocked the Beastmen. For the longest time, Champions have been the epitome of what it means to be Beastmen of the Tribe. The Beastmen are a single pack, who must work together to ensure that each is fed and cared for, the Clan is secondary, the territory temporary, and the Beastmen as a people are what matters.
Unfortunately, while the Beastmen as a whole agree that the Clans must come together to form a single whole, there is substantial disagreement over what form that whole should take, what becomes of the Champions, and their territories when they become a part of the whole. Who should lead, who should be included, and should that inclusion extend to the butchers who started the mess? The Havgra, or meeting of Champions, was called to sort out the mess leaves most displeased, with allegations of favoritism and prejudice. The session ends most disastrously when one of the Champions accuses another of Bakla, dishonor, and betrayal of the code. While the call for Havgra forbids an honor duel during such a meeting, it does not prevent one from leaving should one be duly slighted. So the Champion goes, and as he does so too does any opportunity of the Havgra ending the conflict.
The disaster at the Havgra does not end there, for Clans are still unsure of the future, and several Cabals, or alliances, have formed across the Beastmen Clans. Champions pledge to support each other should a disaster in any form strike, and soon enough carving the Beastmen territory between four major Cabals. Smaller ones stake the edges, and competition ensues between the major Cabals for ranges, honor, and to persuade other Champions to join their Clan to their Cabal. While these Cabals act in a loose alliance, even within the Cabal Champions disagree over territorial allocations and resource sharing, with specifics varying from Cabal to Cabal. Meanwhile, the most powerful of the Cabal Champions, known as the Walok, begin to plot against each other. So far, no actual conflict has occurred, with most Walok focused on gathering support and shoring up their territory rather than risking armed conflict.
Stability: Unstable (-1)
Power: Tiny (1)
Description
The Beastmen are a nomadic people living near a large lake near the Northern Savanna’s southern portion. They are honorable hunters possessing a complex range of weapons and tactics, from slings to bows to bolas and spears. They live by an honor system and in clans led by Champions, who are the most clever, strongest, or fastest, or bravest of the Clan. Each Clan stakes its claim in the region, and recent food concentration changes have led to conflict between the clans. Clans are organized into Cabals, loose alliances, with the HeadHead of each Cabal being a Champion Walok.
Location: Southern Savanna (Grasslands, hills, large lake, large prey)
Technology: Slings, Bows, Bolas
Domestication:
Population: 1,300 (Nomadic hunting parties loosely related to one another, currently based near a large grassland lake)
Note: Civil instability grows as different alliances grow within the tribe offset to one another (-1 unstable state)
previous votes
Previous votes: North (14), Search for Herds (18), Hunt the Hunters (10), Improve Hunting (18), Housing (11), Agriculture (10), Follow the Herds south (20), Claim the Watering Hole (12), Agriculture 2 (1)
2 Likes
@blackink- Morbus
Vote: Division of Labor (5)
Divison of Labor
*** “The Horned has come for our tribe, yet has spared half of us, the strong and healthier, and now we must take this second chance as a blessing, let it demonstrate to our God the strength of our life by improving on what we have as heritage. That every one of us can count as a ten-fold if we dedicate to one thing” -New Chief Kraggan***
Morbus
The new leader of the Morbus knows that the Morbus is in dire straits. The plague wiped out half of their population, including most of the talented workers of the tribe. To composite, he has come forward with a plan. Each person will specialize in their given tasks to the best of their ability. Those who are the most skilled craftsmen will do naught else, but craft, those who know best the terrain will do none besides scout and lead the party. Those that remember the stories of the shamans shall be tasked with remembering them. Those that know how to pick berries shall do naught else. Those who know nothing must learn or be exiled, as the Morbus cannot afford to feed a mouth that does not work. Quickly the tribe adapts to this way of life. All work on their given tasks, the gatherers go out to pick the berries the recognize, the scouts equip their packs and search around, reporting to the gatherers where to find the best berries then moving on. The craftsmen focus on creating new small tools to help the scouts and gatherers work.
For now, the Morbus hold on their journeys, hoping to recover for a while before setting out again in the pattern that they have been. So they collect mainly from the syrup trees they have laid behind them, and for now, the tribe can recover slightly from the massive die-off. Unfortunately, a side effect of labor division is a distinct difference when the tribe comes together to eat. Those who cook, cook the food for others, and sit within their groups do not interact with each other. The days of all sharing a smile and laughing around the fires are dead and gone, the shamans unable to remember the stories that were once told, and despite being incredibly dependent on each other, as their skill sets are unique and untaught outside of the group, they do not feel comfortable interacting as a tribe. The tribal identity is fading. The Horned God has lost many of his followers, some no longer believing in the stories they were told as kids.
Stability: Unstable (-1)
Power: Tiny (1)
Description
The Morbus is a nomadic people located within the many hills around the Valley of Ancestors. Surrounded by small forests and hills, the Morbus is a very mobile population, never staying in one place long, with packs of supplies and syrup trees that provide for them that they leave in their wake. The most curious thing about the Morbus is their belief in Life and Death, the Horned God who provides both grants life, and is the harbinger of death. A delicate balance exists between the two, and so the Horned God maintains that balance, just as the Morbus do.
Location: Valley of Ancestors (Hills, small forests)
Technology: Bone tools. Footwear, Supply Packs
Domestication: Syrup Trees
Religion: The Horned God of Life and Death
Population: 1,000 (mobile population in the southeastern VOA)
Note: The Morbus are growing to lose their identity, with an incredibly factional but interdependent population
previous votes
Previous votes: Southeast (11), Continue SouthEast (7), Settle on the Hills (13), Improve Tools (using the dead) (15), Agriculture (17), The Horned God (12), Scoutwear and equipment (14), Domesticatable Animals (18), Domestication (1)
@positivetower- Kurich
Vote: Abandoned the Kurichen (18)
*** “We never learn… We have yet fallen into another trap of sedentary life and created foolishness of meat abstention and prikilism; it is time to abandon our temporary settlement and learn from our mistakes”-Leader of the newly created Kurich***
Kurich
The civil conflict within the Kurichen has reverberating effects in their society. While foiled, the disastrous coup reveals the deep schisms and hypocrisies of the broader Kurichen community, and several dissatisfied priests of Thanza claim the Bludh has led her people astray. Fearful of reprisal by the bloodthirsty tyrant, they secretly plan a departure to the North, hoping to leave the failed community behind. The word spreads quickly to those dissatisfied and fearful of the Bludh, which turns out to be a rather large population segment. The Bludh hears rumors of the proposed escape but dismisses them as fancy that will be alleviated by the upcoming community feast. Several of the caught traitors are to be sacrificed to Thanza. Coincidently the escape was planned for the night before, long before the dinner was planned, but such an event helps motivate the fence riders to choose a side. Before the feast, in the darkness of a moonless night, over five hundred former Kurichen abandon their villages and meet up to travel northward, and are even joined by several dozen of the coup attempters who are happy to join up in an attempt to get away from the Bludh’s justice.
The well-organized self-exile manages to leave without a trace and is stocked with many valuable supplies to allow the exiles to sustain themselves for many months. By morning, a minor rainstorm occurs at the main Kurichen settlement, which means that people didn’t go to check the outskirts villages for their people, and by nightfall, the traces of the exile are wiped away by the storm. To the Kurichen, several hundred people simply vanish without a trace; to the newly formed Kurich, the departure is subtly blessed by Thanza themselves.
The Kurich have managed to head northward through the forest and now arrive at a fork between two major rivers, to the southwest lay the river that they followed northward, away from the Kurichen. The river leads to a thinning of the trees and elevated terrain resembling ancient hills in old Kurichen stories to the southeast. To the west directly is a river far more massive than the one that the Kurichen used to live by. For now, the Kurich have decided to rest and resupply at this natural point, but the forests nearby remain mostly unexplored.
Stability: Shaky (0)
Power: Tiny (1)
Description
The Kurich live along the eastern edge of the Western Forest, heading northward alongside a major river. Born of strife and grief, they split off from the Kurichen, whose contradictory religion and tyrannical leadership sewed violence and distrust, eventually leading to a rebellion against their leader, the Bludh. Their nets and berry bushes provide for most of their food needs during their journey, and they possess knowledge of how to build the structures and tools of the Kurichen but believe in a different form of Thanza. They are declared Heretics by the Bludh.
Location: Western Forest (Major river, Forest)
Technology: Structures, Nets
Domestication: Berry plants
Population: 700 (Centered around a fork between two rivers, northern forest)
Diplomacy: Kurichen (Located to the south, Hostile, Heresy)
Government: Theocratic (Priests who organized exile)
Religion: Prikilism Heresy(Forsaking of bloodletting and vegetarianism)
Diplomacy: Kurichen (Exiles, no contact, hostile)
Note: Exiles from the Kurichen, many of which are happy to be rid of the bloodthirsty tyrant and await to see what happens next. (population of 700, Kurichen population at 900 last contact)
previous votes
Previous votes: Northwest (10), Decide to go west (3), Continue West (20), Agriculture (17), Weapons (18), Structures (12), Prikilism (18), Theocratic Autocracy(8), R9-Fertilization (1)
@zenzonegaming - Bananarama
Vote: Ranged Weapons (14)
DM
Minor Status Reached
Opening of Diplomatic channels with Akeer (Now a separate vote for interactions with Akeer)
Bananarama
The Akeer have been growing too confident. Following a border incident where village leaders accuse Akeer Metlar of conducting an overnight incursion into the village which resulted in several missing and presumed dead, a meeting of the tribe’s leaders has been called. While the Dictate denies any knowledge of the incursion, general Bananrama sentiment is that the Akeer Metlar were responsible, and remain a primary threat to any defensive effort with their strange spears. Unfortunately, it is not a simple matter to contest this new tool.
The Akeer that have defected to the Bananarama do not know what the material used is, nor how to reproduce it as it is a jealously guarded secret of selected craftsmen. With replication not possible, the next best thing is to create a counter. The next best thing will be a form of ranged weaponry, something easily reusable. That does not leave the user defenseless after being used, unlike the boomerangs the Bananarama currently possesses. One proposal is that the Bananarama produce bows similar to an early Akeer attempt, with dried leather strings and sticks. The Bananarama run into the same problem as the Akeer did. While the lake provides many more trees than the open plains did, they are still in minimal supply, and their usage is prioritized for other things, such as building housing and boats that supply most of the tribe’s food supply. To craft both the bows and the arrows, there must be a much more reusable wood source, which may be possible with a concentrated effort but so far are not.
An unexpected source discovers the next best thing. One day, a young child bored out of her mind bets a friend they could throw a rock farther. After some exchange, the young girl discovers that she can use a leather piece to throw the rock farther and faster than her arm. By chance, this toy becomes popular amongst the children of the tribe, before the girl’s father, a craftsman, notes he can reproduce a more robust material that allows someone to twist the rock more, and therefore throw farther. This invention catches the eye of a young hunter, who notes his father had taught him how to sharpen stones for spearheads and that specific sizes can travel very far very quickly and accurately. While not necessarily deadly unless hitting certain areas, it can disorient, cut skin, break bones, and ammo much more accessible. This invention is quickly handed out to other young hunters, and it soon becomes a staple tool in the Bananarama hunters kit.
This tool comes at an opportune time, as after the little incident at the border, the Akeer seems to have discovered multiple secrets of the Bananarama. First, plants similar to the crop in tribal gardens, perhaps found by their scouts and brought south. While not as numerous as Bananarama plants, they still aid in the food surplus of the enemy. Second and perhaps more importantly, there is some evidence of Akeer attempts to build boats similar to the Bananarama. While their side of the lake has notably less wood, they may still pose a threat, especially if they begin to target fishing vessels that supply the tribe’s food.
These instances have shown that Bananramama needs a more secure form of leadership to administer the tribe and govern policy regarding the Akeer. As such, the ad hoc Chieftain Councils that used to meet only once or twice a month are now meeting weekly or more. The Bananarama as a whole has turned to these councils of leadership and guidance in these troubling times. While not a perfect administration, they can oversee the villages they live within and report to a weekly council meeting of all the tribe’s influential leaders.
The Canines who live within Bananarama villages have begun to show differences in size and function, those bonded with hunters often being of a breed that is of medium build, coats matching the grass, and strong jaws. Those that aid artisans and farmers often have mixed patterns to their coats and often help carry small loads for a limited time. Those that live amongst the fishers have become smaller and more agile swimmers and dive beneath the water to catch or spur fish into waiting hands.
The complex division of labor that the Bananarama possesses, the consistent and reliable food source and an increasingly tense situation with the Akeer has seen the Chieftains Councils grow in prominence as an administrative component. This means they have advanced to a minor status in the North, and with a constant state of relations with the Akeer, require a more complex form of interaction with the Akeer separate from any other advances. (2 regular votes and a separate diplomacy/military vote when dealing with Akeer)
Stability: Prosperous (3)
Power: Minor (2)
Description
The Banarmama is an offshoot of the Akeer, broken off following the rise of the Dictate over a disagreement with the role of the Council. They occupy the northern half of the lake that separates the Akeer and the Bananarama in the Northern Savanna. They share many of the technologies of the Akeer, including the Boomerangs, the domesticated Hunters, and their limited structures mainly compose of small huts and fences that house and shelter their population, mostly restricted by available building materials. They make a noticeable difference in their invention of boats, reliance on fishing and agriculture, and their staunch opposition to the Dictate of the Akeer. Their hunters also possess slings that can throw rocks farther and faster than by hand. They are mainly administered by tribal chieftains who meet in weekly Chieftain Councils.
Location: Northern Savanna (lakes, berry bushes, quadruped prey)
Technology: Ranged Weapons (Boomerangs), Structures (Fences, Housing), Boats
Domestication: Caniens (Carnivore hunters), Plants (Wheat/Tuber)
Population: 2,400 (Centered in a major village around the northern side of the lake, with several outlying villages bordering the Akeer)
Government: Chieftain Councils (leaders of each village meet weekly in major village to agree on the policy)
Diplomacy: Akeer Directorate (Hostile, southern neighbor, share lake)
Note: Natural population growth due to stability and food surplus (+200), and the Akeer have been accused of infiltrating Bananarama territory (Worse relations, Hostile).
Previous Votes
Previous Votes: North (18), Ranged Weapons (10), Deal with the Hunters (20), Structures (19), Agriculture (13), Agriculture 2 (1), Fishing (6), Fishing 2 (20), R9- Agriculture (18)
If anyone has any questions, comments, advice, etc. there is discord at https://discord.gg/eAQQznf; feel free to join us.
2 Likes
We need to regain the strength we lost because of our meatless diet.A weapon which can keep us a good diatance from the beasts that we hunt may provide ua the meat we need
Action:Create the bow and arrow
1 Like
well, gonna have to fix this writing problem asap
action: create a writing system for everyone to use, it should adopt some stuff from the other writing systems so its slightly easier to learn
action: ask my people if they need anything to help them with their daily lives
1 Like
That’s an oof.
With our peoples disparate and in disrepair, we can only focus on sustaining ourselves.
Vote: Reinstate sources of resources
1 Like
@serialkiller my friend you have until Monday to make a vote.
If he doesn’t respond by then @Evolution4Weak @Foushoo @Nover452 and @OoferDoofer will have the opportunity to join the game. Priority goes in that order as they have been waiting longer.
If by Wednesday I have no response from any then the round will be of 9 civs and any of you may jump in the following round.
To create a new civ, either break off of a civ at 0 stability or worse (the worse the stability the larger the bonus to breakoff) or chose a direction to appear from (NSEW)
1 Like
Thanks for the round
It seems our progress is halted until we improve our tools. A1: Metallurgy once again (hopefully with more luck this time lol)
Scratch that, we must diversify our diet to remain strong. A2: Farm more plant types.
I changed my second action @Skyguy98
1 Like
Is it possible to stay in the valley?
You could but the only civ currently in the valley is stable, so it would a very difficult break off. You could move in as outsiders from one of the four directions