([@Mardox] [@Eklispe] [@Lauder] [@Lexicon] [@Wernher] [@Tracyarmav] [@babbysama] [@Jangel13]) [center][b][color=ffe699]Crooked Horns[/color][/b][/center] As Ardghal brings the dragonbone to the forge, the memories tear at him as always, but he doesn't chase them away. He takes up his tools and begins to work with the dragonbone, the memory of his family gripping his mind. It's a lengthy process, working with dragonbone. The bone by itself does not make the best of armors, but when mixed with high-quality iron it produces a gleaming metal that is strong, lightweight, and inherently magical. It's not as tough as dragonscale armor, but it's still a great material. Together Ardghal and Titania begin laboring over at anvil and the forge. It's long, arduous work that takes over two weeks to complete. Yet as Ardghal labors, he feels a strange sort of passion, passion that he never had for smithing before. The pounding of his hammer becomes relentless, his arm becomes tireless, his body becomes one with the forge. He botches some of the work, sure, and loses the material needed to make a weapon from the dragonbone, but when he is done he and Titania behold a masterpiece. As Ardghal prepares to leave the forge after that last day of labor, he feels a strange urge to look behind him. And when he does, he sees his father standing there, a ghostly figure in the gloom. He smiles at his son before he fades away. ([@Mardox] [@Eklispe] - You make the following treasure: Dragonsteel Lamellar: Made by Ardghal and Titania, this suit of armor is a beauty to behold. It shines like gold beneath the sun, and at night it glows a ghostly, pale white. While whoever wears it will certainly not be able to hide their presence, they are an inspiration to their allies and incredibly difficult to harm. You do not have enough material remaining to also make a weapon, sadly. Ardghal also gains the following trait: [b]Blacksmith[/b] - Your father's spirit is with you, and he is proud. You are treated as if having the Craftsman trait for purposes of smithing weapons and armor.) [hr] [center][b][color=ffe699]Strange Rains[/color][/b][/center] Eliz and Serheim leave to go negotiate with the Stormcaller Clan. Meanwhile, the kerns at home struggle to keep the flood waters at bay. While they go off to do so, Dunlad appeals to the godtalkers for help, and together they manage to slow down the storm. While the flooding continues, it does not do that much damage. Only part of the village is harmed by the floods. The kerns work very hard to dig a path for the water to follow, but without good leadership it's not enough. The fate of the clan is in Eliz's hands. When Serheim and Eliz arrive at the Stormcaller Clan, Serheim confronts them about their part in the storms and convinces them their fight is with Eliz, not with Clan Aonghus. The Stormcaller Chief decides to challenge Eliz to a duel himself, and the two of them begin fighting. With a pair of well-placed javelins, deft movements and bursts of magic, Eliz manages to absolutely trounce him in battle. There's no doubt about it: the gods have chosen Eliz to be the victor, absolving her of any crimes against the Stormcallers. Begrudgingly, the Stormcaller chief accepts his defeat, agrees that Eliz is innocent, and promises to end the spell on Clan Aonghus' land. As Serheim and Eliz leave the Stormcaller tula, they look out at their own lands and see that the stormclouds are fading into nothingness with surprising speed. The rains have come to an end. ([@Lauder] [@Wernher] [@babbysama] Eliz and Serheim stop the flood and create peace between Clan Aonghus and Clan Stormcaller once again. Dunlad manages to slow down the rains enough to keep it from ruining the harvest, but a dozen homes are lost along with 10 goods.) [hr] Rumors spread through the village slowly that Eliz left out a detail of her expedition. They say that Eliz found some walking dead, skeletal warriors of some sort, that said she carried a terrible burden - some sort of unspeakable crime. The name 'Dark Child' clings to Eliz's name now. And yet for some reason the clan's magic seems stronger since Eliz has returned from her adventure. What happened out there to bolster it so? (Clan Aonghus has +1 Magic in reserve.) [hr] Maire's goal eludes her. She has labored day and night, dedicated countless hours to trying to find a means of improving the clan's medicinal salves. Experiment after experiment, failure after failure, she has yet to produce a salve that improves on Dyvella's Mercy. Yet she believes she is coming closer. She does not know how long it will take, but if she dedicates herself to her effort, surely she will find the answer. She must. The raids are soon to come. ([@Lexicon] Maire fails to improve on the existing salve yet, but she has made some progress.) [hr] Domagoj works very hard to improve the traps created by Seoran before. He supplicates the gods with a sacrifice of sheep, then gathers alchemical components and ritual artifacts together to conduct his spells. If he could only enchant the traps so that they would not harm the children... He prays long and hard to Dyvella, goddess of Mercy. He prays, too, to Aire, she who watches the hearth and children. He prays long and hard, and as the final part of his ritual, he presses his withered hand down upon a stick with burning embers at its top. He clutches those embers long and hard as he chants, ignoring the terrible pain it brings him. Then, he speaks the final words, and the traps all hum. His ritual has been successful. The traps will not harm children, nor will they harm the people of Clan Aonghus. His work is done. ([@tracyarmav] Domagoj has successfully enchanted the traps. You will not need to set them up before raids, but instead can leave them out as long as you please. Occasional repairs may still be necessary.) [hr] ([@Jangel13] As I did not see a post from you about your action for this turn, I'm letting you have 2 actions this turn instead of 1. From now on, anyone that misses a week can carry over 1 unused action from the last turn into the next, meaning they get a maximum of 2 acions in a single turn if they do not spend their action.) [hr] [color=ffe699][h3][center]Rising Fire[/center][/h3][/color] The warm sun is a welcome respite after the terrible storm that wracked the land last season. The grass turns a shade more golden, and the sky is crisp and clear, the clouds thin, white serpents that swim about the air. Though Clan Aonghus certainly had its fair share of problems last season, the warmth brings a little cheer to everyone's hearts, and there's a sigh of good fortune in the sky: Urak's favorite star twinkles even in the day. Besides the members of the council, we have 736 clansmen and 79 thralls. We have two less adult clansmen and two more thralls than we did last season. Three children were born. [list][*]303 of our clansmen are children. [*]16 of our clansmen are Gallocmen. [*]12 of our clansmen are Craftsmen. [*]15 of our clansmen are Hunters. [/list] Our herds are rather average for our clan's size. [list][*]We have 701 healthy cattle. We lost 6 cattle this season and gained 2 more. [*]We have 990 sheep. We gained some sheep. [*]We have a sparse 24 horses for use in raiding and war. [*]We have some hounds to help our shepherds protect the flocks.[/list] We have some wealth to our name. [list][*]We have 116 goods for trade. Our crafters were very productive, creating 9 goods last season, and we lost or used 42 goods. We acquired 9 more goods by other means. [*]We have 3 Treasures:[list][*]Cloak of the Black Wolf: This cloak imparts on its wearer great skill in stealth, and it is useful when taken on adventures that require such skill. The legends warn, however, that wearing the cloak too much might make one become closer to the Black Wolf than one might like...[*]Dwarven Crossbow (Eliz): This strange weapon is a weird sort of bow, and surely it should be studied. It works off of strange mechanisms that let it be shot by a simple pull of the trigger. Reloading it is slow, but its striking power is impressive.[*]Dragonsteel Lamellar: Made by Ardghal and Titania, this suit of armor is a beauty to behold. It shines like gold beneath the sun, and at night it glows a ghostly, pale white. While whoever wears it will certainly not be able to hide their presence, they are an inspiration to their allies and incredibly difficult to harm.[/list][/list] We have sufficient food to see us through to harvest season. We know the following blessings. [list][*]Aire[list][*]Fertility - Our women will be more likely to have children.[*]Preservation - This will prevent our food stores from spoiling. (Active - Temple)[/list] [*]Bodi[list][*]Long Watch - We are more likely to spot invaders. (Active - Temple)[*]Blessed Aim - Our hunters will produce greater quantities of meat.[/list] [*]Dyvella [list][*]Cure - Heals the sick immediately, or protects us from illness if active.[/list] [*]Lugibaid [list][*]Good Soil - The land is more fertile. (Active - Sacrifice)[/list] [*]Urak [list][*]Hungry Earth - Makes our land more fertile as more people die on it.[/list][/list] The Gallocmen feel satisfied. The Kerns feel uncertain. [hr] [center][b][color=ffe699]The Orc[/color][/b][/center] A strange story is brought to the Council by a kern family: Hilda is the mother, Carag is the father, and their daughter is named Fiona. The mother and father begin first, telling you about how just one week ago they were herding their landsman's sheep when they heard their daughter scream. When they looked over to see her, they saw bandits - clanless warriors, exiles and criminals - grabbing their twelve year old daughter and riding off with her on a horse. You remember this incident. The whole clan had searched high and low for these bandits, but to no avail. But then Fiona continues the story. She explains that as they tied her up, and as she screamed the men beat her terribly. They dragged her off to a cave, a large gray-skinned man who had a pig-like face came out from the trees with a massive axe. He then proceeded to slay each and every one of her assailants, throwing himself against overwhelming odds (seven to one) against dangerous men. Fiona then fell unconscious due to her wounds. "But when I woke up," she says slowly, "I found myself inside a small hut, and I smelled fresh venison. When I got up, I saw a plate of food on the table, and because I was [i]very[/i] hungry I went to eat it. And that's when he walked in: the orc." She goes on to explain that the orc (for that is what the tusked man was) terrified her at first, but he treated her very kindly and nursed her back to health. He did not speak very much of the Urlandi language, but when she was well enough to travel again he led her back to Clan Aonghus' tula. The question now presented to the clan is what to do about this orc. He lives very near the clan's lands, and apparently has ventured onto them in the past. Orcs are considered to be enemies of the Urlandi, but they have never been a sworn enemy of Clan Aonghus, and perhaps an exception can be made in the Hidden Valley. ([@Mardox] [@Eklispe] [@Lauder] [@Lexicon] [@Wernher] [@Tracyarmav] [@babbysama] [@Jangel13]) [hr] [center][b][color=ffe699]The Nightfell Attack![/color][/b][/center] Word reaches Clan Aonghus from Clan Cinaede that Clan Nightfell is preparing to attack. We have enough time to muster a defense against them, so most of our battle-ready kerns and gallocmen move out onto the field. Unexpectedly, however, Clan Greenfeather has moved onto the field as well, crossing the river to flank us while our forces are focused on preparing to fight against Clan Nightfell. Our forces are evenly matched in numbers, but we are outflanked. None of our warbands have clashed yet, so there is time to get a plan together. It had best be a simple one, however, and it had best be done fast. ([@Mardox] [@Eklispe] [@Lauder] [@Lexicon] [@Wernher] [@Tracyarmav] [@babbysama] [@Jangel13])