[center][h3]Turn 1[/h3] [hider=The Map] [img]https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/283641501940973572/493476323394715649/Map_02.png[/img] [/hider] [/center] [h3][color=crimson]The Levogh[/color][/h3] [hider] When King Blackeye came to dream of a resurgence for his people, he had a vision of building a great settlement deep within the sheltering arms of a forest. That dream took on a name--Wildhome, and soon enough, it took action. The Levogh wandered long and far before they came to find a suitable place to settle and see their tribe's ambitions realized, but at last, they have found a great sprawling expanse of a woodland, with a large yet serene lake fed by two rivers. Resources seem abundant, and as plans are made to begin construction of Wildhome, there is much cause for cheer...until one of your foraging parties discover a ruin within the forest, only a stone's throw from the lake's shore. [hider=The Ruins][img]https://i.pinimg.com/originals/d1/96/b9/d196b906b88ed5c307082c7691af65ac.jpg[/img][/hider] The ruins are completely overgrown and have crumbled in places, but some of the grander structures still stand. Even now they are breathtaking, so one can only imagine what this place might have been like in its glory days. Perhaps more troubling is that these ruins are obviously of elven make; the Levogh were not the first with dreams of founding a great civilization here. Some of the more superstitious among you take this for an ill portent. But what will Célebron have them do? [color=gray]A) Settle atop the ruins. Your people are elves, just like the ancient builders of this site, so with your skills you are sure that you could eventually see this place restored. Some of the more intact structures will make good shelters for the time being, and construction will be much easier when you can reuse ruined masonry and focus on repairing what is already there rather than raising it from the ground up. It hasn't been long since you've arrived in this forest, but Wildhome is even closer to being brought to life than your people could have ever hoped! B) Settle somewhere away from the ruins, but pick through them carefully. Perhaps there are some things of value to be found, but even if that is not the case, it seems prudent to try to determine what was the undoing of those ancient people, lest the same fate befall your own. C) Leave the dead to rest. Out of respect to your long-lost kindred that built the place, or perhaps sheer superstition, you could forbid your people from ever visiting those ruins again, and make sure to always keep a healthy distance from that site. Perhaps it's cursed, but even if not, there is nothing to be gained from going near such a place. X) Other. Perhaps there is a better path?[/color] But regardless of what you decide to do about the ruins, there remain many tasks before you. What shall your people focus on in these first days? [b]A) Improve food B) Improve military technology C) Improve infrastructure D) Improve culture E) Explore F) Improve resources/technology G) Prospect the land H) Expand military I) Take diplomatic action X) Other[/b] [b]Population:[/b] 140 men, 135 women, 70 children. [b]Military:[/b] No standing military. Militia able to be conscripted up to about 30% of adult population. [b]Food level:[/b] Below Average [b]Resources:[/b] None [b]Wealth:[/b] Nonexistant [b]Trade:[/b] Nonexistant [b]Growth:[/b] [i]Very low; impacted by racial traits and from low food level.[/i] [b]Morale:[/b] Average [b]Foreign relations:[/b] None [/hider] [h3][color=DarkGray]The Lycan Covenant[/color][/h3] [hider] It is late in the afternoon by the time the last Lycan ship beaches itself, and there is plenty of work to be done with what time is left. Most of your people spent the rest of the day unloading their few possessions from the ships and finding comfortable places near the shore to rest for the night. However, several of the more restless ones were keen to explore this new land or flex their muscles after being trapped so long on tiny, nauseating boats. This is good, for that night a few of them manage to bring back fresh kills; mostly just deer, but also some rabbits and even a bird or two. Some of the meat is of course sacrificed, but plenty of the much-needed food remains for them to share. Later in the night, one of Silentpaw's hunters returned without anything to show. He was met with a few scowls, but then he declared that he had found [i]something[/i] a short ways from the beach, farther down the shore. It was a sign of others, he said. When morning came, the hunter led the covenant's leaders as well as a small crowd of other curious lycans. [hider=This is what they saw.] [img]https://encrypted-tbn0.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcQHL7EPcwOeTHLDar-iPqI1GtGEefwsv8OuVDv_-GByebXrAabM[/img] [/hider] It was a raised stone, surrounding by many smaller stones embedded into the earth, radiating outward to form a circle around the central monolith. Perhaps it's just the rays of morning sunlight bending around the stone, but something about the monument seems almost...mythical. There's an air of magic about it. As in for what is on it, a variety of lines were etched onto the surface. At one point those might have been readable runes, but the runestone was now so weathered that it was hard for lycan eyes to discern whatever was once engraved upon it. Even if they could have seen the runes, it was doubtful that they would be able to read them. As Vlath eyes the strange thing, he finds that the gaze of the others gradually shift from the stone towards him. They are awaiting the Voidcaller's decision. [color=gray] A) Leave it be; it's just a rock. Perhaps we can have some of our more magically gifted people study it and try to determine its purpose, but the rest of us needn't waste our time on such things. We can be content simply accepting this as a sign of other civilizations existing in this land. B) Knock down the monolith and break it in half; dig up the stones around it and cast them across the grasslands. The void gods shall suffer no false symbols! C) Just as the covenant has claimed this new land for the void gods, so too shall they claim this magical stone. Vlath lays a claw upon the stone's surface and meditates, trying to channel the power of the void and its gods into the stone. X) Other. Perhaps there is something else to be done?[/color] Away from such distractions, there is still work to be done founding Wulfhelm. What are the first steps? [b]A) Improve food B) Improve military technology C) Improve infrastructure D) Improve culture E) Explore F) Improve resources/technology G) Prospect the land H) Expand military I) Take diplomatic action X) Other[/b] [b]Population:[/b] 120 men, 120 women, 50 pups. [b]Military:[/b] No standing military. Militia able to be conscripted up to about 30% of adult population. [b]Food level:[/b] Below Average [b]Resources:[/b] None [b]Wealth:[/b] Nonexistant [b]Trade:[/b] Nonexistant [b]Growth:[/b] [i]Very low; impacted by racial traits and from low food level.[/i] [b]Morale:[/b] Average [b]Foreign relations:[/b] None [/hider] [h3][color=lightblue]Attolia[/color][/h3] [hider] After coming to dwell upon the arid plains for as long as they have, your people have adapted to the harsh clime. They no longer fear the beasts that wander these wilds as much, and over time the Attolians have come to learn how to sustain themselves with the local resources. However, what once functioned more as a camp is quickly growing into a true settlement. The Land of Wisdom can provide much, if one knows where to look, but you are already feeling the burden of a growing population. It will not be feasible to rely purely upon hunting and foraging to feed your people forever, and there is also the question of how you will go about building a city when the acacia trees are sparse and lumber limited. Those issues will need to be addressed, but there is a more immediate one facing the Attolian leadership: that of water. Dotting across the grassy landscape are numerous watering holes, but many of them are little more than muddy pits. Their locations shift with the season, and even though your people know to boil the water before drinking, it still sometimes renders them ill. As your population grows and you try to build a permanent settlement, your people have many ideas for how they might be able to find better sources of water. [color=gray]A) Dig a well. It's hard to say how deep you will have to go or how many holes you will end up digging before one strikes water, but perhaps your magic will come in handy. Some of the elves among you claim to know the secrets of enchanting dowsing rods, and they assure you that if there is any water to be found in the ground, they will be able to find it if given sufficient time. B) Try to find a permanent oasis, fed by a spring. None of the watering holes immediately near you seem to last long, but there are other large ones in the steppe. Through careful observation and extensive scouting, you might be able to find one that could provide enough water throughout the year. You could then build your settlement near it, and hopefully keep it clean by driving off the herds of animals that come to drink the waters and taint it. C) Follow the coastline, seeking a river. A body of running water would be much safer to drink from and would also be more suitable for eventual irrigation and agriculture, but you may have to travel a long ways before finding a stream of any significant size. This is a steppe, after all. X) Other. Perhaps some Attolians have different ideas?[/color] But while concerns over water are an immediate problem, it is not one that requires the entirety of your population to focus upon. There are still other actions that can be taken in the meantime. [b]A) Improve food B) Improve military technology C) Improve infrastructure D) Improve culture E) Explore F) Improve resources/technology G) Prospect the land H) Expand military I) Take diplomatic action X) Other[/b] [b]Population:[/b] 120 men, 123 women, 60 children. [b]Military:[/b] No standing military. Militia able to be conscripted up to 30% of adult population. [b]Food level:[/b] Below Average [b]Resources:[/b] Horses (A small number) [b]Wealth:[/b] Nonexistant [b]Trade:[/b] Nonexistant [b]Growth:[/b] [i]Very low; impacted by racial traits and from low food level.[/i] [b]Morale:[/b] Average [b]Foreign relations:[/b] None [/hider] [h3][color=darkgreen]The ap-Cantar[/color][/h3] [hider] Blessed be Hiwcantar, foremost of the line of Mighty Cantar, vessel of fiery power. As your tribe seizes their destiny and sets about raising a city from the riverside clay, the question now remains of what to do with those lesser peoples you have subjugated. Their camps and small villages have already been despoiled; the ap-Cantar saw to that as soon as they came upon the River Tala. Their survivors have nothing left but their lives, but even their lives could be taken, if that is the chieftain's wish. Hiwcantar must choose. [color=gray]A) Keep them all as slaves; with their hands we may faster raise Tilaticantar. They were a weak, spineless people before we conquered them, so with them now in chains they [i]surely[/i] would pose no threat to the chieftain's blessed rule. B) Separate the grain from the chaff; perhaps most are fit only for a life of servitude before we condemn their ashes to the wastes, but some may be of exceptional enough fortitude to join our own warriors. Set them all to toil until death beneath the burning sun, and let the last few standing then be unbound. With blood and sweat, the strong will have bought their freedom. C) Offer them as sacrifice; it was through Cantor's might that they were subjugated, and so it is in Cantor's name that you will put them all to the sword. X) Other. Perhaps the chieftain sees some use for them that the others cannot?[/color] With those loose ends tied, the ap-Cantor will then need to decide upon the first steps in building their newfound civilization. [b]A) Improve food B) Improve military technology C) Improve infrastructure D) Improve culture E) Explore F) Improve resources/technology G) Prospect the land H) Expand military I) Take diplomatic action X) Other[/b] [b]Population:[/b] 174 men, 180 women, 80 children. [sub]120 subjugated people[/sub] [b]Military:[/b] No standing military. Militia able to be conscripted up to 40% of adult population. [b]Food level:[/b] Below Average [b]Resources:[/b] None [b]Wealth:[/b] Nonexistant [b]Trade:[/b] Nonexistant [b]Growth:[/b] [i]Low; impacted from low food level.[/i] [b]Morale:[/b] Average [b]Foreign relations:[/b] None [/hider] [h3][color=purple]The Mustaqilun Tribe[/color][/h3] [hider] As the orcs begin to slowly scuttle the fleet that bore them across the sea and create smaller crafts to haul their goods and people upriver, it becomes apparent that there are a few suitable places to settle inland. Rukdug's scouts have explored a fair ways up both of the two river forks that converge into what they've been calling Hardship's Respite. The eastern fork of the river goes through considerably more rugged terrain, and in many places there are rapids and small waterfalls. The farther the scouts followed it, the narrower and more treacherous it became. Jagged rock outcroppings and other debris also obstruct parts of the stream, making traversing it a difficult proposition. For most of its length, there are hardly even any banks along the river's sides; instead it has carved a gully into the foothills. Along the main river canyon and in many smaller defiles that branch off, your scouts saw the entrances to caves. The western river is wider and slower, and it lazily flows through a much more tame terrain. Though still not enough to warrant being called a forest, there are plenty of trees along its shores that could provide much-needed lumber for a growing settlement. Here, the soil is also dark and rich; your people were not the farmers that fed the Dark One's legions, but it does not take the eye of a farmer to know that this earth is valuable and that it would make valuable cropland. Where the two forks converge, the water is deeper and safer than anywhere upstream. Settling there would allow the easiest access to the sea, if the Mustaqilun ever found reason to venture back to it. So the question for Rukdug is where they should build Riverforge. [color=gray]A) Somewhere up the eastern fork. This area is closest to the mountains, which will greatly ease in the logistics of mining and bringing the ore back to the forges. Despite it being nearly impossible to navigate with rivercraft, it is still a good place because of how remote and defensible it would be. The caves could be explored and potentially provide shelter temporarily or perhaps even permanently, whilst the abundant loose stones in the riverbed and along its steep banks could be dredged up and used for construction projects. B) Somewhere up the western fork. With all the space and lumber and spoils of the rich earth, you could quickly build and support a massive population center once more. C) Where the two forks converge. Here you have a central place from which it would be easy to eventually create outposts farther up either fork of the river, and even though it is probably the least hidden and least defensible place to be if the Dark One's forces ever come searching for your deserting people, that seems unlikely.[/color] Once that decision is made, there will also be the question of what first steps the orcs should take to improve their situation. [b]A) Improve food B) Improve military technology C) Improve infrastructure D) Improve culture E) Explore F) Improve resources/technology G) Prospect the land H) Expand military I) Take diplomatic action X) Other[/b] [b]Population:[/b] 180 men, 180 women, 80 children. [b]Military:[/b] No standing military. Militia able to be conscripted up to 60% of adult population. [b]Food level:[/b] Below Average [b]Resources:[/b] None [b]Wealth:[/b] Nonexistant [b]Trade:[/b] Nonexistant [b]Growth:[/b] [i]Low; impacted from low food level.[/i] [b]Morale:[/b] Average [b]Foreign relations:[/b] None [/hider] [h3][color=orange]Orr'gavol: The Hammersworn[/color][/h3] [hider] It was a somber time that followed the sudden collapse of civilization and the subsequent decision for the Orr'gavol to abandon their ancestral homeland. With the clothes on their backs and whatever other few possessions they still had, the dwarves set out. Even without kegs of ale, the dwarves did not have to thirst; there were plenty of mountain springs and streams with icy, clear water. So long as they kept moving, they likewise did not starve. There were enough wild berries and the like to forage such that they had the strength to keep going, even if their bellies still grumbled. Of course, they wouldn't be able to last like this forever, but perhaps their odds were not so grim. There was a chance that before winter fell, they would have time enough to build shelters and amass the necessary stores of food. But then there was still the matter of whether they would even remain united by the time the first snows came. That first brawl that Osman witnessed was far from the last; with each passing day on the move, it seemed as though the people were growing weaker and more quarrelsome. The Hammersworn found a sheltered clearing near the forest's edge with easy access to a stream, and most seemed to agree that this was as good a place as they were likely to find. Finally, just as preparations to settle this spot were about to begin, tensions broiled over once more. It's hard to say how it started. There were of course complaints about the lack of food nearby, about how the stream only had a few fish and the berry bushes in this spot would be bare within a fortnight. Somehow that escalated into more despair over the situation at large, and then into accusations of heresy. Just as the heavens had punished their ancestors for the audacity of trying to climb Golumnar, so too was this a divine retribution: the impiety of the Union of Phosphorus was to blame, called out a half dozen voices. Then more cast blame upon the Union of Gold and their false faith, and they retaliated... There never was a debate; accusation turned into witch hunt, but there was no brawl. There was one dwarf among them, some sort of demagogue. Exactly whose side he fell upon was lost among the chaos of voices, but his cut through the din with icy clarity: he cast all his blame upon three seemingly random people, and the mob listened and turned upon those. Within seconds, there were voices clamoring for a rope; at this point, it seemed as though the theological debate had been a farce and that the crowd only cared for blood and violence. What could Osman do? [color=Gray]A) Order must be restored; Osman shouts words of reason with all the force that his lungs can muster, calling for an end to this madness and for the arrest of that demagogue threatening to devolve them all into savagery. B) Osman takes a side; it has become clear that this religious tension will be their undoing, and that there can be no more peaceful coexistence in times of scarcity. Those with the wrong faith will have to convert, or else be exiled or perhaps even executed. There is no other way. C) The question must be put to the gods themselves; they will settle this once and for all, by praying for divine interventions and asking that the heavens reveal themselves and finally cast light upon which path is correct. X) Other. Perhaps in a moment of clarity, the Foreman sees another path?[/color] Whatever choice was made, in the aftermath they would still have to get to work. [b]A) Improve food B) Improve military technology C) Improve infrastructure D) Improve culture E) Explore F) Improve resources/technology G) Prospect the land H) Expand military I) Take diplomatic action X) Other[/b] [b]Population:[/b] 200 men, 200 women, 90 children. [b]Military:[/b] No standing military. Militia able to be conscripted up to 30% of adult population. [b]Food level:[/b] Below Average [b]Resources:[/b] None [b]Wealth:[/b] Nonexistant [b]Trade:[/b] Nonexistant [b]Growth:[/b] [i]Low; impacted from low food level.[/i] [b]Morale:[/b] Average [b]Foreign relations:[/b] None [/hider] [h3][color=aba000]The Aedelfaari[/color][/h3] [hider] Construction of Waebury was swift, made easy by the quick conversion of the longships into shelters. Building the earthworks and fort for a true motte and bailey would take time, but even with that hard work ahead the people were in good spirits. When the time came for King Eric to crown himself, several claimed to have heard a strange, heavenly music. The more pious claimed that those must have been hearing the chimes of heaven, a sign sent by Dow and a divine mandate. Others just thought that the few that heard the song were mad, or that the weeks of listening to the ocean's relentless sounds had left their ears ringing. Eric himself heard nothing. But that was only on the first night; on the morning of the second day, when the wind blew the right way, it seemed to carry the sound of faroff music from somewhere within that woodland to their north. Curious eyes looked towards that sparse scattering of trees that marked the edge between forest and grassland, and there was something there in the shadows of the trees that met their gaze. [hider=It was...a bear.][img]https://www.wildwings.com/DirectionsWEB/client/images/grizzly-bear-painting-wading-through-crimson-by-tony-hilscher-A339580166.jpg[/img][/hider] The animal stared at Waebury for a few moments, seemingly in confusion at what strange creatures stood before it and at what had happened to the hill that had been bare only a few days ago. But then it quickly spun around and ran back into the forest, and after that, the Aedels heard no more music. Eric ap Edrin was left to wonder what was to be done about the queer forest. [color=gray]A) We must flee, and quickly. There is something odd and foreboding about that forest, and just to be safe we should put more distance between it and ourselves. B) This is our land now, and we will defend it. But just to be safe, for the time being we will forbid anybody from venturing near that forest. C) We should venture into that forest to explore, and perhaps find the source of this heavenly music! X) Other. Another idea crossed Eric's mind.[/color] Regardless of what the king decreed, there was still work for the common folk. What was their first area of focus? [b]A) Improve food B) Improve military technology C) Improve infrastructure D) Improve culture E) Explore F) Improve resources/technology G) Prospect the land H) Expand military I) Take diplomatic action X) Other[/b] [b]Population:[/b] 175 men, 175 women, 70 children. [b]Military:[/b] No standing military. Militia able to be conscripted up to 30% of adult population. [b]Food level:[/b] Below Average [b]Resources:[/b] None [b]Wealth:[/b] Nonexistant [b]Trade:[/b] Nonexistant [b]Growth:[/b] [i]Low; impacted from low food level.[/i] [b]Morale:[/b] Mixed; some in high morale from heavenly music and the coronation, others frightened by the music and the forest [b]Foreign relations:[/b] None [/hider]