Let's play King of Dragon Pass, just as our ancestors did

I like a trickster as much as anyone, and it's rarely a good idea to offend them. Look at the innumerable faery tales where people get into death-defying situations because they offended someone they shouldn't have.

Still, on the presumption that we're not actually going to accept his offer, let's just decline and have done with.

So... is that a vote for #4, #5, or #6?

That's four. Sorry.

Yes.

If only you could have Heortarl challenge him to a trickster duel.

I don't know, guys, we're not having a hell of a lot of luck when it comes to this whole God realm thing. Let's haggle with him and see if we can get some discount blessings.

Frankly I am surprised that no one else is interested in the offer

Year 1334, part 7



Because you are singularly dedicated to seeing our clan fail, we have decided to decline the trickster's offer. At least he didn't curse us.

The best possible response to this event is to demand an apology. That prompts the trickster to respond with the following:

I am sorry that I reminded you that you are pathetic maggots. It pains me to think of the vastness of your incompetence, and the great dishonor your foolishness brings on all the Orlanthi of Dragon Pass.

Tricksters are the best.

This option probably lowers your reputation and/or mood, so you don't actually want to pick it.

Storm 2



Wait. This isn't Storm 2.

For some reason, under circumstances unknown to me, a failed heroquest will take two time periods. We got lucky(?) on our earlier failed attempts, but this one decided to cost us twice as much time.

OH WELL. Our quests are more likely to succeed next year anyway.

Sacred Time



So this year was a bust. Let's hope for a better 1335.

Our forecast indicates that our ancestors want us to learn new mysteries. This is something we were going to do anyway. Otherwise, our options are pretty well open. What's up next for clan Destine?

• Crops, Herds, Mysteries, and War are always on the table.
• It might be time to seek an alliance with the neighbors who stand between us and our enemies.
• We've done a lot of it lately, but we can always do more trading.
• Our heroquest attempts failed miserably last year. Surely, this year can only go better.
• Exploration is always fun, whether it's internal or external.
• Our reputation is fairly low. We can throw more feasts or give gifts to our neighbors.
• With our stock of goods swelling, it might be a good time to invest in more fortifications.
• We need to choose a beneficiary for our sacrifices this year. Humakt is a good war choice, and Lhankor Mhy and Issaries are good for diplomacy and trading, respectively. On the other hand, our ancestors might appreciate a token sacrifice.

Feasts! Exploration! Fortifications! Ancestors!

Is it too soon to forge an alliance with someone so that we can go kill our hated enemies, the beast men? 'Cause that's what my ancestors want us to do. Building some defenses first probably wouldn't be a bad idea, either.

The most reliable way to kill some beastmen is with the Summons of Evil blessing provided by our Ancestors. We don't know that blessing, though, and since it brings them to us, we can't gather allies.

If we had a location for them on the map, we could probably do something with that, too. There's the Ducks, of course, but we can't (read: really shouldn't) raid them while they're giving us tribute.

Well then I guess we need to get some more blessing, and/or explore until we find them. The ancestors want blood!

Gifts! Alliances! Crops!

More exploration and more heroquesting. And a feast. And a sacrifice to our ancestors just for luck. And definitely mysteries.

Year 1335, part 1



With only one vote for questing, we'll let it go by the wayside this time. Instead, we'll focus on making good with our neighbors.

Sea 1



AAAAAAAA

AAAAAAAAA



AAAAAAAAAA

Insterid! What happened to you?



Everyone's favorite thane has reached the age of 30. She has been bumped up an age category. Every portrait has three versions, and this is number two for our Insterid.

Time has not been kind. I guess this is the natural outcome of picking as many fights as she does.



Anyway, our first act of business for 1335 will be to negotiate an alliance with the Orlundi. I send Harvar packing with some nice gifts.



And just like that, he's there! It usually takes a season or two.

Now, we must choose an angle. The Orlundi are known for their aggressive pursuit of trade, but Harvar suggests that their chief most strongly embraces the Orlanthi value of generosity. I don't know; maybe they pursue trade so aggressively for the express purpose of funding their generosity. Maybe Eonislara just marches to her own beat.

(Note: This is probably a different Eonislara, but there's no way to know what she's been up to, now is there?)

How do we work this?

5 seems the closest to their ideals.

Try that!

Generosity = the one that says "generous". 1.

Yup. One seems logical.

And we've just been generous, so they can be generous next.

Year 1335, part 2



Hooray! Some combination of Harvar-skill, our dialogue choice, and three points of magic in Diplomacy was enough to make this alliance work.

Alliances are pretty cool. Basically, they let you get favors from the other clan without actually accruing favors. They have other benefits, too, such as free passage through the other clan's tula, perpetual goodwill, and advance warnings when they spot enemies approaching us. It is good to be allied with powerful, prestigious clans!

Uh-oh



Ancestors be peeved! Look at how much magic they pulled from under our feet.

Yerestia: They're right, we have been failing to live up to the deeds of our ancestors. Recommends #1.
Harvar: Give them eleven cows worth. Recommends #3.
Insterid: They may be dead, but not dead enough that they won't make a deal. Recommends #3.
Iskalli: Ghosts can be captured in spirit combat and used to power spells. Recommends #5.
Valensta: Give them fifteen cows worth. Recommends #3.
Arene: They may be hostile spirits, but they are also our kin. Recommends #1 or #3.
Heortarl: I've rolled dice sixteen times, and gotten snake eyes every time. Recommends #4.
Mogri: I doubt our clan has enough magical skill to bind the spirits.

If you want to sacrifice, be sure to mention how much.

4!

Bad ghost! bad, bad ghost!

Is...is this a regular sort of thing in Dragon Pass? Your ancestors ghostly forms appearing to scold you for bad behaviour? Like, does this happen every Labor Day or something?

'Cause if not, I suspect it's probably just a bunch of teenagers wearing some bed sheets, hoping to score a few free cows.

Did we actually do something that might have offended our ancestral spirits?

Eleven cows oughta do it. Fifteen would just be silly.

It's Death Week! What do you expect from Death Week?

Yerestia seems to think we did. If you disagree, scolding the ghosts is a perfectly viable option.

They might be mad that we aren't killing the duck men? Either way, I propose that we solve this by having a glare-off. I highly doubt any of those ghouls could best the new and improved Insterid.

That was a nasty hit to the clan's magic. I say option 3 and 15 cows worth.

Well, now I know what to bet on next time I play craps with Heortarl.

4. I ain't afraid of no ghosts.

She's become an angel.


Option 1! You DO shame the ancestors and you SHOULD apologize for your pacifist ways!

The ancestors are just cranky because it's cold and lonely in the grave and no one ever comes to visit them.

Sacrifice some cows to them and let's keep on keeping on. (Maybe this will happen again next year, maybe not.)

Year 1335, part 3



We had a tie vote. Since we're not hurting for goods, I opted to throw money at the problem to the tune of 15 goods.

I was really hoping we'd get a partial refund on the magic they stole, but no such luck.

Sea 2



At a cost of 50 goods (plus increased maintenance), it's finally time to increase our Ernalda shrine to a temple. This will allow us to safely build temples to other gods. Also pictured: Insterid repeating the obvious about our omen for the year. I suspected that we might have avoided the ancestor-ghost event had we sacrificed before it happened, but now I'm less sure, and I forgot to test it. Also, screw our ancestors. I'll find a worthwhile recipient for our sacrifices.

I'm pretty sure I've mentioned this already, but it bears repeating that Ernalda does not have two blessings that are worth building a temple. She barely has one. At the very least, we can be thankful that we don't have to labor under a permanent Bless Children. Some blessings are mixed bags, like Berserker, which increases wounds on both sides. Bless Children just gives you more mouths to feed, and it's easy to become overwhelmed by children even without this blessing.

In case you've forgotten, we have Bless Crops (increases our crop yield -- good!), and building this temple gives us Preserve (decreases our rate of spoilage -- lackluster!). The fourth blessing Ernalda can provide is Swine Blessing, which is the piggy equivalent of Uralda's Calf Blessing. In other words, entirely forgettable. Before long, food becomes a non-issue, meaning Ernalda is easily the most ignorable god of the three potential patron deities. In games where I worship someone else, she doesn't get so much as a shrine. Sorry about that, Family God!

Yerestia is a totally cool clan chief, though, so I'm not complaining about our god choice.

Fire 1



Burning through another 50 goods, we build some Ramparts. Ramparts "make attacking us harder." That's a super bland description, but it sounds like exactly what we were looking for.

Zombies



...and the Humakti who kill them. Rolling this event probably means that the undead are active in our area, though there's also a chance that rolling it caused the undead to be active in our area. Regardless: zombies.

Yerestia: If we sacrifice to Humakt, they will be pleased. Recommends #3.
Harvar: It is one thing to give away wealth, but another thing to give it away for nothing. Recommends #1.
Insterid: They are great warriors. We don't want them angry at us. Recommends #2.
Iskalli: Humakti are known for their loathing of the undead, and sometimes for scorning those who do not share it. Recommends #2, #5.
Valensta: We can afford to be generous. Recommends #1 or #2.
Arene: Humakt was once Orlanth's brother, but he severed his kinship ties in order to command the weapon called Death. No recommendation.
Heortarl: Eurmal said that Humakt was once a sword, but became Orlanth's brother. Humakt, offended, stuffed him in a barrel Without food, Eurmal grew thin enough to squeeze through the barrel-slats. No recommendation.
Mogri: Sure. Why not?

One. It's probably gonna cause collateral damage having a bunch of warriors trampling around the place, but if they do something anti-zombie that works they deserve a reward.

Give permission, and gifts if they succeed. They seem like they're prepared enough, and the gifts will be their incentive to do a good job (and not to take advantage of us if that is something that can happen with this choice.)