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

Then we should rain destruction on our foes and like not get totally hosed this time.

Then perhaps we need to have a word with the Blue Jays about our cows...

"There's got to be a blood for the blood god button somewhere here?"

Tough break for Rostakos on that one. We'll miss ya, buddy.

As for the sick cows, how about number 2? Better to sacrifice some live cows to save the sick ones.

Also, then Blue Jays have some serious payback coming to them after what they just pulled.

I'm not one to advocate the sword, but damnation, them Blue Jays need a whuppin'!

Why are we not killing people yet?

Year 1339, part 4

Oh hi Dragon Pass fans! We're back from a month's hiatus following some devastating and embarrassing losses.



Last time, we were dealing with some unruly diseased cows. We decided it would be best to sacrifice to Uralda.

I have good moos and bad moos.



Haha just kidding, it's all bad moos

Fire 2



Time to kick some Blue Jay tail. In case you forgot (how could you?), in our previous installment, the Blue Jays charged us a nice chunk in order to cross their territory so we could engage in a battle that ended up killing Rostakos, may Orlanth bear his soul to the other side.

And then the Blue Jays stole more cows from us while we were returning home. So they really deserve this.



Despite the Blue Jays rallying their forces, we have a considerable numbers advantage over them. Recall that we are enjoying double-strength weaponthanes, as strong as ten men instead of merely five.



Nevertheless, and even though we caught them with their pants down, we walk away from this battle with heavy losses among the carls. They must have invested a few more points of magic into this battle than we could afford.

Grumble, grumble.

Earth 1

This is getting embarrassing. It's time to swell the ranks.



I'm recruiting four new weaponthanes this season, bringing our total to 20. Because of our recent and notable losses, I'm going to recruit from outside the clan to preserve our farmer count. I might do this again during the Dark. Possibly both months of it.

But first

Political intrigue!

Vostakos of the Karandoli clan, accompanied by Darrold and Jarstakos of the Eagle clan, comes to convince your weaponthanes to ambush and kill Kenstrel, King of the Colymar tribe. "The Colymar have gone too far, becoming tyrants! They demand tribute from us." Vostakos, Darrold, and Jarstakos are prominent weaponthanes of their clans.

Yerestia: The Karandoli and Eagle clans regard us highly. They will be thankful if I can dissuade them from this dangerous course. Recommends #1.
Harvar: If we take this news to Kenstrel, he will reward us with silver. Recommends #2.
Insterid: The ambush will fail. Recommends #5.
Iskalli: The Colymar king wields great magical powers. Recommends #5.
Valensta: The Colymar got here before everyone else, and formed a tribe before anyone else. They are the ones who countered the powers of the dragonewt barrier called the Crossline. No recommendation.
Arene: It's not as if the Colymar have taken tribute from us. Recommends #5.
Heortarl: It is said that the Colymar king wields great magical powers, but this is a lie cooked up to frighten us. Recommends #3.
Mogri: To the extent that King of Dragon Pass has a fixed plot, the Colymar tribe is important to it. Even if we were able to kill Kenstrel, the Colymar would survive, and we would incur their wrath. Betraying the trust of the Karandoli and Eagle clans would be even worse for our relations with them.

NEXT TIME ON KING OF DRAGON PASS: All of the weaponthanes

We should probably try Option 1.

Also, man what a spate of bad luck we've been having! I thought things were going too well all game...

It looks like playing conservatively is a good idea for now, so I say we should go for Option 1.

We're all adults here, aren't we? Option #4 is clearly the most reasonble course of action, even if the members of your clan ring are too narrow-minded to see it.

If Insterid is saying it's a bad idea, it's a bad idea.

But two, if we can get away with it.

Option 5.

Option 1.

Next time let's just sacrifice the sick cows?

I'm not sure the gods would be so happy about that. Except Eurmal, maybe, who has a sense of humor about such things.

Insterid knows best, but let's try to save our friends some pain.

Option 1

Year 1339, part 5

There was an overwhelming consensus regarding our response to this issue. Trust in Yerestia's people skills!



Yerestia doesn't disappoint, and we walk out of this event modestly more wealthy.

Earth 2



It's time to hit the road. When was the last time we explored? Years ago, I'm sure.

This "Kuschile" is a new face to me. New thanes enter the clan periodically, so it's not unexpected. We'll take inventory in a bit.

Dark 1



First, let's shore up our war capabilities. Four more weaponthanes puts us at 24 after the three others come back from the exploration party.



Some guy we don't care about dies.

Interesting aside: This was my second time through this season. You might recall me mentioning some time ago that I wanted to check if we were cursed. I finally remembered and decided to ask the dead folks about curses, and when they said we weren't, I reloaded because it wasn't particularly interesting material. I got this same report at this same time, except instead of the guy dying in his sleep, he stepped down after a hunting accident.

Thane Report

It's good to occasionally check in on our nobles, just in case a promising up-and-comer might be a good replacement for one of your ring members. Let's see who we have.



We have no dedicated Magic thanes. Iskalli is our best Magic representative on the ring, even though we want him for his Custom knowledge. Lismelder is a new thane with Very Good magic, the same rating Iskalli has, although she edges him out slightly. Lismelder is an Uralda worshipper, though, which conflicts with Arene.



With Rostakos dead, Endal is our new emissary. I'm sure Endal has been around for a little while, and his Excellent Bargaining is nice to have. His Leadership is acceptable, but his Custom is a little lower than we'd like for a diplomat. Still, it's good to know we aren't high and dry without Rostakos.



After Insterid and our newcomer, Heortarl is actually the best combatant we have. Perhaps more surprisingly, Harvar is fourth in line. Kuschile will be the designated exploration party leader.

None of our other newcomers bears mention, although you might notice a few new faces in that list. Of our current ring, only Valensta expresses a sentiment that's anything less than perfectly satisfied with that position, so it's good to know that years of service haven't fatigued the ring so far.

Dark 2

I did say we'd recruit even more weaponthanes, but we really need to keep some perspective here.

Let's feast!



Of course, Insterid would rather see more weddings, but everyone loves a feast.



In other news, the ongoing horse argument comes to an end(???) as the old lady goes down to a stroke.

Storm 1

Time for payback? Time for payback.



I don't think we've actually done a cattle raid yet. Cattle raids are, um, "friendly" instances of theft between neighbors. You do have to be neighboring the intended victims, and you have to send in a small enough force to involve detection. Too small and you end up with a low cattle yield. Too large and your meager crew faces a significant portion of their army, and in that case your best option is just to run.

I ended up reducing the numbers shown above to something like five weaponthanes, five footmen. Better too few than too many.



We get a respectable yield, probably better than we'd have if we raided.

Speaking of which



Conspiracy theory: Insterid arranged for this

Led by Yanioth, a respected carl, the women of the clan reproach the ring for costly blunders. Battles and raids, even victorious raids, have killed so many husbands and sons that the women do not know how they will raise their families. "We have taken care of our homes and fields. You have not taken care of our husbands," says Yanioth. "If things do not improve, we may have to return to our original clans, much as we hate that idea."

Yerestia: We must act decisively, or at least give that appearance. Recommends #1, #5, or #6.
Harvar: We do have relatives in the Holy Country. It's a long trip. No recommendation, but you can tell he really doesn't like #2.
Insterid: This is the worst threat our clan has ever faced! Recommends #1, #5, or #6.
Iskalli: The precedents are ambiguous, but that means we can support several possible solutions. Recommends #1, #5, or #6.
Valensta: Find men fast. Recommends #1 or #6.
Arene: We must act. Recommends #1, #5, or #6.
Heortarl: This isn't a problem! It's an opportunity! No recommendation.
Mogri: Half of these responses are just flat-out hilarious.

Our string of failures has caught up to us. Let's play Love Connection!

I'm for One or Six. Would Five be another one of those quest things?

Option 6 is the most ridiculous-sounding option, so how could we not pick that?

Daikaiju: "Dem be some angry ladies!" Recommends #1

This isn't a problem! It's an opportunity! 5.

6. New blood is healthy.

6 sounds like fun.

Also, put a hex on the Blue Jays. They're really asking for it.

Contests are cool! Go for 6.

I'm really not sure what all is involved in a marriage contest. Let's find out! 6

Nah, it just puts Harvar out of commission for a few months.

Year 1339, part 6

We've decided to hold a marriage contest.



The ladyfolk agree, which costs us food because ???



Our population increases by a whopping nine master pig-callers, which seems like a real drop in the bucket to me, but hopefully the women are satisfied ().

And so



We hop from one event to another. Secretly, this indicates that the last event wasn't random. Of course, it was already clear that the previous event was triggered by our recent losses, but the immediate appearance of another event shows that it wasn't just a random occurrence.

Anyway holy cow Natalina what happened to you

Yerestia: If we don't act soon to stop this bad magic, she will only keep on doing it. Recommends #2, #3, or #5.
Harvar: Malia is the goddess of disease, pestilence, and plague. She is one of the Unholy Trio. No recommendation.
Insterid: There is no risk in killing this old woman. Assuming she isn't a powerful priestess of Chaos, of course. No recommendation.
Iskalli: The deliberate spreading of disease is one of the most serious crimes in our tradition. She must die. Recommends #2.
Valensta: Our magic is strong. Recommends #1 or #5.
Arene: Natalina has said and done other strange things since she was caught in that stead fire. Recommends #4.
Heortarl: I had nothing to do with this! No recommendation.
Mogri: If Arene says she's innocent, we should probably kill her (Natalina, I mean, but maybe Arene, too).

Options 1 and 5 will cost us some magic (probably one point each). A successful divination will tell us whether she did it and force us to choose another option. If she is a follower of Chaos, then I doubt #5 will do anything, since I don't think that counts as a curable madness.

Outlaw her, and then kill her.

It's win win!

Divination seems like the fair/legal thing to do. Kill her if it turns out she was causing the disease, of course.

Legal? I am the law.

1 - I'd really like to know what kind of magic she was doing and she ain't telling.