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

I've seen Deadwood; I know what happens if you leave a drunk alone with your horses. #5.

I'm willing to let them do whatever it is they think they need to do to/with our horses, but I don't see why we should pay them for the pleasure. Number 1.

I feel nothing bad could happen at all if we go with #2.


also i guess you can add me to that list of "people what bought this game because of me".

Year 1341, part 4



Man, I hate these prompts. I never know how much is appropriate.



I guess 10 was good. I hope the horses are okay.



Since we found a trade good last year, here's the people beating down our doors.



I had no plans to work the material, so I'll take the cows.

Fire 2



I would have run a raid this month, but Insterid is still out of commission. We'll try a trade route with these guys instead. They worship someone I've never heard of.

Earth 1

What now? Let's explore!



New thane! We have our first Humakti, a jolly young fellow who worships the god of death. A sharp eye might also notice that Insterid's portrait is no longer faded: our thanes have recuperated.



We're not sending either of them, though. We'll explore east-northeast, the closest spot to our clan that we have yet to discover.



Our trade mission returns with good news. We sent a large caravan this time, so our profits should be even better.

First, though



(A nice increase in our goods count from the last screenshot!)

Yerestia: Back in the darkness, the ragged remnants of the Nalda Bin came to our ancestors, who adopted them into the clan. Recommends #1, #2, or #3.
Harvar: We are not obligated to accept them, but we must treat them with justice while they are here. Recommends #1, #2, #3, #5, or #6.
Insterid: We don't need more mouths to feed. We need more fists, to smite our enemies. Recommends #6.
Iskalli: Of course, they expect a gift or favor in return. Recommends #2 or #3.
Valensta: Good things come to those who are merciful. Recommends #1, #3, or #5.
Arene: Our herds prosper; we can afford to give them a starter herd, should we wish to welcome Tonalang's family. Recommends #1, #2, or #3.
Heortarl: Whatever the rest of you decide. No recommendation.
Mogri: I'm very unclear on how you would get fists without mouths, but your ideas intrigue me and I wish to subscribe to your newsletter.

BY THE WAY: Valensta is getting way old. She's 59 now. We'll need a replacement before too long. My plan is to take the best Magic thane available. We originally took Valensta for her Animals skill, but Arene is at least her equal. We never had a good Magic thane. I'm hoping that's changed in the intervening years.

But if you would rather put Valensta's slot up for a vote, we can do that, too.

What is a cottar?

Oh, I guess that's important, too, huh?

Cottars are the lower-class farmers. Carls are the upper-class farmers. Making these guys carls will upset both groups, since we're showing preference to total strangers, but the farmers are in a good enough mood that it doesn't really matter. The question is mostly whether we want to spend the resources to show them our hospitality.

They can be cottars. Let our wealth trickle down to them. 1.

Hey, we answered that dragon-dude earlier with Hospitality. We wouldn't want to make ourselves liars now, would we? Of course, no reason to go overboard with it. #3

Let's split the difference. Just give them a little place to call home. - 3

Hey, we're not forcing them to be thralls, are we? Hospitality...check.

3 then

Year 1341, part 5



Let's give them some land why not. This is a good middle-of-the-road sort of compromise that no one is complaining about.

Earth 2



Oh hey, we hit max trade capacity already. There is heavy subtext in Harvar's comment here that we should take a specific course of action. We are going to take a specific course of action here.



Specifically, we're going to start another trade route and then expand our Issaries shrine.



Our expedition crew is assailed! I happen to remember that this guy isn't the best combatant (sitting at Very Good beats everyone but Insterid, but it doesn't exactly inspire confidence), and he's probably not the best bargainer either.



That leaves us with just one option, and the bandits aren't fond of it. Still, we got away with no deaths. It does unfortunately mean that we won't get any benefit from this expedition.



Oh hey, it's the Horse Spawn. Remember them? Probably not. If we were playing the Long game, they'd be important to the plot.



We both choose Skirmish tactics, meaning we sit on opposite ends of the battlefield throwing rocks at each other until they finally leave. We might need to recruit weaponthanes again.



Arene would like to remind you that she is an important, contributing member of the clan ring.



The news reports just don't stop coming this month. Our mission was already successful. That was fast!

By the way, Harvar mentioned that we can't support more trading partners until we expanded our shrine to Issaries, and yet here we are. You can create more trade routes even without a temple, but there's some kind of dropoff. I'm not sure if you start losing trade routes or if you just don't get any more revenue past that point, but you basically still want to upgrade.

Dark 1



Iskalli has other opinions. There's a bit of rivalry between Issaries, the Talking God, and Lhankor Mhy, the Knowing God. Iskalli worships Lhankor Mhy and is displeased that Issaries is getting all the attention.

Suddenly: zombies

Yerestia: Humakt was once Orlanth's brother, but he severed his kinship ties in order to take charge of the thing called Death. No recommendation.
Harvar: There is no bargaining with a Humakti. They know what they want, and that is that. No recommendation.
Insterid: We can't spare any warriors, no matter how worthy the cause. Recommends #2.
Iskalli: Humakti are known for their strict code of honor; they prefer bluntness over flattery, truth over soothing words. Recommends #2 or #5.
Valensta: Our clan magic is strong; we can afford to share of it. Recommends #2.
Arene: We can afford to sacrifice. Recommends #4.
Heortarl: They're a bunch of bullies, just like the Uroxi. Recommends #3.
Mogri: As the god of death, Humakt is an enemy of the undead. It's a noble cause, but we can't expect all of our warriors to return alive if we send them.

Can we spare some magic?

Let's give them some magic! 2

Didn't this already happen?

Yes, share some magic. 2.

"TURN UNDEAD!"

Which is #2 I think?

4 - Sacrifice! Blood for the blood god!

Year 1341, part 5



I would've killed some cows, personally, but let's give them some of our hard-earned magic. Two sounds right.



They're pleased, I think?

Dark 2



The clan's mood has taken a sudden turn for some reason. What's the deal?



Regardless, there's just one solution in a harvest year like this one.

Storm 1



Time to put that Diplomacy magic to good use. We have but two feuds remaining, so let's form more alliance. Harvar recommends these guys.



And then this happens. Jerks.



Insterid, a warrior of legendary skill, is injured in a workaday skirmish? I don't buy it. Anyway, I don't know who this thane is, but there's only one real option here (although DARK EARTH MAGIC sure does sound tempting).



Nameless Thane, you disappoint us.



The battle is a victory anyway, and we make off with some of their goodies even though we were the defenders. No casualties, either.

Storm 2



Insterid is out of commission, thanks to our failure of a medic, so raiding is once again out of the question. Let's give Urox another try. We just had a report of walking corpses, so we need to get our Sense Chaos on.



The Storm Bull finally obliges. We'll build a shrine next year to make this blessing permanent.



Our emissary arrives. He seems to have a good idea of how to approach this.



Turns out he's right. Nicely done!

Sacred Time



Those are some nice numbers! We're awesome.



Or are we? Not only did our clan mood sour, but we've also gone down in reputation this year. I'm perplexed. I blame you guys.

This year's omen gives us a definite agenda item, and we're also going to build a shrine to Urox. What else are we doing this year?

We did Arene's quest in 1339, which means we can quest again this year. There's not much benefit in sending Arene or Insterid, since they've reached Heroic rank in their respective skills, so our best candidates are Yerestia, Harvar, and Iskalli. We'd have to learn the Issaries or Lhankor Mhy quests for those two, though.

I vote for a Heortarl quest. Do whatever you need to make this possible.

If Yerestia is to be Queen, we must make her a badass. Send her on a quest.

Count this as my vote if mine is too ridiculous to be plausible.

If we want to start thinking about forging a tribe, it's about time Yerestia stepped up.

Let's make it happen.

also maybe some diplomacy or trade to bring that influence back

First things first: I've updated the table of contents, so if you want to go catch back up on something but don't want to read the whole thread, then you're in luck.

Also, I mentioned that King of Dragon Pass is getting a sequel a week or so ago. There's no details yet on when or where Six Ages will take place, but it is still set in Glorantha, which is welcome news. Even better, though, is that they've brought the old team back: Robin Laws will do the writing again, David Dunham is the developer, and Jan Posp�il and Pat Ward are returning for the art. This is great news for fans of this game, especially since there's never been a game quite like King of Dragon Pass.

Year 1342, part 1



We're going questing~



But first, we lose a trade partner. Oh.

I checked, and we could continue to support our existing trade network if we put magic into Trade each year. I don't know whether it's worth the investment, though -- magic is harder to come by than mere goods.

Sea 1

As mentioned last year, we're building a shrine to Urox for the Sense Chaos blessing.



It's funny because cows

Sea 2

Then, by popular* demand...

*Technically, it was a tie, and Yerestia was a much better choice



There is no way that this can go badly.

Reviewing our options, I feel that "Humakt the Champion" is the best fit for Heortarl, and only partly because it leads to some amusing situations.



I chose to strengthen the quester, although I regret this terribly. Heortarl will never use his skills to contribute meaningfully. That's not why he's on the ring. I should have gone for a treasure.



Where most questers enter the god-realm to take the place of their god in the story, Heortarl instead gets to confront Eurmal.



Tricking Eurmal is probably the high point of Heortarl's career.



It's hard to imagine Heortarl taking this quest seriously, and yet here we are.



One possible outcome of this quest is that the quester becomes an Orlanth worshipper. This doesn't happen unless you're really trying to tank the quest, but it would be an interesting outcome. Devastating for us, in this case, but interesting. You could convert your whole clan into Orlanthi. This is not recommended for a variety of reasons, but prominently, it also hurts the quester's stats.



Heortarl was our clan's second-best combatant until the new blood arrived. It's still surprising that he's doing so well here.



This is one of my favorite pieces of dialogue.



This is probably already a death metal album cover, right?



Insterid did this quest some time ago, and I did a detailed analysis of the quest at that time, so I won't repeat it here. I think I neglected to mention the quest's passive benefit, though, which is a 20% increase in our army's strength for a few years.



Heortarl comes back strengthened, though still not actually strong.

Just then



Team Jacob is here for our cows!

Yerestia: These creatures are the Telmori. They turn into wolves once a week. It's impossible to tell a true wolf from a Telmori when they are out howling under the moon.
Harvar: These primitive folk might need some of our civilized goods. Recommends #1.
Insterid: These wolf-men are easy for us to best. However, they're difficult to bring to a fight. Recommends #2, #3, or #4.
Iskalli: These primitives are no match for us in a fight Recommends #2 and omitting terminal punctuation
Valensta: If they turn into wolves, they can be hunted like wolves. Recommends #2 or #3.
Arene: Ever notice how none of these wolf-men ever try to harvest our grain? No recommendation.
Heortarl: These savages will tear our men to bits. Recommends #1 or #4.
Mogri: We have Odayla's Tracking blessing, which should be helpful if we decide to pursue them.

Harvar kind of comes across as a white supremacist here. Arene is a Plants expert, not an Animals expert, so she overlooks the fact that wolves are carnivorous.

Hooray for Heortarl!

1 I guess.

Eh, we don't need to fight here. 1.

1.

We have like a billion cows. Who cares.

Year 1342, part 2



Werewolf negotiations success! The Telmori can be very hard to track, but we have Odayla's Tracking, Vinga's Pathfinder, and a Vingan on the ring.

The Telmori play a larger role in the Long game, being one of the many peoples that need to be united under the King of Dragon Pass. Despite appearances (and the fact that they are literal beast-men), they aren't beastmen, our ancient enemies.

Fire 1



We haven't raided in far too long. Let's fix that! Our feuds are down to two. Our advisors keep telling us to raid the Osgosi. The Osgosi are still paying us tribute, though, so that's a terrible idea. (I don't know if I've ever seen a non-duck clan pay tribute for so long.)



Anyway, we brought friends, and they slept through the alarm, so...



Every single combatant on their end was injured, despite them choosing "Evade" tactics.

Let's do this again sometime!



We owe favors to two clans. The Oak Trees are one; the Orlmarth are the other. We're sending gifts to our neighbors the Oak Trees in hopes that they'll count it as repayment.



It works, and Endal gets a weekend bender on the clan's tab.

Eventfully

Yerestia: Many of them are from the Gorind clan, which dislikes us. A generous gift will go some way towards repairing the rift between our clans. No recommendation.
Harvar: Give them five cows. Recommends #5.
Insterid: Our clan magic is weak; we should give them cows instead. Recommends #5.
Iskalli: If we offer them nothing, they will walk away, offended. No recommendation.
Valensta: The carls are anxious to accept. Because the Uralda women are strengthening our herds, we can easily afford to give them cows in return. Recommends #5.
Arene: They have invited me to assist them. We must be gracious. Recommends #5.
Heortarl: Their cow magic doesn't hold a candle to our cow magic! Recommends #3.
Mogri: Actually, forget about this.

Yeah, I'm not gonna put this to a vote. Heortarl is the only one recommending anything but 5.



The slider isn't granular enough to give exactly five cows. A tick to the right would give them 12, which I considered. Probably should've, in case that would give us a better reputation boost among the Gorind clan.



I'm as disappointed as anyone to learn that the ritual doesn't involve a cow suit and a drunken trickster.

Fire 2

I want to send out another embassy, but first, I figure we should explore to minimize our odds of banditry.



Heortarl is our second-best combatant again, thanks to his questing.



We're sending this guy instead, though. He's not the best available combatant, but he has Excellent Bargaining, which is helpful for certain events.



This just in: another change in leadership.

Earth 1



We still owe a favor to the Oak Trees, but I'm going to spread the love and send a care package to the Orlmarth. There's no way to tell how many favors you owe a clan, unfortunately, so we could send fruit baskets a dozen times before the game decrees that we no longer owe a favor.

Thirstily



When I saw the event art, my initial thought was that the hermit's prediction had come true because you jerks were too stingy to give up a treasure. Whew! Bullet dodged.

Emissaries from the faraway Namolding clan petition you for help. Their corner of Dragon Pass is plagued by drought. Before the drought spreads, they want to sponsor a heroquest, in which a great holy warrior of Orlanth will enter the Godplane. There, he will help Orlanth rescue the rain god, Heler, from the belly of Arloka the dragon. They want you to lend your prayers to the ritual that opens the door to the timeless realm of the Gods.

Yerestia: If we show appropriate generosity, we will gain the respect of clans both near and far. Recommends #5.
Harvar: Harmast Barefoot's successful heroquest saved the world from Gbaji. Karsten Fardrosson's spectacular failure caused stars to fall on his people. No recommendation.
Insterid: The more worshippers we send, the more we deplete our own magic, which is presently strong. Recommends #4.
Iskalli: Supporting them will deplete our own magic. Recommends #2.
Valensta: There's no sign of drought here. The mere thought of one sends chills up my spine. Recommends #1.
Arene: There's no sign of drought here. The mere thought of one sends chills up my spine. Recommends #1.
Heortarl: I'm not sure about this. No recommendation.
Mogri: The stakes are fairly clear here. We should get a boost in our Magic once we sacrifice to our ancestors, so we can afford to send help.

Is our magic strong or weak? Compare Insterid's responses in this update's two events.

Promise to sacrifice to Orlanth as the ritual begins (and then don't). 3.

5 because whats the worst that could happen?