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

Option #4. Then send Harran on a long, long trip. To go find dragon bones or something.

Just a note: I can't say for sure, but there's a chance that getting Harran killed after this scenario will do us absolutely no good. (From an in-game perspective, he has already indoctrinated the other clansmen; from a coding perspective, the event is a one-shot.)

This is just conjecture, though. I'd be happy to have Harran lead an X-TREME X-PEDITION crew later if that's what you all want to see.

Yup.

I want to see art first and your clan survive my warmongering second. A close third would be story.

Good news, everybody! The soundtrack to the game is available in high-quality: http://soundcloud.com/stanlepard/set...ass-soundtrack

The sound quality was improved for the iOS release, so these are worth a listen if you enjoyed the YouTube tracks.

Can we dispute their allegations that we are unlucky in battle AND find out the truth over whether those Eagles have been slinging names behind our backs by trying to invade them?

And then maybe the Blue Jays afterwards because I think they're behind the milk spoiling.

Two birds with one stone and all that.

Well, whatever the issue with the game none of the fixes suggested and nothing else I tried could get the game working on my win 7 64-bit machine. But since I d been meaning to put a virtual machine on my computer anyway I did that last night and was able to get the game running under XP. Not exactly the most elegant solution but, hey, it seems to work.

I saw another post that mentioned it was working in Win 7 64-bit, so it's not the OS/architecture.

But hey, glad you got it to work. Feel free to regale us with tales of the Zebra clan.

Incidentally, if you have any interest in the innards of the game, the website has a portion of the script for this very scenario. Obviously, there are spoilers -- read at your own risk.

http://a-sharp.com/kodp/osl.html

I read something that suggested it might be Avast's antivirus software that's causing the trouble. But since I didn't really want to disable or uninstall my AV just to play a game I figured that a VM was a passable workaround.

As for the game itself I played a little last night and now I'm catching up on the LP. And it's a good thing, too, because I hadn't even realized that there were other menu screens besides the one where you can organize your council and allocate the number of farmers, weaponthanes, etc. D'oh!

Year 1330, Part 6



Yeah, take your complaints and shove 'em.

Immediately



Well, this was quicker than I expected.

Yerestia: We must stop this from turning into a feud. It will be easier to placate our Oak Tree friends than to convince strong-willed Glendara she was wrong to do this. Recommends #3.
Harvar: When the Rain Cauldron was stolen, King Oskul's carls came to him for aid. "Do what you must, but I have shed enough blood for seven kings, and will kill no more." No recommendation.
Insterid: If Rangarda's family is proud, they will seek vengeance against Glendara's family. Recommends #4.
Iskalli: Glendara was within her rights to do what she did. There is no cause to scold her. Recommends #1 or #4.
Valensta: It is wrong to kill a man to gain a horse. Recommends #2.
Arene: Some of the carls are worried that this will lead to a costly series of reprisals. Others admire her and support what she did. Recommends #4.
Heortarl: This is a tough one. No recommendation.
Mogri: Since the carls are divided on this, anything we do is going to make them angry (angrier?). Doing nothing will make the Oak Trees angry. It's win-win!

Get used to hearing about Glendara. I doubt we can stop this feud.

Option 1. It wasn't the clan's job to do her bidding for her, but the clan is proud of Glendara for having the guts to go get her horse herself.

Hey, you said we wouldn't get Tempest back!

I think we should go with Option #4. We ruled that it was her own affair at the start of all this, so we should be consistent.

I said no such thing!

Lady's family kicks ass and takes names, we respect that. Option 1!

Option 3! The Oak Trees are our friends. We don't want bad blood over some dead dude.

So yeah, horse thieves got killed because they were stupid thieves. If Oak Trees thinks they can get us to give them gifts by taking our stuff, that's just appeasement. You know who ELSE enjoyed the benefits of appeasement?

I say #1.

Do nothing for now. If the Oak Trees cry because the crazy cat horse lady forced her poor kids to kill some horse thieves then maybe we'll think about doing something. Maybe...

This is the silliest feud.

Do nothing.

Nothing or 1. Either of those.

Do nothing.

Year 1330, part 7

We've decided that sitting on our haunches is the best course of action, as usual.



Glendara seems happy enough about this. Case closed, I guess!

Earth 2



The clan, farmers, and weaponthanes are nonetheless all pretty upset right now. We need to win some battles and throw some feasts soon.



Arene is highly in favor of this course of action.



We learn Uralda's Calf Blessing. Having Arene on the ring means it's easier to achieve success when sacrificing to Uralda.

Dark 1



Arene reminds us that our harvest sucks, as was predicted.

Despite her dire warning, we'll probably be fine. Your advisor will always give you this message when the harvest fails.



We construct a shrine to Uralda to permanently gain the Calf Blessing. This will boost our cattle yields.

Dark 2



Despite no one clamoring for it, I decide to sacrifice to Vinga. The Pathfinder blessing will allow us to do fun and exciting things in the future.



Some dude wants the ivory we found. Harvar (our Bargaining expert) thinks this is hilarious -- presumably because it's a terrible bargain, though the game doesn't specify. We have three options:

1. Say no.
2. Give them a one-time batch of ivory for 40 cattle.
3. Give them our best ivory each year (terms to be negotiated).

Our advisors are inaccessible at the moment, so it's our call. Giving away ivory will reduce the profit we get from it, obviously.

NOPe.

That looks like a no if I ever saw one.

I'll see your 10 goods and raise you 30 more. And by goods I mean Cows.

40 Cows, please.

We're a little hungry so we'll give them a deal this once.

Nope.

Option 2. Cows for the Cow Mother!

Alright, I see hafrogman's and Gerad's points. We can't eat ivory. Changing vote to 2.

Year 1330, part 8



We turn a tidy profit on our ivory. 40 cattle is a pretty big amount. "Cattle" includes cows, pigs, and sheep; if this is actually 40 cows, then it's a really good deal. The game isn't transparent about the distinction, though, and the iOS version abstracts it away entirely along with a few other options.

Storm 1



One of those options, incidentally, is the crop breakdown. I've never bothered messing with it, so I wouldn't be sad to see it go.

That's not what we're here for, though. As Insterid mentions, open fields are easier to defend. As a bonus, we'll also produce more crops.



Here's what it looks like now. I might have overdone it; we need more farmers to farm more land. This is better than before, though, for sure.

As I suspected, we're just fine on food.


Storm 2



This screen also disappeared in the iOS version. You can still choose the number of crafters, but their output is automatic. This is essentially the same decision as the crops: "plain" goods have a consistent output, while "fancy" goods have a more variable output. And, of course, you always want to use your special resources whenever they're available.

Iskalli tells us we're short on farmers. I might have miscalculated when clearing land, since I forgot that the pastures also require farmers. Even so, the goods we'll get with the 15 additional crafters I've allocated will be more than worth it; when we have more farmers to spare, we should consider increasing our allotment of crafters.


Sacred Time



Here's our updated tula. Compare it with the starting tula and you'll notice a few differences. A keen eye will spot more fields, fewer wildlands, and a new shrine and watchtower. You can also see in the statistics on the left side of the screen that we did indeed lose food this year. Other than that, we did all right for ourselves.

While playing this section, I noticed that you can save on this screen (before progressing to the next screen) to get a different forecast. Here's the one we got:



This is quite good, especially when compared to last year's. Saving on this screen will preserve your forecast.

I was interested, so I did a little experimentation until I got the very intriguing "our cows will have twins and triplets" forecast.

We'll stick to the one we got originally, but if you're looking for more ways to do save abuse, here's a profitable one.

(By the way, speaking of things removed in the iOS version, Children is no longer an option for your magic during Sacred Time. The tula screen in the previous screenshot was also removed due to technical limitations, and it's the only real loss.)


Let's plan

So let's get down to brass tacks: we need a plan for 1331 before we can allocate magic. I'll handle the actual allocation, but I need suggestions on what Clan Destine should do with this year. Options:

• We should learn more blessings and possibly build more shrines and temples. Good picks include:
  • Issaries will help us in trade and politics. Harvar worships Issaries.
  • Orlanth is generally helpful, and having a shrine or temple to Orlanth will help us gain respect from our Orlanthi brethren. We need to learn some of Orlanth's mysteries in order to win the game, but it's not urgent at the moment.*
  • Humakt and Elmal are helpful in battle, though Orlanth can be, too. We don't have anyone on the ring who worships Orlanth, Humakt, or Elmal, which will make obtaining their blessings more difficult.
  • Barntar can take some pressure off our overworked farmers through his Vigor blessing. We don't have a Barntar worshipper on the ring.
  • Chalana Arroy could heal our sick farmers. (I think we have 12 sick at the moment.) Valensta worships Chalana Arroy.
  We can do this in any season, and we'll probably do it twice.
• We should set up some profitable trade routes. Sacrificing to Issaries first will improve our odds of success. We can do this in any season except Dark.
• Our weaponthanes would be happier if we won a raid, even if it's a cattle raid. We can do this in Fire or Storm.
• We're feuding with two clans, and we can't realistically fight a war on two fronts. Ending a feud might cost us a bit in the short run, but it would help us in the long run. We can do this in any season except Dark.
• We could also try to forge an alliance with another clan. Sacrificing to Lhankor Mhy and Issaries will help us accomplish this. We can do this in any season except Dark.
• We could stand to do more exploration, either inside or outside of our tula. If we explore outside, we should build a shrine to Vinga first. We can do this in any season except Dark.
• We can give gifts to the farmers and/or weaponthanes to improve their mood. We can do this in any season.
• We can throw a feast to improve our clan mood. If we invite our neighbors, it will improve relations, too. We can do this in any season.
• We can try to recruit farmers. This is more successful if our current farmers are happy. We can do this in any season.
• We can build fortifications. The cheapest fortification we don't own is the stake perimeter, which impales invading horses. It costs 40 goods.
• We can attempt a heroquest. If successful, we get a bonus specific to the heroquest as well as a large boost in magic. We don't know the myths associated with most of the heroquests, but we could attempt "Ernalda Feeds the Tribe." Ernalda's heroquest gives us a general farming boost in addition to our choice of the following bonuses:
  • Raise the quester's attributes (Animals, Leadership, Plants)
  • Increase food production
  • Make the carls happier
  • Make our cows healthier
  • Make peace with the elves (we haven't met them, so forget about this)
  • Get a treasure (it's a specific treasure, not a random one)
  We're more or less forced to send Yerestia on the quest, since we don't have any other good Ernaldi in the tribe. Heroquests can get the quester killed; watch out for that.

We have lots of options open to us, but we can only choose ten. What'll it be?

*Orlanth controls the mysteries of "The Making of the Storm Tribe" heroquest, which is a prerequisite to forming a tribe, which is necessary to win the game. You don't actually have to sacrifice to Orlanth to learn the myth, but it's the easiest way to get it.

Interlude 2: The Gods and Their Blessings

While we're deciding what to do, it's time for another interlude. I've mentioned the gods of the Orlanthi pantheon before. Let's take a detailed look at what they can do for us.

The blue blessings below can be made permanent with a shrine or temple. The others require a sacrifice to petition the god for the favor, and sacrifices are never guaranteed. Gods without any blue blessings don't support a shrine or temple.

We can't obtain any blessing unless we know about it, and the way to learn is to sacrifice to the god for Mysteries. Allocating clan magic to Mysteries during Sacred Time increases the odds of success, as does a large offering. The underlined blessings are available to us now, either because they are known by default, because we started the game worshipping that god, or because we obtained it at some point during the game so far.

Ancestors
None of our ancestors have the power of a god, but their collective benevolence is vital to the clan's magic. Angering our ancestors is the fastest way to run out of magic.

Divination: We can ask our ancestors if we are suffering from any curses (and often learn who placed them), or we can ask if there are any treasures still to be found on our tula.
Protection: Being spirits themselves, the ancestors can provide protection against hostile spirits.
Summons of Evil: The Summons of Evil draws some aspect of our ancient enemy upon us. Our ancient enemy is the Beastmen, who are also the only race guaranteed to show up early in the game.

Barntar (BARN-tar)
The son of Orlanth and Ernalda, Barntar the Plowman is the most important god to those who till the soil.

Plowsong: This lets each of our cattle plow more fields, reducing the number of oxen we require.
Vigor: Like Plowsong, but for farmers instead of cattle.

Chalana Arroy (chah-LAH-nuh a-ROY)
Chalana Arroy is the goddess of healing. She prefers sacrifices of goods, since other sacrifices involve unnecessary bloodshed.

Curing: Cures sick clan members. You can check how many sick you have on the clan screen. If this blessing is permanent, it simply speeds recovery of the sick.
Healing: Like Curing, but for the wounded.
Hope: Improves the morale of the group with the worst morale (one of farmers, weaponthanes, or the clan mood).
Resurrection: Restores a recently deceased thane to life. The circumstances of death or the magical affiliation of the deceased can prevent this. Humakti, for example, are pledged to the god of Death, and can never be resurrected. Unlike more common sacrifices, Resurrection expends a great deal of the clan's magic.

Elmal (EL-mahl)
Elmal is god of the sun and has a special affinity for horses. He has a nice spread of blessings.

Horsefriend: Reduces horse mortality.
Shield: Reduces weaponthanes' rate of injury and death in battle.
Steadfast: Improves our chances of winning battles when defending our home tula.
Sun: Improves the yield of all crops.

Ernalda (er-NAHL-duh)
Ernalda is the great goddess of the earth, Orlanth's wife, and our clan's patron deity. We have a shrine to Ernalda.

Bless Children: Increases the number of children born each year.
Bless Crops: Although this blessing helps all crops, it has the best effect on barley, Ernalda's favorite plant.
Preserve: Reduces the amount of stored food which spoils every year.
Swine Blessing: Increases the number of piglets born each year.

Eurmal (YUR-mahl)
Eurmal is the Trickster, always causing trouble. Orlanthi clans do not build shrines to the trickster, so his blessings are only available through sacrifice when you have a Trickster on the ring.

Bless: The Trickster's blessing can help the clan, though he has a rather "amusing" definition of help at times.
Curse: The Trickster's curse will cause another clan some nasty trouble.

Humakt (HOO-makt)
Humakt is the god of death and war. He was Orlanth's brother, but severed himself from his kin. He prefers blood sacrifices.

Battle Luck: Improves our odds of winning any battle, even if we are otherwise entirely outmatched.
Morale: Improves the ability of your warriors in battle, helping them inflict more casualties on the enemy. Despite the name, this doesn't appear to directly improve morale.
Oath: Strengthens alliances and helps in diplomacy.
Truesword: Doubles the effectiveness of weaponthanes in battle.

Issaries (IS-sar-eez)
Issaries is known as the Talking God, because his blessings help speakers ranging from storytellers to traders to poets. To us, he's the god of trade.

Market: Increases market profits and lets us support an additional trading partner.
Silvertongue: Aids trade and diplomacy missions.
Spare Grain: Provides extra food each year. (Lorewise, the farmers perform small, profitable barters independently from the clan ring.)
Trading: Aids trade missions and allows an additional trading partner (unless we're already getting one from Market).

Lhankor Mhy (LANK-er MIGH)
Lhankor Mhy is called the Knowing God, for he knows all the precedents of the law, and much more.

Divination: Asks a question of Lhankor Mhy about another clan. We can ask about another clan's attitude towards us or their combat strength, or we can ask who is our greatest enemy in Dragon Pass.
Clan Lore: Increases the accuracy of divinations we perform during story scenes.
Lawspeaker: Helps maintain your clan mood (by improving our skill at arbitration).
Literacy: Helps relations with our neighbors (our god-talkers record dealings with other clans, thereby avoiding inadvertent violations of treaties and bargains).

Literacy seems to be a bonus from our starting clan choices.

Malia (MAL-ee-uh)
Although no clan would worship Malia, Mother of Disease, it's not unheard of to propitiate her. Doing so will anger the clan and hurt our reputation.

Curing: Immediately restores the sick to health, in a quantity proportional to the size of our sacrifice.
Cause Plague: Malia is always willing to bring disease to another clan.
Immunity: Grants immunity from disease.

Sacrificing to Malia has negative side effects: once we have her attention, she will demand larger and larger sacrifices in order to stay her wrath. Only a desperate clan sacrifices to Malia.

Maran Gor (MAH-rahn GOR)
Maran Gor is Ernalda's sister and the goddess of earth. She prefers blood sacrifices.

Blast Earth: Maran Gor can curse another clan's fields with infertility.
Earthblood: Increases crop yields whenever anyone dies on our tula. Kind of morbid, really.

Odayla (oe-DAY-lah)
Odayla, half-brother to Orlanth, is the god of the hunt. We have a shrine to Odayla.

Friend of Yinkin: Yinkin, god of the alynxes, will send his catlike creatures to reduce food spoilage caused by vermin.
Sureshot: Increases the food gathered by hunters. Also gives a bonus to skirmishing.
Tracking: "This blessing helps your hunters and trackers locate what they search for." Apparently gives bonuses to exploration and hunting.

Orlanth (OR-lanth)
Orlanth proved himself the preeminent god when he cast down Emperor Yelm and led the world during the Storm Age. He is the chief god of our pantheon.

Lightning: Increases the casualties inflicted upon our enemies in battle.
Rain: Improves crop yields.
Thunderstone: Increases the effectiveness of skirmishing.
Woad: Protects footmen from injury and death in battle. See Elmal's Shield blessing for the weaponthane equivalent.

Uralda (oor-AL-duh)
Uralda is a daughter of Ernalda and the mother of all cattle.

Calf Blessing: Increases the birth rate of cows. (This is very helpful.)
Milk Blessing: Increases the food produced by cows.

Urox (OOR-ox)
Orlanth's unruly brother is also known as the Storm Bull and the Cleansing Wind. He is fanatically devoted to the fight against Chaos.

Berserker: Increases our odds of winning battles, but also increases the number of casualties on both sides.
Sense Chaos: Allows us to detect Chaos and reduce its influence. (This is very helpful.)
Smite Chaos: Improves our odds when fighting the forces of Chaos.

Vinga (VING-gah)
Vinga is a granddaughter of Orlanth. She is the goddess of exploration and is worshipped exclusively by redheaded women for some reason.

Fyrdwomen: Allows women to act as warriors, but reduces the birth rate.
Pathfinder: Makes exploration and questing safer. (This is very helpful.)


And now you know! In the future, we'll look at heroquests and their benefits.