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

I'd prefer that we sacrifice to the gods on this one, but yeah, write a poem.

Any excuse to raid those liberal hippies at the Oak Tree clan is a good enough reason!

I CHOOSE YOU, OPTION 3!

Year 1332, part 3

Last time on King of Dragon Pass: A dude died, so we decided to write poetry.



But we are apparently pretty bad at it.

Writing poetry is, I think, a Custom check. You can blame Iskalli for this one, but then again, he wasn't the one recommending this course of action.



Suddenly, horse nomads! These guys will get more explanation later, but for now, just know that a bunch of guys on horses are attacking us, and we don't know anything else about them.

I went extra-cautious here: I added a point of magic in addition to sacrificing to Orlanth and choosing skirmish tactics. This is because all of these enemies are mounted. We can protect ourselves against mounted units by building a staked perimeter, which makes horses run into the pointy bits, but for now, better to play it safe.



This ended up being overkill: they didn't charge us anyway, so we never closed. Still, better safe than sorry. I'll make a note to build up our fortifications before next raiding season.

Earth 1



Insterid has a good point. Let's build a shrine to Orlanth.

We only know the Woad blessing, so that's the one we'll get. It reduces farmer deaths, which is good, because we've lost quite a few in battle over the past few years.

Earth 2



Finally, it's time to explore distant lands. I send Farad due south to the extreme edge of the map. This will reveal all of the terrain on the way. Unless you're looking for a specific destination, exploring to the edge can be a good idea because you'll see more that way. It is more dangerous, though, and it can take longer. In this instance, they're still not going very far, so it's fine.

The Dark is coming up soon, but my experience is that as long as you don't embark during Dark, it doesn't make a difference to the explorers.

Surprisingly



Dinosa Dragon bones!

Yerestia: For some reason, this makes me think of Maran Gor, Ernalda's earth-shaking sister. No recommendation.
Harvar: I can probably get a good price for it. Recommends #5.
Insterid: Let the warriors help the carls. Recommends #1.
Iskalli: Won't we seem ridiculous if we proudly display something we don't understand? No recommendation.
Valensta: It might be worth something as a curiosity. Recommends #5.
Arene: Perhaps if we trade it to another clan, it will foster harmony. Recommends #5.
Heortarl: What would Eurmal do? I mean, what would Orlanth do? No recommendation.
Mogri: What, no one wants to keep it? Our ancestors were friends of the dragons, so destroying it would harm our clan magic. It's safe to trade it, though keeping it will probably add a point of magic.

Incidentally, Yerestia is correct: among her other titles, Maran Gor is the Mother of Dinosaurs. This is just trivia; Maran Gor may be Ernalda's sister, but we don't worship Maran Gor.

Display it in the clan hall.

This

Wot, are we going to have a unanimous vote for something?

But yeah, clan hall.

Year 1332, part 4



We've decided to hang the triceratops dragon skull in our clan hall. If anyone asks, it's a hunting trophy.

Actually, while dinosaurs are relatives of dragons, I'm not entirely sure they're classified as dragons themselves. In any event, our magic didn't change, although our reputation probably got a little bump. More importantly, this event will lead into other, better events down the road.



Here's the deal with the horse nomads we saw earlier. As enemies of Orlanth, they're presumably raiding all of us. I don't know how they can manage such a widespread campaign, but they are, and there's no way we can counter-raid them, since they don't have a presence on the map.



Then, Arene comes with a dire report. We're doomed!



Or are we? Actually, that last message is the one you get anytime the harvest fails, regardless of your food stores. It's true that we have an uncomfortably low amount of food (although I managed to conceal the number in every single screenshot except the first), but it's unlikely that we'll need to slaughter any of our herds. Worst case, I'll have to call in some favors, but Harvar doesn't think we'll need to do even that much.

Dark 1



Before we forget, and because Dark is a good season to do stuff like this, let's build those pointy sticks.

Dark 2



Looking over our blessings, I notice that we never actually built a shrine to Vinga. Yikes! The Pathfinder blessing is invaluable for exploration and heroquests. I build it now, hoping it's not too late to apply to our wayward explorers.

Good news



Whew! Our crew returns safely, and with a treasure to boot. Treasures are valuable artifacts that often have strong magical properties. Many of them provide passive benefits, such as Blacktail the Bull, which always starts in your clan's possession and boosts cow birth rates. Others, such as this one, are usable in battle. Often, battle items are one-time only, but this one is repeatable -- at a price. We would lose a thane each time we used this, so I'm probably never going to use it.

Yerestia: This banner could bring us peace with our enemies, the Horse-Spawn, Tusk Riders, or Rakstanti. Recommends #1.
Harvar: Any smart trader would try to dicker us down no matter what our starting price, so we might as well start high. Recommends #5.
Insterid: If we keep the banner, we will have to use it sparingly. No warrior wants to go into combat if he is certain to die. Recommends #1, #2, or #3.
Iskalli: If we must give this treasure away, make sure we don't send it to our enemies. No recommendation.
Valensta: Give it to another clan. Recommends #2.
Arene: One of the ten survivors of the Dragonkill War said that the man ordered to carry the Raven Banner into that battle dropped it early in the battle, thus ensuring victory for the dragons. No recommendation.
Heortarl: I'm not sure about this. No recommendation.
Mogri: If we keep it, I'll trade it for another clan's (hopefully more valuable) treasure. If we trade it through this event, we can get a large number of cows and goods instead, though only a treasure can be traded for another treasure normally.

Why would you ever want to put it back where you found it? I mean, seriously.

Would giving it to your enemies really be a good idea? 'Cause the whole "never lose a battle" thing seems like something you might not want in their hands.

So, uh, let's sell the thing? Not like we have thanes to burn on actually using it.

It's likely (but not guaranteed) to end the feud if you give it to an enemy.

That doesn't make it a good idea, but at least Yerestia's not completely off her rocker here.

Let's keep it to trade for another treasure later.

Heortarl has really been letting me down lately. Boo Heortarl, boo. I may have to find a new role model.

As we're not desperate for food, we want a treasure for a treasure, surely or at least an absolute certainty that we can SMITE OUR ENEMIES as we like.

Right? Right.

This seems like the best idea as long as we get a good treasure and if it can't be used against us. In the meantime we/Mogri could save it as a weapon of last resort in case there's a battle we absolutely must win. (But I don't know if that's possible in this game.)

He can't always be on, Gerad.

Year 1332, part 5



We've decided to keep the artifact, probably to trade off to someone else down the line. Sometimes I wonder if it's worth my time to write jokes into the image filenames, but then something like this comes along.

And then



You can't normally have two story events in one phase, but the results of exploration don't count as a story event, so here we go.

Yerestia: He is of one of the clans that spit in Pharaoh's face at the conference of Karse. No recommendation.
Harvar: If he has been traveling through Dragon Pass making challenges like this, he has surely gathered treasures, ones worth wagering for. Recommends #3.
Insterid: He is good, but not as good as I. Let me take his challenge. Recommends #4.
Iskalli: Nothing he has said forces us to accept his challenge. But if we refuse him, he can tarnish our honor with a few hot words. Recommends #1.
Valensta: No time for dueling. Recommends #5.
Arene: I'm not sure about this. No recommendation.
Heortarl: The smell of the stripling's swaddling clothes is offensive to my nose. Let me spank him back into his cradle! Recommends #4.
Mogri: We have the chance to show Insterid's newfound battle prowess and even gain another treasure. If she loses, she'll be gone forever... but that's easily solved by not losing.

Arene continues her hot streak!

Well, if Mogri is recommending the bloody battle option, sounds like we'd best go for it!

edit: wot Falselogic said

Fine, let Insterid fight. We can't afford to lose Heortarl anyway. Option 3.

He's going to get his butt kicked by a GIRL!

Listen, four of the five options have someone dying. You have to be more specific.

4

Kick his ass and make him pay for it. Number 3!

Year 1332, part 6



We've decided to duel our challenger for the rights to some sweet loot. We have the choice of putting up a ton of goods or a treasure. I pick our new Raven Banner as collateral.



We then choose our champion. It's Insterid, of course. Her skills in combat are renowned throughout Dragon Pass.



The fight lasts an inordinate amount of time, and it's hard to say who's going to walk out alive. The suspense!



I would've been really upset if she'd lost.

There are three possible treasures you can get from this event. (The event can repeat, and if you have all three, you get goods instead and your game has gone on way too long already.) Of them, this one is probably the one I would have picked last:

Well, of course the weaponthanes are happy about this.



Call me when you find an artifact that makes our farmers stop whining.

The other two treasures you can get from this event are one that increases the duelist's Combat even further (non-transferable, non-tradeable; it's a tattoo) and another that decreases the influence of Chaos. (Speaking of Chaos, we might want to look into a shrine to Urox in the near future.)

Storm 1



You know what we're gonna do? We're gonna raid the Osgosi again. Because they deserve it.



I decided to invite our loyal allies the Eagles to fight with us. This gives you a token force in exchange for a cut of the goods. This time, though, I'm not in it for the plunder: I picked slaughter tactics. The Osgosi will regret ever crossing Clan Destine.



Another battle event. You know the drill: press the enemy.



Farad is the #2 warrior in our clan. Not as good as Insterid by quite a stretch, but no slouch, either.



I said I wasn't in it for the plunder, but this is actually a really good haul. We stacked up a good number of corpses on the way, too.

Storm 2



For lack of a better option, we're gonna call in a favor and go beg for food.

Expectedly



I knew this was coming. We've pounded the Osgosi into the ground, so they want to talk surrender.

Yerestia: We have them beat. There's no reason to let them off easy. Recommends #2 or #4.
Harvar: We shouldn't just think of today. What can we get from them next year? Recommends #2 or #4.
Insterid: If they had any brains, they wouldn't be in this mess. Recommends #2 or #4.
Iskalli: In matters of power, it is best to be direct. Recommends #1, #2, or #4.
Valensta: We have no need to kill more Osgosi. Recommends #5.
Arene: Has vengeance really been satisfied? No recommendation.
Heortarl: Well, you already know what I think! Recommends #3.
Mogri: They're offering a one-time payment, which is insultingly low. Annual tribute will be profitable, but we'll suffer the wrath of the gods if we break our agreement (and this goes for #3, too). If we do decide to take a deal, we can always turn our weapons towards the increasingly prickly Karandoli.

Insterid continues being unrelentingly awesome. Arene rises in my esteem a little and Valensta goes way down.

Annual tribute might help with our perpetual food shortages.

Make them bleed every year

#2

Unlike the ducks, they'd be tributing cattle and/or goods (we get to specify the exact terms, so we could ask for all cattle if we want). We can slaughter the cattle, I guess.

Food is unlikely to be a long-term problem unless we continue to get bad forecasts. It's not that we don't have enough production. We've just had two bad harvests out of three.

Heortarl is back, baby! Option 3.

(I'm sorry if this actually wins.)

I should also point out that if they raid us or break tribute, we're free to raid them again. I'm not sure what the expiration date on a one-time tribute is (because why would you, etc.).

Eh, sign them up for annual tribute and let our thanes worry about a worthier foe. We can always crush them completely if they don't pay us.

I am all for telling these guys to fuck off, but annual tribute will probably be better for us in the long run. Option 2.

Annual tribute.

We'll be back right after a message from our sponsor.

The scene contest is open for voting! My scene didn't make it, but the ones that did are pretty great. Personally, I'm voting for Hungry Zombie Dad.

3. We have to teach them why surrendering is a bad idea.