On the shoulders of giants: a new multiple choices LP!

[RedScum]

Hater gonna hate. W/E 2yt4u.

 

[Jick Magger]

A, from the sounds of it those orkish motherfuckers were essentially a roaming barbarian horde. They probably left years ago and if they are still here then we have the technological edge over them. We're probably the only proper opponent they've faced in decades beyond pacifistic fuckers with wooden clubs and stone-head spears.

Seriously, people. We actively sought out stone to improve our weapons, we wasted years on training goddamn bears to fight (no, I'm never getting over this), we organized ourselves into a effective fighting militia...and you guys want to actively avoiding any chance to actually fight people. What are you worried about? Our men getting scraped knees? Why don't we just cut the middle-man out, chuck our spears away, and become a bunch of fucking hippies? At least then we won't accidentally hurt one of the barbarians when they find us and skin the men, assfuck the women, sell the children to slavery, and keep the bears as part of a fucking circus act!

I remember the barbarians defeated many tribes. They know how to fight. And our weapons are sticks with sharp end. So the advantage isn't that big. But if they outnumber us 3:1 or even 2:1, we are going to take heavy losses if they attack us.

Correction; a tribe that fought a bunch of sissies and fish-fuckers over fifty years ago whom we've never seen before knew how to fight (if 'slaughtering barely defended coastal tribes' counts as fighting, that is). And those sharp ends are much, much sharper than the average spear they're used to. Assuming the daft cunts still fight bare-handed (chances are slim, but present) we'll virtually be able to slice through them like a hot knife through butter. It'd be like going to a knife fight with an AKM.

This is also assuming they're still as nomadic and hostile as they were decades ago. The fact that we've run into another tribe who apparently didn't even think they needed to warn us about them may indicate that they aren't anywhere near as active now as they were then (that's the thing about unorganized barbarian hordes; they can number in the hundreds of thousands, but they tend to dissipate once they're done pillaging and looting). Let's face it, we barely know anything about them and what little information that we have on them is extremely outdated, not to mention the reliability of it is dubious.

Not going into how reliable the testimony of a gaggle of scared and half-dead refugees can be, how do we know those water-tribesmen are telling us the whole story? Was this attack really as random and unjustified as they claim? What if this horde of marauders is some sensationalist coverup for the real reason as to why they ran? For all we know, these fuckwits tried to summon Cthulhu and their tribe sank to the bottom of the ocean because of it.

 

[Hirato]

If we're just going to turn tail and run away, then why the fuck did we even come out here in the first place!?


This is the ancestral home to a part of our tribe - they still remember the blue waters and I'm willing to bet that they are still somewhat familiar with the local area.
We know this is a prime location and is probably our best bet at prosperity for the intermediate future.
Not to mention, settling down and being back on ancestral soil will be good for morale.

Besides, as oscar has mentioned a few times now, we've spent years preparing every able-bodied man in our tribe for, what we believe, an inevitable confrontation with the barbarians.
And that's not all, we've also been honing our tools and weapons, our spears aren't just sharp pointy sticks, they're sticks with a really sharp pointy rock at the end, not to mention our other tools like axes and specialised throwing spears..
And if we play it smart, we may even launch an assault on them from the water using our boats and long range weapons; They'd be hapless!

In conclusion I believe this is the most ideal location and that we are more than adequately prepared to eradicate these savages if they so much as have the gall to fuck with us.
So grow a pair and vote A

 

[newcomer]

C voters, your reasoning literally is "this site is way too good for us, let's go hide and starve ourselves in the hills so no one beats us up". Cowards.

One of the elders commented, "You might be right, maybe it's time to "open a few new council spots" for wiser men"

 

[Monty]

Looks like B isn't going to prevail so if it helps to defeat C I hereby flip from B to
A

(yes, I will strike-through original post Curufinwe)

 

[Vernydar]

I have no problems with fighting. I DO have a problem with fighting an enemy we know nothing about, except for the fact that it could outnumber us 10 to 1.

I do not think that making a camp in a defensible position until we know more of this place is coward. It is called, prudent.

It is a very different thing....

Once we know more, then we can decide what to do, either settle on the shore or go and kill the savages.

 

[newcomer]

I have no problems with fighting. I DO have a problem with fighting an enemy we know nothing about, except for the fact that it could outnumber us 10 to 1.

Should we fall in battle honorably, so be it!
TONIGHT, WE DINE IN HELL!

 

[ScubaV]

Maybe Curufinwe can clarify, but I'm under the impression that we traveled downriver (north, but we don't know that). At some point the river dumped into a huge lake and the options are: stay at the rivermouth, move along the coast away from the source of barbarians, or move back up the river some distance into the hills and away from the coast. I prefer staying closer to the volcano, but still outside the ash zone. Whenever the environment around it settles down (however many decades that takes) we can expand back upriver or send expeditions, maintaining our connection to the all-powerful fire spirit.

Pretty much the options are those. Except the hills one, I had thought it more as camping on the hills facing the lake/sea than going back downriver. I'm going to post a map once you get some proper scouting and exploration of this area done too.

Okay, if going to the hills means not being by the river then I'll flipflop from C to A.

 

[CappenVarra]

A. 4X logic dictates that you build a base at a good spot when you find it. The fact that some barbarians were spotted there 50 years ago doesn't make it anything less of a good spot - and if it happens to attract invaders, well so be it. A few days of travel won't significantly alter the chances of an invasion ("oh look, there are signs of further tribes a few days uphill, but fuck it - we can conquer them after we secure this lovely spot right here, and they're obviously idiots because they didn't take advantage of it").

 

[Esquilax]

I have no problems with fighting. I DO have a problem with fighting an enemy we know nothing about, except for the fact that it could outnumber us 10 to 1.

But we do know a little about them. We know that when they attacked the refugee's tribe, they were bare-handed and dressed in pelts. They've almost certainly got better weaponry now, but better or equal to our obsidian axes, spears and throwing darts? No way. The reason that they seemed so terrifying is that the refugees that we took in had no combat skill whatsoever, so when they were crushed, the barbarians must have seemed inhumanly powerful. We aren't going to be such easy victims: we are a large tribe (even after the loss of the expedition we've got about 100 men), every able-bodied man is trained in combat, and our weaponry is unmatched. What's more, we can begin producing shields soon with our woodworking abilities and animal hides soon.

I'm aware that coming here is a risk, but if we want a good place to live in, we're going to need to fight for it from time to time. We've never seen the barbarians, yet we're already hiding from ghosts.

EDIT: That being said, I think that their great strength may have some supernatural influence. They can shrug off wounds to a ridiculous extent, apparently. But that isn't going to stop one of our axes from cutting through them like butter.

 

[Computer Gamer Refugee]

Voting A)

We have a good spot here. If the horde comes back, I think we will have more of a chance if we are strong and numerous (from a good city location) vice weaker from hiding.

 

[Cassidy]

A

 

[AstralStorm]

Also A, by similar logic to other proponents. The only near term issue I see is possibly flooding.

I hope there is decent access to building materials better than clay and river grass though.
Later I'd recommend expanding trading relations if there aren't any better possibilities.

 

[TOME]

A few days of travel won't significantly alter the chances of an invasion ("oh look, there are signs of further tribes a few days uphill, but fuck it - we can conquer them after we secure this lovely spot right here, and they're obviously idiots because they didn't take advantage of it").

A few days of travel? I read the update quite fast but I imagined that those hills were only couple kilometers away.

 

[Curufinwe]

Overwhelming victory for option A, 20 votes. 2 for B, 5 for C. Onwards.

The discussion was cut short by a clamor from the tribesmen listening outside the elder circle. First one, then several, then most of the men and women took up the cry 'Enough running! Here will make a good home! Enough running!'.

The council, who was already leaning for that solution, had no choice. We would stop here, where river and lake met, hills at our back and water in front.

The following months were a flurry of activity. Wood was collected, boats were used to find good fishing spots, scouts were sent ranging in all directions. One such scouting group was sent to check the old camp whence the refugees came.

Map of the immediate area between the Fiery Mountain and the lake (what you've more or less scouted so far). Yes, the river has a shitty brownish color right now. I recommend not drinking from its water until it clears again, if it ever does. Your tribe is smart enough not to drink that brown sludge, don't worry. Changed a bit the map colors, the light green in the lower left corner are the plains. Grey on the right is still the rockland to the east.

They came back reporting an all clear. They found husks of boats and old skeletons, gnawed upon, but no hostile nor dangerous beasts. They even got to the very limits of the great forest laying there, but they didn't enter. They said they didn't like it, an eerie silence welcoming them when they got to its border.

Back at camp though, a wholly different crysis was developing. Emboldened by their return on the ancestral shores, some of the former refugees took back to their old spiritual habits. Small sacrifices and figurines were dedicated to the water spirits, while they neglected the worship of fire spirits.

Things came to an head when a keeper of fire and one of the water worshipers almost came to blow.

A. The keeper of fire, enraged, shouted: 'This is blasphemy. This miscreant spit on my fire and said it was evil! He should be punished for this affront!'
B. The water worshiper angrily yelled: 'Yes, it is evil! Fire was strongest back at the mountain, and look what it did! The river still carries poisonous ashes into our sacred waters, we survived its rage just by a twist of fate! You keepers carry the responsibility for the cataclysm, you and your worship of wicked spirits! We should abandon those unholy ways and dedicate ourselves to the calmer, life giving spirits of water!'
C. Some of the elders tried to mediate: 'Remember, we are all fellow tribesmen! Calm down, both worships can coexist peacefully, both spirits have the power to help us improve as a people, it would be folly to offend either!'
D. Then, finally, a warrior rose slowly: 'Worship of spirits... what has it brought us except sorrow and duress? I can trust only in my spear and my axe, not on fickle wraiths who can turn on us any moment. Let's stop this worshiping nonsense and focus on improving our condition.'

 

[m4davis]

C.

 

[TOME]

C. Some of the elders tried to mediate: 'Remember, we are all fellow tribesmen! Calm down, both worships can coexist peacefully, both spirits have the power to help us improve as a people, it would be folly to offend either!'

 

[Kz3r0]

D.

 

[Monty]

Really tempted to vote D, but we went down the path of fire-worshiping so may as well stick with it. Perhaps having a variety of religions will boost our culture in the longer term, until we produce a Galileo and can get rid of them.

C

 

[ScubaV]

Oh man, the atheist in me really wants to pick D, but from a LARP perspective I have no choice but to go A.

"Fellow tribesmen, bear witness to the great strength that the fire spirits possess. Great strength that we too could possess if not for our weakness of faith. I must confess, as many of you no doubt feel, that I believed in the fire spirits before, but my belief was faint, only occasionally entering my thoughts. And, as we see now with the rapid resurgence of the water worshipers, there was impurity present all along. Why did the mountain tremble so? I can only imagine that the great fire spirits were offended by our laxity of thought. We stand at a crossroads, my fellows. We can ignore the warnings and face greater wrath or we can embrace that which has brought us light, warmth, and elevation over the beasts. Let us make our enemies tremble before us, just as the mountain did!"

 

[Cassidy]

D. practicality over bullshit. I mentioned once and again: this will be an ahistorical path of development, which means more fun later.

 

[Vernydar]

I remind you all the last lines of the end of act 1 update
"And we would. We would stop and build back our tribe. The Obsidian Embers would endure in the following years. They would grow stronger, understand more of the world around them.
But first, they would be joined by the Wielder of Fire...."

So, the Wielder of Fire (capital letters) is likely coming to join us. And somehow I do not think he'll be amused if we stopped worshipping fire. I really do not think he'll just step aside and watch. So, either we keep worshipping fire (and risk offending whatever water spirit lives here), or switch to water spirits (and hope they protect us from the Wielder of Fire), or worship both (and hope that's enough to calm them down). Not worshipping any would most likely make both angry..

Personally, I prefer worshipping both

C

 

[Omicron]

C.

 

[Curufinwe]

Oh man, the atheist in me really wants to pick D, but from a LARP perspective I have no choice but to go A.

I really never understood atheist RPGers. It's like you godless people forget one of the very basic truths of old school RP:

 

[Kipeci]

C, obviously.