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[helmacon]

Point to examples of food and plants rotting in nature, for example, during the change of the seasons, or when you find a dead animal, and explain to them that this is the same thing happening here.

[mightymushroom]

Point to examples of food and plants rotting in nature, for example, during the change of the seasons, or when you find a dead animal, and explain to them that this is the same thing happening here.

I think there's a problem with metagaming knowledge vs. roleplaying here: how does our character know that this is the same phenomenon? And why would we distinguish it as "natural" rather than evidence that "bad spirits" can be found all over?

-----

Q: And how is pointing out other examples of decomposition leading to a solution for our distress?

A: What we need are effective "rituals" to prevent the rot spirits from attacking our food supply. To start with, examine the place where the food was kept. Also examine any places where other food has not rotted and look for differences in moisture, pile size, or type of item stored. Put that intellect trait to work figuring out what are the best procedures for storing the cave plants.

Point out, perhaps by personal demonstration, that freshly gathered plants are still good to eat. It is only when plants are unused too long (in a big heap) that they attract foul spirits. I assume until further notified that cave plants are constant year-round growers, so the existing cavern is a form of perpetual garden. Take and use what we need and trust that the growing spirits will continue to provide for us. Maybe get the shamans to make an offering to the good spirits by way of apology/propitiation so the bad spirits don't get in again.

If any of the overland plants are more storage friendly (I suggest items from the grains family) then perhaps the two sources could complement each other. We could use some baskets, keep up that research. Also, a cave full of plant growth is probably rather moist. Or we could try to invent drying racks?

[Naturegirl1999]

Point to examples of food and plants rotting in nature, for example, during the change of the seasons, or when you find a dead animal, and explain to them that this is the same thing happening here.

I think there's a problem with metagaming knowledge vs. roleplaying here: how does our character know that this is the same phenomenon? And why would we distinguish it as "natural" rather than evidence that "bad spirits" can be found all over?

-----

Q: And how is pointing out other examples of decomposition leading to a solution for our distress?

A: What we need are effective "rituals" to prevent the rot spirits from attacking our food supply. To start with, examine the place where the food was kept. Also examine any places where other food has not rotted and look for differences in moisture, pile size, or type of item stored. Put that intellect trait to work figuring out what are the best procedures for storing the cave plants.

Point out, perhaps by personal demonstration, that freshly gathered plants are still good to eat. It is only when plants are unused too long (in a big heap) that they attract foul spirits. I assume until further notified that cave plants are constant year-round growers, so the existing cavern is a form of perpetual garden. Take and use what we need and trust that the growing spirits will continue to provide for us. Maybe get the shamans to make an offering to the good spirits by way of apology/propitiation so the bad spirits don't get in again.

If any of the overland plants are more storage friendly (I suggest items from the grains family) then perhaps the two sources could complement each other. We could use some baskets, keep up that research. Also, a cave full of plant growth is probably rather moist. Or we could try to invent drying racks?

+1

[Nirur Torir]

Point to examples of food and plants rotting in nature, for example, during the change of the seasons, or when you find a dead animal, and explain to them that this is the same thing happening here.

I think there's a problem with metagaming knowledge vs. roleplaying here: how does our character know that this is the same phenomenon? And why would we distinguish it as "natural" rather than evidence that "bad spirits" can be found all over?

-----

Q: And how is pointing out other examples of decomposition leading to a solution for our distress?

A: What we need are effective "rituals" to prevent the rot spirits from attacking our food supply. To start with, examine the place where the food was kept. Also examine any places where other food has not rotted and look for differences in moisture, pile size, or type of item stored. Put that intellect trait to work figuring out what are the best procedures for storing the cave plants.

Point out, perhaps by personal demonstration, that freshly gathered plants are still good to eat. It is only when plants are unused too long (in a big heap) that they attract foul spirits. I assume until further notified that cave plants are constant year-round growers, so the existing cavern is a form of perpetual garden. Take and use what we need and trust that the growing spirits will continue to provide for us. Maybe get the shamans to make an offering to the good spirits by way of apology/propitiation so the bad spirits don't get in again.

If any of the overland plants are more storage friendly (I suggest items from the grains family) then perhaps the two sources could complement each other. We could use some baskets, keep up that research. Also, a cave full of plant growth is probably rather moist. Or we could try to invent drying racks?

+1

+1

We should see if storing fewer fruits, in smaller heaps or baskets, helps to protect them against the bad spirits that ruined a big pile.

[King Zultan]

Point to examples of food and plants rotting in nature, for example, during the change of the seasons, or when you find a dead animal, and explain to them that this is the same thing happening here.

I think there's a problem with metagaming knowledge vs. roleplaying here: how does our character know that this is the same phenomenon? And why would we distinguish it as "natural" rather than evidence that "bad spirits" can be found all over?

-----

Q: And how is pointing out other examples of decomposition leading to a solution for our distress?

A: What we need are effective "rituals" to prevent the rot spirits from attacking our food supply. To start with, examine the place where the food was kept. Also examine any places where other food has not rotted and look for differences in moisture, pile size, or type of item stored. Put that intellect trait to work figuring out what are the best procedures for storing the cave plants.

Point out, perhaps by personal demonstration, that freshly gathered plants are still good to eat. It is only when plants are unused too long (in a big heap) that they attract foul spirits. I assume until further notified that cave plants are constant year-round growers, so the existing cavern is a form of perpetual garden. Take and use what we need and trust that the growing spirits will continue to provide for us. Maybe get the shamans to make an offering to the good spirits by way of apology/propitiation so the bad spirits don't get in again.

If any of the overland plants are more storage friendly (I suggest items from the grains family) then perhaps the two sources could complement each other. We could use some baskets, keep up that research. Also, a cave full of plant growth is probably rather moist. Or we could try to invent drying racks?

+1

+1

We should see if storing fewer fruits, in smaller heaps or baskets, helps to protect them against the bad spirits that ruined a big pile.

+1

[TankKit]

Before we continue, I would just like to thank mightymushroom for thinking of an ic solution instead of an ooc one. I genuinely appreciate it, saves me time that would otherwise be spent on nagging people into thinking ic >: (

Q: And how is pointing out other examples of decomposition leading to a solution for our distress?

A: What we need are effective "rituals" to prevent the rot spirits from attacking our food supply. To start with, examine the place where the food was kept. Also examine any places where other food has not rotted and look for differences in moisture, pile size, or type of item stored. Put that intellect trait to work figuring out what are the best procedures for storing the cave plants.

Point out, perhaps by personal demonstration, that freshly gathered plants are still good to eat. It is only when plants are unused too long (in a big heap) that they attract foul spirits. I assume until further notified that cave plants are constant year-round growers, so the existing cavern is a form of perpetual garden. Take and use what we need and trust that the growing spirits will continue to provide for us. Maybe get the shamans to make an offering to the good spirits by way of apology/propitiation so the bad spirits don't get in again.

If any of the overland plants are more storage friendly (I suggest items from the grains family) then perhaps the two sources could complement each other. We could use some baskets, keep up that research. Also, a cave full of plant growth is probably rather moist. Or we could try to invent drying racks?

(5)You, having a calmer head than your fellows, take some time to examine the area where the food was stored. Essentially, a few people got bored of having to travel deep into the cave for the best plants and decided to take some of the tastiest looking ones and bring them closer to the cave entrance, where most of the activity happens. Over time more and more people took some food up with them after a meal and threw them into a sort of indent in to the side of the cave on your left when looking into the cave, ready for a future meal. Then a group of people spent a few full turns of the moon taking food from the deeper parts of the cave and just piling them up in that corner. Since then, it's simply been where people get their food from if they're not already deep in the cave on some other business.

The issue is that some of those plants have been there for many, many full turns of the moon, as those first few fruits proved less tasty than the ones found deeper in the cave. You also noticed, when they were being thrown down the mountainside, that some seemed to of already burst, presumably under the pressure of all those other fruits. After examining the area compared to the rest of the cave, you noticed that it was incredibly moist compared to the rest of the outer cave, to the point that the ground was covered in a thin layer of liquid akin to a sludge version of the gooey plant food insides. You also went down to where the plants eventually stopped after rolling down the mountainside and noticed that many seemed darker than others without having the green sickness spreading through them. After ripping them open, you faced a rather horrifying surprise when a mess of gooey black sludge splashed to the ground. By repeating this process with a number of plants of varying darkness, you found that the darker the plant, the blacker and sludgier it's insides were. The fact that most of the food in that corner had some amount of this black sludge inside it worries you and, after a few moons of experimenting with these plants while trying to keep your people calm, you discover that they seem to begin blackening a 5-6 moons after being taken from the cave surfaces. However, plants you placed in their previous storage corner only lasted for 1-2 moons, and all plants lasted shorter the deeper into the cave they were stored.

You conclude that the moister the area, the quicker plants fall to the black sludge. After talking with your shamans, you personally demonstrate the safety of eating fresh plants from all over the cave. You then explain that moistness is caused by an over abundance of upset spirits. "The spirits of this cave are kind creatures, willing to feed those who need food, but they despise those who want more than they need. This black sludge is their punishment for our greed as the spirits strike at the food, eating the goodness and filling it with a foul tasting poison akin to how the evil spirits feast on the bodies of those once living who failed. The spirits of this cave are not evil - they are kind, but firm, and we should not ever take more than we need. They will surely allow small amounts of foods to stored in areas that do not intrude on their territory deeper into the cave, hence why they often wait some time to strike, but even then we should only store what is needed in case of sudden disaster. Finally, we should thank them for each plant they allow us to eat - for even a kind spirit may grow sad and evil if their efforts are ignored."

Though they remain wary of the plants for some time, your people eventually get back to their usual schedule. They happily take from the walls of the caves - but only when they need to eat, lest they anger those who take such good care of them.

(4)All of that experimentation, talking and getting your people back into their previous schedule took so much time that the moon has completed it's first full turn since your reign began. Now, however, you are back to your previous work - getting the fibres to properly connect into something that can be used to carry things, though you're no longer sure how useful it is after your previous revelations. Still, you're making good progress. You've ruled out many larger fibres and some of the smallest fibres, and are now working on connecting fibres of what you think are the right size into something solid enough to keep things from falling through it. You've been having more success lately, as one bright young lad figured out how to intertwine the fibres in just the right way to stop them from falling apart with other fibres at their side. The problem you're dealing with now is that, no matter how many fibres you add on to the sides, it inevitably begins to unravel when moved. Now you just have to figure out how to give the thing solid, connected sides that stop it from unraveling.

Something that has also become painfully clear is how difficult it is to make these things even when you know what to do. Because of the complexity of the connection required to expand the fibre outwards from the centre, you often find that your hands need to be doing three different things at once. One hand needs to lightly hold the fibre up so another hand can push a fibre up through a hole  while another hand needs to push that fibre downwards through the next hole. It's certainly possible to do the latter two steps with one hand, but you've discovered that having one person hold down the overall square while another pushes a piece of fibre up and down with both hands to finish another line of it is a lot faster. The worst thing is, you're beginning to wonder if you might still be using fibres too thick, as experimenting with thinner fibres has shown that they are easier to deal with...

Ugh. At least these fibre squares are comfortable to sleep on.

(1)Your sleep is suddenly and rudely interrupted by a massive cracking sound coming from the left side of the cave wall! A wild-eyed shaman runs by and, before you can react, you hear him "EVIL SPIRIT ROCK!", the sound of something flying through the air, and then multiple more loud cracks and shaking. After running outside, you see that the area just left of the cave entrance is completely red and cracked. The smell of death hits you instantly and as you stumble backwards, still half asleep and now very surprised, you are roughly turned around by the shaman, who begins screaming at you about the evil of shiny rock spirits. The rest of the tribes comes out and stares at you in shock as you're screamed at by the shaman, who accuses you of purposefully killing the other shamans by giving them the evil spirit rock. Eventually he runs out of breath, and you have a chance to respond to his accusations.

So, What are you going to do? It has been 20 moons since the pile of plant food was annihilated by the spirits of the mountain. Issues of immediate importance are the shaman screaming at you for giving them the blue rock. You don't know exactly what happened but, being intelligent, you're pretty sure the shamans probably just weren't careful enough with the blue rock.

[King Zultan]

We must go examine what happened, before we can make any decisions as of how to deal with the situation.

[Atomic Chicken]

Calmly point out that the shiny blue rocks had long been held by those worthy tribespeople to whom they were originally gifted, and that no calamity has befallen these previous owners. A truly malicious spirit would surely have inflicted harm upon the tribe at its first opportunity! Propose that the shamans must have therefore angered the spirits residing within the "metal" through some grievous mishandling of the rocks.

Demand an explanation from the surviving shaman, and determine the exact sequence of events which lead to the situation at hand. Future experiments on the rocks will have to follow strict rituals to avoid repeating whatever mistakes led to this expression of the spirits' wrath.

[Nirur Torir]

We need to be careful here. The accusations could lead to people turning against us, and we don't want using the rocks to become taboo.

I think we should respond to the immediate accusation with something along the lines of how if we'd wanted the shamans dead we would have killed them ourselves, instead of trying to use spirits, which they should know more about than we do.

I think we might want to try to suggest that too much contact with the blue stones angered their spirits, and that it's best to only use them on special occasions. It will probably take another generation or two to get people studying them again, in small numbers next time, but I fear it's too late to get this generation to learn anything from them anyway. "Handle dangerous materials cautiously" is a good lesson to take away from it all.

[helmacon]

Let's turn the accusations back on the shaman. Grab him by the collar, and forcefully exclaim What have you done?!

We are smart enough to pull it off. Spin a narrative of the shaman seeking power and angering the other spirits, getting the other shamans killed.

[mightymushroom]

Calmly point out that the shiny blue rocks had long been held by those worthy tribespeople to whom they were originally gifted, and that no calamity has befallen these previous owners. A truly malicious spirit would surely have inflicted harm upon the tribe at its first opportunity! Propose that the shamans must have therefore angered the spirits residing within the "metal" through some grievous mishandling of the rocks.

Demand an explanation from the surviving shaman, and determine the exact sequence of events which lead to the situation at hand. Future experiments on the rocks will have to follow strict rituals to avoid repeating whatever mistakes led to this expression of the spirits' wrath.

+1 This has never happened before, how could we possibly have planned it so? Keeping the rocks has always been a high honor.

[King Zultan]

Calmly point out that the shiny blue rocks had long been held by those worthy tribespeople to whom they were originally gifted, and that no calamity has befallen these previous owners. A truly malicious spirit would surely have inflicted harm upon the tribe at its first opportunity! Propose that the shamans must have therefore angered the spirits residing within the "metal" through some grievous mishandling of the rocks.

Demand an explanation from the surviving shaman, and determine the exact sequence of events which lead to the situation at hand. Future experiments on the rocks will have to follow strict rituals to avoid repeating whatever mistakes led to this expression of the spirits' wrath.

+1 This has never happened before, how could we possibly have planned it so? Keeping the rocks has always been a high honor.

+1

[TankKit]

Calmly point out that the shiny blue rocks had long been held by those worthy tribespeople to whom they were originally gifted, and that no calamity has befallen these previous owners. A truly malicious spirit would surely have inflicted harm upon the tribe at its first opportunity! Propose that the shamans must have therefore angered the spirits residing within the "metal" through some grievous mishandling of the rocks.

Demand an explanation from the surviving shaman, and determine the exact sequence of events which lead to the situation at hand. Future experiments on the rocks will have to follow strict rituals to avoid repeating whatever mistakes led to this expression of the spirits' wrath.

(5)VS(4)You quickly recollect yourself, stepping away from the shaman and speaking before he has a chance to continue his mad ravings. "These rocks have been safely used as rewards for the worthy ever since we came here. They are a sign of a person's determination and commitment to the tribe greater than all others, as their beauty shines brighter than any other rock. Since the moon we arrived in this wonderful mountain, we have prospered under the guidance of it's kind spirits, who have taken care of us as a mother takes care of her children. Why would the spirits residing in these rocks, so prized among us, be any different from the spirits present everywhere else in the mountain? When a sickness spread throughout our food many feared that the spirits in this mountain were evil, but they were not! It was simply their punishment for our actions of greed, easily solved by simply thanking them for what they give us and trusting them to continue providing. Surely, then, the spirits residing within these rocks are the same - and it was YOU who angered them!" You step forward and level a finger at the shaman as you say this. All eyes turn to the shaman.

He glares at you and slaps your hand aside before continuing. "You TALK of how prized these rocks are among us, yet you had them all taken from their owners and put under YOUR ownership. You TALK of how the plant spirits of this mountain are kind, which I can not deny, yet you assume that this applies to ALL spirits of the mountain. And truly, I find it ironic how you TALK of the need to keep away greed when taking plants from the walls of this cave while hoarding it's rocks. You talk and talk and talk, yet you're deaf to your own words, as if the rules of the world do not apply to you. These rocks have been used as rewards for generations - do you not think that the pride of having such objects would seep into the spirits residing within those rocks, as human emotions corrupted their purity? Or perhaps... you DID think of how that might infect the rocks spirits, and that's why you gave them all to us!"

(5)VS(1)You scoff loudly, interrupting the shaman after that statement. "Truly, you are the maddest of us all! I am no shaman, I have no way of telling the nature of spirits unseen to me - how could I possibly understand such things when I've never even heard of them before? Might I add that I find it quite interesting that YOU of all shamans are the last survivor of the rock damage, as you have always been so adamantly against me? I also find it quite interesting that, after generations of safe use, they just so happen to kill most of the shamans when it best suits your beliefs! You seem so convinced that I am guilty of murdering these shamans - perhaps you are already feeling the guilt of killing them all just to make a point, and feel a need to push the blame of your crimes onto someone else? You've always been quite reckless after all, it is rea-"

Before you can continue, the shaman begins shouting at a volume that surprises you to the point of stepping backwards and almost falling over. "YOU DARE ACCUSE A SHAMAN OF MURDERING HIS FELLOWS?! SUCH A CRIME IS HATED AMONG THE AVERAGE PERSON - FOR A SHAMAN TO INTENTIONALLY KILL HIS FELLOWS WOULD BE SUCH A HORRENDOUS ACT THAT OUR ENTIRE PEOPLE WOULD BE CURSED FOR GENERATIONS! BY ACCUSING ME OF THIS, YOU ARE ACCUSING ME OF PUTTING US ALL UNDER AN ETERNAL CURSE - SUCH AN UNJUST, WORTHLESS ACCUSATION IS SUCH A CLEAR SIGN OF YOUR GUILT THAT I CAN BARELY HOLD IN MY CONTEMPT FOR YOU! SUCH AN ACCUSATION SHOWS A COMPLETE LACK OF KNOWLEDGE OF THE SPIRITS AND RESPECT FOR THE ELDEST OF US, WHO HAVE SURVIVED SO LONG UNDER THE BLESSING OF THE SPIRITS!" He slams the bottom of his wooden staff loudly onto the ground. "IN THE NAME OF THE SPIRITS, SEIZE HIM!!"

A few moments pass in stunned silence. Then a few more. You have stepped back from the heavily breathing shaman, and are leaning slightly away from him - everyone else is currently staring at him in shock. All of he sudden his eyes go wide and he grasps his chest and, like a falling tree, the shaman slowly topples over forwards, going still as a rock. The only sound is the thud of him hitting the ground, as the entire tribe silently realises what just happened.

The tribe's last shaman just died.

(3)"He angered the spirits." Everyone turns to look at you as you say this, and you continue. "This is a clear sign from the spirits. They were angered by this thing's murder of the shamans - it is time for those training under them to take their places in the sacred study of the spirits."

The rocks are recovered first, though some in the tribe are reluctant to do so. The shaman had thrown them down the mountainside, so they just needed to follow the trail of cracked rock. Time seems to pass quickly over the following moons, as 10 moons are spent mourning each shaman individually, with the only exception being the horrid thing that murdered them. Those taught of the way of the spirits by the Shamans take their place, and soon 9 new, younger shamans eagerly take to the spirit rituals - the 10th shaman's place shall remain unfilled, as it's purity has already been defiled by the actions of the man who held it. No research takes place in this time, as your people dedicate themselves to honouring those shamans who had to suffer because of the actions of one shaman. The blue rocks play a large part in the mourning, as the spirits already residing within them are placated and humbled and the spirits of the shamans encouraged to take up residence within them.

Now that the mourning period is over, What are you going to do? It has been roughly 90 moons since the last of the old shamans died and the Heat Moons are here, as the great spirits of prosperity willingly give their position to the great spirits of heat so that the cycle of the world may continue. There are no issues of immediate importance, though you may want to change what your people are doing.

[King Zultan]

That went way better for us than I thought it would.

Lets get back to work on the baskets.

[TankKit]

That went way better for us than I thought it would.

That's what happens when you pit two 5s against a 4, a 1 and an old man.