Exploration VI: Border Gore
When it came time to explore the west once more, a particularly large entourage formed under the direction of a Major Founder
(Powder Miner +1I) intent on defending themselves should any of The Others decide to interfere with the expedition. Even if The Others opted to leave the Baobabi alone for once since they discovered one another, the harsh mistress that is the environment was still quite the obstacle to overcome.
Luckily, with the aid of Way-Finding Pots, heavily-burdened Pack Wildebeest, and a healthy dose of ambitious optimism, the party left Stakehome and found themselves relatively easily navigating the sands to the west. While the Bow Elephants providing an intimidating and imposing guard for the expedition required a significant amount of upkeep, their low numbers (three were assigned to the expedition) made them easier to manage with the logistical transport capacity available.
The Way-Finding Pots in particular proved to be excruciatingly necessary for travel through the entirely featureless landscape that made up
45-C. The party stumbled upon a singular
Fumic Vent among the shifting dunes, and got to witness a particularly nasty sandstorm from a fortunately safe distance. This desiccated expanse proved to dampen the enthusiasm of the traveling Baobabi to a great degree. What if this was all that existed until the western edge of the world? Did it all end at the mountains they'd seen years ago from the Oasis? But then where did The Others come from? Where had
their own ancestors come from? The Baobabi thirsted for answers and pressed onward.
45-C is entirely uninhabitable for any sort of self-sustaining population without
intense and
extreme levels of aid.
Traveling into
44-C alleviated a significant number of the Baobabi's concerns while amplifying a few more. Another
Fumic Vent provided a place to top off the Way-Finding Pots, but even more importantly were the signs of serious human activity in the area. Specifically, it seemed the area was a frequent source of conflict between the two groups of Others. Withered corpses and sun-bleached bones became increasingly abundant as Baobabi explorers pushed toward the mountains slowly rising over the horizon, but their adventure was diverted toward a closer, more interesting feature: a huge crater cutting deep into the earth, the desert around it covered in dirt, clay, sand, stone, and glass caused by the impact of the celestial object so many ages ago. The Stout Others were hard at work removing a glossy black material lining the crater in veins that'd been uncovered further as the ancient strip mining operation expanded to feed whatever needs this material was useful for. Of course it was no accident that the Baobabi were able to get some of their own so close to the mine without being stopped, and a Stout Other had approached the Baobabi camp the evening after they'd spied upon the crater.
The Stout Other spoke to the Baobabi in their tongue, although the smoother flow and natural cadence of Baobabi speech was significantly impacted by the Stout Other's own harsher, pitchier dialect. Decades of learning from prisoners had given The Others a rough ability to speak the Baobabi language. The Stout Other did not approach aggressively, and called out to make their presence and intent known: they sought only to speak with the Baobabi expedition. He identified himself as a member of the
Zheng Mian Tribe from another land further west, past the mountains and separated by a wide channel. The Zheng Mian made it clear that he believed conflict was inevitable between the two tribes, but what they interpreted as a Baobabi preference for an aggressive but defensive posture spoke to their tribe. The Thin Others, identified by the "diplomat" as the
Bei Bu Tribe, also thought that the fight with the Baobabi was inevitable, but they had split on how to approach the conflict. While the Bei Bu sought to annihilate the potential threat of the Baobabi as a whole, and with every advantage they could leverage, the Zheng Mian wanted an honorable, fair fight, and didn't think wholesale extermination was the best solution at this time. The "diplomat" made it clear that he wished to follow alongside the expedition where he could poke around and learn more to report to his people than forcefully imprisoned Baobabi taken at random could provide. In exchange, he would act as a guide and provide the Baobabi with some details on both the Zheng Mian and their mutual foe, the Bei Bu. His presence would also allow the Baobabi expedition to pass through claimed Zheng Mian territory unmolested. Since it was pretty clear that it was the only way for the expedition to see meaningful success, the guide was taken on.
The diplomat explained that the object which caused the crater had drawn the tribes East back when they were allied.
Stellar Metal (although without a word specific for metal at this point, the Zheng Mian used phrases like "cooked shiny stone") was removed from the rock and divided between the two tribes who had used this peculiar material to craft unique objects passed down from tribal chieftain to tribal chieftain. The Zheng Mian metal was pounded into a featureless mask with slits for the eyes, while the Bei Bu honed theirs into the head for an edged staff weapon. But more importantly, the crater uncovered a network of some
other "miraculous metal". While nearly impossible to work with their own tools, an offering of some of the harvested material left at an altar was struck by lightning and changed its form. The Zheng Mian and Bei Bu both believed that the metal was a vessel for their gods, and that the lightning striking the metal was them transferring into an object of their desired form. While most often generally useless for practical applications, the marvelous material was beautiful and very intriguing nonetheless. Many shrines littered mountaintops with offerings awaiting their deities, and the temples both tribes built were absolutely overloaded with religious totems.
Heading further west through a pass in the mountains, the guide told the Baobabi of the materials their people had found useful in the mountain range. Metal once again had been brought up, and eventually curiosity got the better of some of the explorers. A lengthy conversation occurring across a number of days saw an exchange in the basic concepts of metalworking, with the Baobabi providing their own knowledge to the Zheng Mian. Settling in this area would require forcing the local workers out and encroaching on Zheng Mian and Bei Bu claims, and would otherwise be doable with relatively little outside aid.
You will be choosing to provide the Zheng Mian Tribe with an Advantage Roll for either Animal Husbandry or Bow technology in exchange for acquiring Advantage on your next Metalworking proposal. The bonus you give the Zheng Mian will determine the action they take during the coming Exploitation Phase, but you do not need to use your bonus immediately.
The relatively fertile valley opened up into a beautiful meadow covered in various seasonal wildflowers year-round, with swarms of
Bees flitting about during the warmer months. The Baobabi followed close to the mountain north-west for a while at their companion's direction, and before turning westward toward the sea were shown the mountain the Zheng Mian had settled on in
43-B. From a distance, of course. Within
43-C, the Baobabi bore witness to the Zheng Mian method of hunting
Sika Deer. They laid in wait near normal feeding grounds and utilized their perfect immobility to let the Sika wander into grappling range. To aid in their endeavors, the hunters wore special hats with wide brims made of woven local wildlife to act as both a lure and camouflage. The
Mountain Stone was also being dragged on sturdy mats from east to west. The Zheng Mian diplomat told the expedition of a bridge constructed of stones laid across the shallowest area of the channel between their original land and the Baobabi lands. A similar structure made of bound wood that floated along the channel instead of stubbornly cutting across it also connected the Bei Bu Tribe's island to the Baobabi to the south. These megastructures were built over generations and give them both access across the channel without giving either direct access to their own home islands. The diplomat explained that although the tribes were allied, they had frequent disagreements and always harbored a healthy distrust of one another. The meadow had been used as a neutral ground to settle disputes for a number of generations prior to the Baobabi's appearance creating a rift between the tribes. Now it was a border between hostile nations. As the expedition walked the western shore past a hatching ground for
Sea Turtles and a series of
Clay Pits, the Zheng Mian guide explained that he had to leave now that they were entering Bei Bu territory.
Part of the expedition returned home at this point, since safety was no longer guaranteed (as much as it could be in this era). This was fortunate, as those who continued onward were never heard from again, so we did manage to learn about
most of what we set out for. Settling in
43-C will require uprooting both the Zheng Mian and Bei Bu in the area, but would be remarkably easy thanks to a number of mountain-fed streams and an abundance of life in general.
Special Resource Discovered: Miracle Metal While presently very little is known about how to effectively utilize this material, it is a metallic substance that will change its shape when hit with an electrical charge, such as a lightning strike.
Resources Identified:43-CSika Deer (Food)Bees (Bees?)Mountain Granite (Stone)Sea Turtles (Food + Shell)Clay Pits (Clay)Wildflowers (Chemicals)44-CImpact Crater (Stone + Clay + Sand + Miracle Metal)Sandstone Deposits (Stone)Fumic Vent (Magnetofumes)45-CFumic Vent (Magnetofumes)Megaprojects DiscoveredZheng Mian Steps: Stacked stone platforms forming a bridge across the channel between Zheng Mian and Baobab in 42-C. Wide enough for significant traffic but susceptible to sections collapsing during rough weather. Likely requires significant Stone upkeep to maintain.
Bei Bu Drifting Road: A long, long series of logs and wooden material bound by ropes. Sections can be torn free during storms, but intelligent engineering with a stone anchor tied to the bottom means there is minimal drift. Likely requires significant Wood and Textile upkeep to maintain.
Intel on Zheng Mian Tribe and Bei Bu Tribe updated!It is time again for the Expansion Phase. Remember that this phase is for expanding in the sense of proposing a new settlement location, or you may choose to develop technology to build up your military, society, industry, or culture. You may also declare an "attack" on a zone within or along your borders if you have an identified threat you wish to eliminate. Also remember to decide whether you shared the secrets of Animal Husbandry or the Baobabi Longbow with the Zheng Mian Tribe.
Improved Stone Tools: Provides durable tools for basic tasks, doubling Wood and Stone Exploitation, requires access to Stone, Wood, Textile.
-Stone Spear: Allows Exploitation of larger beasts for Food, requires access to Stone.
Bolas: Stones bound by rope used to ensnare and capture or cripple prey at range, requires access to Stone and costs 1 Textile in upkeep.
Baobabi Longbow: A composite recurved bow around 175-180cm long. Powerful and relatively silent. A weapon ahead of its time. Requires access to Textile and a Medium+ Animal Resource and costs 1 Wood upkeep.
-Stone Arrows: Stone arrows with wooden shafts and feather fletching. Effective. Requires access to Wood, costs 1 Stone in upkeep.
Primitive Rope: Dried, braided reeds that let the tribe secure and bundle objects. Allows for Wood Exploitation 1 square outside of the civilization's borders, requires access to Textiles.
Primitive Firemaking: A base tech vital for survival.
Persistence Hunting: Allows for Food Exploitation 1 square outside of the civilization's borders.
-Efficient Hunting: Smarter tactics allow your hunters to gain +1 Food from hunted resources.
Waterskins: Animal bladders with wood stoppers and pullstrings used to transport water. +1 to borders around fresh water settlements, +1 to Exploration Range.
Early Animal Domestication: With a very basic understanding of how to pacify animals, your people are capable of attempting domestication.
-Animal Husbandry: Exploited animals can be domesticated in order to produce specific benefits.
-Selective Breeding: Attempts at Domestication roll 2d10 and take the highest result.
--Pack Wildebeest: Wildebeest bred for their strength. Provides +1 Range to all land-based actions. Requires access to Domesticated Wildebeest.
--Long-Haired Wildebeest: Wildebeest bred for their long hair. Domesticated Wildebeest provide +1 Textiles.
-Domesticated Alligators: Allows the use of alligators at the cost of 1 Food Upkeep.
--Battlegators: Smaller alligators bred and trained for use as attack animals against threats. Only affects tiles with access to fresh water. Requires access to Domesticated Alligators. Basic
--Alliguards: Large alligators familiarized with locals from birth and given mud pits to reside in outside of the settlement. The need to direct their attention outward results in Walled Settlements. Requires local access to Domesticated Alligators and fresh water.
-Domesticated Elephants: Allows the use of Elephants at the cost of 1 Wood Upkeep.
--Bow Elephants: Bowmen seated on Elephants to better engage threats. The first real Baobabi combat unit, but very very limited in number. Requires access to Domesticated Elephants and Bows.
--Earthshakers: Elephants that can be directed to clear specific plots of land. Allows Extremely Basic Terraforming. Requires access to Domesticated Elephants.
Animal Bone Accessories: Jewelry, wards, and charms made of bone that provide a positive impact on tribal morale, requires access to a living (nonhuman) animal.
-Lion's Skull: The skull of the lion that led the Maneater Pride. A symbol of hunting mastery, power, prestige, and leadership within the tribe.
Clay Beads: Sun-dried clay beads ran through with string. A low-value trade good. Requires access to Clay, Textiles.
Ivory Pendants: Hand-carved ivory pendants. A high-value trade good. Requires access to Ivory, Textiles.
Subsistence Foraging: Allows for the bare minimum of passive Food collection for low populations in plentiful regions.
-Societal Herbalism: Your people as a whole have a basic familiarity with how to utilize the plant life around them. They are beginning to understand the life cycle of plants.
--Guarri Bark Paste: A bark and water mash that can be spread over open injuries to provide a level of pain relief and infection resistance.
-Primitive Dendrology: The tribe can identify the useful parts of trees better, providing Food or Chemicals in addition to Wood.
--Seedkeepers: Tribal collectors of seeds who spread them as they travel. They also keep track of tribal folklore using local trees as reference points for certain events.
---Woodsongs: Tales of the Seedkeepers turned into chants and accompanied by a rhythmically plucked bow. Is considered the foundation of the greater Baobabi language.
----Skytales: Tales of the Herbologists. Early Baobabi Astrology used to chart the time of year. Can be a foundation for many things, earthly or otherwise.
Organized Labor Force: Teams of workers organized for improved efficiency. Allows +1 Exploited Resource when Exploiting during Exploitation Phases.
-Industrious Workers: The bones of the Baobabi are not lazy. Allows new SETTLEMENTS to auto-Exploit 1 Resource.
Stone Etchings: A foundational writing technology. Slabs of stone used to keep track of herds and property. The first steps toward something greater. Requires access to Stone.
Accounting: A foundational mathematical technology. Opens up many doors as society evolves.
Bartering: A means of trade that can provide opportunities for interaction with external forces through trade and diplomacy.
Hide Tents: Provides basic shelter.
-Pit House: A semiburied wood and grass structure that provides good environmental protection, improves quality of life, and sets the stage for further enhancements to bolster a more sedentary lifestyle, requires 1 Wood per Settlement for upkeep.
Brick Kilns: A fire enclosed in a brick dome that allows refinement of various materials thanks to high heat. Requires 1 Clay for upkeep.
-Kiln-fired Bricks: Clay bricks baked at high temperature. Sturdy, brittle material. Can be used in new advancements at an appropriate Clay cost. Requires a funded kiln-like technology.
Potter's Wheel: Increases the quality and quantity of clay handcrafts. Proves a wheel shape can actually be useful!
-Baobabi Pottery: A premium trade good unique to the Baobabi made of clay with decorative indentations and ash glazing. Requires access to Clay and a funded kiln-like technology.
--Food Pots: Food storage pots that decrease Baobabi reliability on the land for food and protects food from the elements/vermin, allowing them to expand further. +1 Range to All Settlement Borders. Requires 1 Food for upkeep and a funded pottery technology.
--Way-Finding Pots: Pots storing Magnetofumes that can be leaked out to see which way is north. +1 Exploration Range. Requires 1 Magnetofumes Upkeep and a funded pottery technology.
Stake Wall: Wooden stakes stuck into earthen ramparts to create a basic but effective barrier. Requires access to Wood.
Very Basic Terraforming: An Exploit Action that can modify a wood resource into a plant resource, plant resource into a ground resource, and has a low chance to change a ground resource into a subsurface mineral deposit.
The Baobab of Bones: A tree used to mark tribal deaths due to lions now adorned by the sun-bleached bones of said lions. The deceased are left as offerings at its base. Is not a health hazard thanks to local scavengers stealing away with corpses in the night. The bones hanging from the branches act as a macabre windchime.
Food: 0/5 (Settlement Upkeep(-3), Food Pots(-1), Domesticated Alligators(-1))
Wood: 1/6 (Pit Houses(-3), Baobabi Longbows(-1), Domesticated Elephants(-1))
Stone: 3/4 (Stone Arrows(-1))
Magnetofumes: 3/4 (Way-Finding Pots(-1))
Chemical: 2/2
Textile: 2/3 (Bolas(-1))
Sand: 0/0
Ivory: 1/1
Clay: 0/1 (Brick Kilns(-1))
Miracle Metal: 0/0
41-C: Zheng Mian Capital
42-B: Plains, Coast, Shallow Water, Coast
42-C: Zheng Mian Steps, Plains, Coast, Shallow Water, Coast, Mountains, Grassy Valley
42-D: Shallow Water, Coast, Riverlands, Jungle
42-E: Bei Bu Capital
43-B: Zheng Mian Settlement, Desert, Mountain Range, Plains, Coast, Shallow Water
43-C: Mountain Range, Flowery Meadow, Coast, Shallow Water [Explored]
43-D: Bei Bu Drifting Road, Plains, Coast, Shallow Water, Coast, Jungle
43-E: Jungle, Coast, Shallow Water
44-B: Desert, Coast, Shallow Water
44-C: Desert, Mountain, Meadow, Impact Crater [Explored]
44-D: Bei Bu Settlement, Desert, Mountain, Meadow, Coast, Shallow Water
44-E: Coast, Shallow Water, Coast, Jungle
45-A: Shallow Water
45-B: Desert, Coast, Shallow Water
45-C: Desert [Explored]
45-D: Desert, Oasis, Mountain [Explored]
45-E: Desert, Mountain Range, Coast, Shallow Water
46-B: Savannah, Desert, Coast, Shallow Water [Explored]
46-C: Savannah, Desert [Explored]
46-D: Savannah, Desert, Beach [Explored]
46-E: Desert, Beach, Coast, Shallow Water
47-B: GREENLIFE (Walled Settlement) Savannah, Freshwater Spring, Freshwater Stream, Beach, Coast, Shallow Water [Explored]
47-C: Savannah, Freshwater Stream [Explored]
47-D: STAKEHOME (Settlement), Savannah, Beach, Coast, Shallow Water [Explored]
47-E: Shallow Water
48-B: Savannah, Beach, Coast, Shallow Water
48-C: GREAT BAOBAB (Settlement), Savannah, Freshwater Stream, Freshwater Lake [Explored]
48-D: Savannah, Beach, Coast, Shallow Water [Explored]
48-E: Shallow Water
49-B: Shallow Water
49-C: Savannah, Plateaus, Beach, Coast, Shallow Water [Explored]
49-D: The Cave Hole, Savannah, Beach, Coast, Shallow Water [Explored]
50-C: Savannah, Ferrovolcano, Beach, Coast, Shallow Water [Explored]
Identified, Identified but Currently Useless or Inaccessible and Exploited
43-C: Food (Sika Deer), Stone (Mountain Granite), Food (Sea Turtles), Shell (Sea Turtles), Clay (Clay Pits), Chemicals (Wildflowers), Bees? (Bees?)
44-C: Stone (Impact Crater), Clay (Impact Crater), Sand (Impact Crater), Miracle Metal (Impact Crater), Stone (Sandstone Deposits), Magnetofumes (Fumic Vent)
45-C: Magnetofumes (Fumic Vent)
45-D: Food (Coconut Palms), Wood (Coconut Palms), Textiles (Coconut Palms)[/s], Textiles (Reeds), Magnetofumes (Fumic Vent)
46-B: Food (Dolphin Pod), Magnetofumes (Fumic Vent), Rattlesnakes? (Rattlesnakes?)
46-C: Food x2 (Finger Millet, White Rhino Herd), Magnetofumes (Fumic Vent)
46-D: Food x4 (Acacia Growths, Giraffe Herds, Horseshoe Crabs, Egrets), Stone (Sandstone Stacks), Magnetofumes (Fumic Vent), Painted Dogs? (Painted Dogs?)
47-B: Food x3 (Barley Fields, Wildebeest Herd, Marula Tree Grove), Wood (Marula Tree Grove), Malachite River Stones (Stone(+1)), Domesticated Alligators (Domesticated Alligators)
47-C: Food (Zebra Herd), Wood x2 (Rubber Tree Copse(+1)), Chemicals (Rubber Tree Copse), Magnetofumes (Fumic Geyser), Cheetahs? (Cheetahs?)
47-D: Food x2 (Domesticated Wildebeest, Acacia Grove), Wood x2 (Acacia Grove(+1)), Stone x2 (Granite Inselberg(+1)), Textiles (Domesticated Wildebeest) Magnetofumes (Fumic Geyser)
48-C: Food (Antelope Herd) Food x3 (Ostrich Flock(+1), Domesticated Wildebeest), Domesticated Elephants (Domesticated Elephants), Ivory (Domesticated Elephants), Clay (Lakeside Red Clay Deposit), Textiles x2 (Lakeside Reeds, Domesticated Wildebeest), Wood x2 (Rubber Tree Hills(+1)), Chemicals (Rubber Tree Hills)
48-D: Textiles (Cordgrass Shoots), Clay (Marine Clay)
49-C: Stone (Limestone Chimneys), Magnetofumes x2 (Fumic Plateau), Sand (White Quartz Beach)
49-D: Food x2 (Crabs, Flamingo Flock)
50-C: Stone x2 (Obsidian, Yellowed Basalt), Magnetofumes x4 (Ferrovolcano)
+Wood Resource
+Domesticated Wildebeest Resource
+Advantage to Metalworking (Automatically Applied)
The Bei Bu Tribe: Generally aggressive posture, responsible for kidnappings near the border. Use some sort of lizard-based(?) magic or mysticism to enable superhuman speed. Warring with Zheng Mian and view the Baobabi as a thing to be exterminated. Created the Bei Bu Drifting Road.
The Zheng Mian Tribe: Generally aggressive posture, responsible for kidnappings near the border. Use some sort of dirt-based(?) magic or mysticism to enable superhuman durability. While hostile, they seem to have an exploitable weakness in their concept of honor. Still seek to conquer the Baobabi and are warring with Bei Bu. Created the Zheng Mian Steps.
Major Founders:
Powder Miner - (9I/2P)
Nuke9.13 - (4I/2P)
Quarque - (3I/0P)
Minor Founders:
m1895 - (3I/3P)
Doomblade187 - (2I/0P)
Kashyyk - (2I/0P)
a1s - (1I/1P)
Taricus - (1I/1P)
Fluffe1199 - (0I/0P)
Light forger - (0I/0P)
sketchykeeps - (0I/0P)
Knightwing64 - (0I/0P)
chubby2man - (0I/0P)
Author
Topic: The Founders - A RiskyArmsCivGodPoliticking Game (Experimentation VI) (Read 17196 times)