Things to teach:
Your reaction of worship to the bronze and the wolves are misguided. To do proper worship is not to Hide away and reserve, or to elevate and spoil. True worship is shown by studying, taming, mass producing and finally and most importantly EXPLOITING. This is true for all things: men, animals, metals, ideas, even gods. In a ruthless world you do not have time for restraint.
Teach them that the goal of all things is to grow and make more of itself, and that to be true to themselves they must do this at any cost and that all other goals they might think themselves to have are delusion. Also explain to them how the way you grow is by worship, and thus to serve you they must do whatever it takes to make more people worship you and follow your teachings.
Tell them that the world will always be cruel, for if it is not then the one who invents cruelty will take all, and you have taught them it's secret.
Well I still suggest that we create the Forest Sprites sometime also ignore my action.
Tame the bear, make it the guardian animal of the two skulls tribe. Re-unite the red path tribe, then unite all the tribes, with our prophet as their leader. Scout and make any other tribes join you through gifts of food and displays of light (somewhat like fireworks). If they resist, then awe them with your army and superior technology. If even that does not work, crush them like fleas. Beyond that, follow armok's suggestions.
edit: also teach them how to mine so we can produce at least copper without divine help.
If you put the "Impress with army" and the mere look of our presence as the FIRST step, then we can get away with using no essence.
Nuul's vision returns to the Fire Stones, noting with satisfaction the organized training sessions and lessons being held just outside the camp. She finds Arahe addressing a dozen followers and tells him the words to speak through their connection, the wolf on his side. The Prophet does as asked. He explains to his listeners that it serves no purpose to keep the wolves and weapons in such great value. Nothing in the world deserves pointless respect - as their goddess told them, they must take control of and exploit everything, from other people, animals, ideas and everything else.
He also speaks for the need to grow their strenght and numbers and to gather more followers under their banner. Any other goal is secondary. The greater their power, the greater Nuul will be. Arahe seems to put extra emphasis on the last matter, for some reason.
adwarf:Nuul then returns to her body, overseeing the forest the remnants of the Red Path worshippers fled to. Their numbers have fallen to a mere eight with attacks by wild animals and waning faith. The rest have finally started defending themselves and hunting for food, despite the conflict with Nadani's teachings. Many of them suffer from deep depression as a result, and they've lost their overzealous edge from before. Nuul descends into their midst and reveals herself.
They have many questions, which their goddess has no answers to. They've tried to live in harmony with nature, but animals still flee from there or hunt them down. Many have returned to their old ways or gone back to the camp to beg for forgiveness. Nuul thinks for a while and then tells them they are ready to receive her gift and become something greater than man. The events in the camp and in their exile have been their trials, and the last eight are the only ones to succeed.
This calms them somewhat. How foolish they had been to think themselves abandoned by their goddess! She had simply been testing them, seeing if they were worthy. The followers begged for forgiveness for their doubt. Nuul goes along with all this. Good of them to deceive themselves willingly.
She tells them to be silent, for it is time for them to receive the greatest gift. Nuul weaves together her Essence and the specks contained within them, twisting their entire being to create new life. Their bodies transform, gaining new, graceful forms fillled with bright Essence. She draws into existance a similar aura of calm she used to draw the forest animals from earlier around her, and places one around each Follower. She forges a connection between them and the soil, the trees and everything living inside the woods. The only thing left unaffected are their minds.
While they are still getting used to their wonderful new existance, Nuul moves on. It is time for her greatest work yet.
BunnyBob/Armok:Nuul travels back to the Two Skulls Tribe, only to find it back on the move again. She follows their tracks back to their camp and spends some time examining blood stains and bear tracks to locate the beast. She hears the thing roaring much before she sees it.
The Two Skulls beast is revealed to be a larger-than-average brown bear, lying on its side in a forest pool, arrows and a stone speartip stuck in its side. Looks like these last victims actually managed to fight back. The thing is dying already. Nuul moves closer, unseen by the simple thing, and heals it with a surge of Essence. The Two Skulls Tribe thought she had abandoned them, which was only partly true. She'd focused on the much more welcoming Fire Stones. It was time to bring them all together.
Nuul rebuilds the bear's mind and leads it out of the forest and after the travelling Two Skulls. Under her guidance it crosses the distance much faster than it normally would, and is at their side before any guard can use their bow. Nuul manifests above them.
'So little faith you had! Did you not consider for a moment my protection could include a test? But I am a merciful god, and am willing to give you a second chance to prove yourself. On the other side of the plains, Arahe Tashkit's people await you.' Nuul proclaims.
'The journey is long, but your old enemy will serve as your guide and protector. Let this be the first lesson - to triumph in this world, you must forsake anger and fear and adopt ruthlessness and intelligence. Do not regard the beast as an enemy. Regard it as a tool to be used.'Nuul leaves, and the tribe explodes in debate. Those who wish to leave and follow Nuul's command scream and spit insults at those who do not. They come close to coming to blows, but a tribe elder by the name of Laman declares he is taking his family and leaving, and those who wish to do the same should follow him. This results in a split in the tribe, with almost half setting off across the plains towards Arahe's camp.
The goddess lets her vision travel around the region again, marking down the locations of different tribes. She gives these to Arahe through their connection and tells him to merge these into his, with any means he thinks necessary. Arahe reassures her that they will not forget her teachings. She also tells them how to eventually make materials such as bronze or copper from the ores of the earth.
Water Runner Tribe:The Water Runner tribesmen have been trying to complete their divine task to the best of their advantage, but the lack of details and further manifestations of their goddess, many have lost faith in the mission. They visited the camp of the Dust Wolves Tribe, who took two of their women captive and drove them away without listening to their cause. They want vengeance, and are most likely expecting Nuul to help them with it.
Fire Stone Tribe:Arahe sends messengers to the three tribes that rejected Nuul earlier in favor of the dead spirits, sweet-talking the first two into talks. The third, the Snow Tribe, however, executes the messengers and dumps their bodies into the river for daring to worship a false goddess. Once the bodies are found, the Fire Stone tribesmen react with outrage. Arahe calms them, reminding them of Nuul's words and suppressing their emotions in favor of cold logic. Despite their obvious military advantage, an attack on the Snow Tribe would result in unneeded casualties.
Despite this, some young warriors head to the Snow Tribe camp alone and die in vain in suicidal attacks. A bronze axe and suit of armor fall into the hands of the Snow Tribe. When the warriors don't return, Arahe suspects the worst and acts fast. He quickly convinces the elders of the two other tribes to join the Fire Stones with a mix of military threats and well-crafted lies and diplomacy. An alliance is forged between the three tribes, and even though actually converting them to worshipping Nuul won't be easy or quick, the seeds have been sown.
The silver-tongued Arahe flares up old disputes and reminds the elders of old conflicts, waking the bloodlust inside them. By the end of the week, a horde of armed tribesmen is on the way to the Snow Tribe camp. The Snow Tribe sends its elders to negotiate, but Arahe can see the bloodlust in the eyes of the other two tribes, and knows he cannot let the Snow Tribe go free if he wants to keep the other two tribes.
The battle doesn't take long. The camp is burned and looted, and those who survive are enslaved and scattered around the Three Tribes.
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Turn 3 EventsNuul teaches the Fire Stones once more through Arahe's mouth.Most of the Red Path followers lose faith or are killed by wild beasts. -
10 Followers Lost.Nuul turns the eight remaining Red Path followers into Forest Sprites. -
580 Divine Essence Lost.Nuul tames the Two Skulls beast and gifts it to them, ordering them to join Arahe's tribe across the plains. -
30 Divine Essence Lost. 44 Followers Gained.The Water Runner Tribe loses followers to loss of faith and a hostile tribe. -
4 Followers Lost.The Fire Stone Tribe start their expansion and unification. Arahe forges alliances with two other tribes and crushes the hostile Snow Tribe. -
5 Followers Lost. 2 Followers Gained.---
Godly PowerDivine Essence Gained - 615¤
Divine Essence Lost - 610¤
Remaining Divine Essence - 260¤ (+885¤ next turn)
The FaithfulName: Arahe the Hunter
Titles: Wolfbrother,
Chief of Chiefs
31 years old
Human Physique
Human Intellect
Human Charisma
-
8 (Forest Sprites), 27 (Water Runner Tribe),
78 (Fire Stone Tribe), 44 (Two Skulls Tribe)
The Religion
Main Aspect - Nuul is seen as a mighty teacher of her chosen peoples and a holder of great knowledge. Nuul requires her followers to prove their worth in trials. She is usually decipted as a burning star or a thunderstorm.
Nadani - Nadani is a friend to all life, and wishes to teach mankind to live in harmony with nature. Before receiving her protection, followers must first prove themselves worthy. She is worshipped by the 8 Forest Sprites.
Logical thinking and pragmatism are the key virtues of the Fire Stone Tribe.
No Artifacts
No Holy Sites
Forest Sprites - The eight surviving Red Path followers who were transformed after they had proven themselves worthy. Friends to all animals and guardians of the forest. Divine Servants.
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I don't get why Armok wants to make the Fire Stones less reliant on Nuul. His Xanatos Gambit sure must be ingenious.
UltraValican, I didn't use your 'make bear into divine fruit/crop' yet because I thought it would fit in better after the bear and the Two Skulls followers arrived at the Fire Stones camp. Unless you don't wanna/something makes that unnecessary, I'll use it in the next turn, when they arrive.
Author
Topic: Essenceborn - A God Game - Turn 7 (Read 24206 times)