Drethnor turn #9

Gamemaster's Post
Drethnor Turn #9

The 7 Drethen Cattle Clans:
Point Reserve: -2 fear maintaining the cattle curse & Wretched Curse
Faith Points 13 (+13)
Fear Points 15 (+17-2)
Human Population: 810
The Wretched: 210
Cattle: 4,980

Technology Known: Stone Knives/scrapers, Fire (order of flame), Cattle herding, Leatherworking (order of flame), spears (hunting game), basic cooking (order of flame), boiling healthy water (order of flame)

The Chosen (vulture men)
Faith: 14 (+14)
Fear: 3 (+3)
Vulture Men: 117
Drethnor's Own: 11
Dread Vultures: 360

Mystic Powers: (1) Telepathic communication with Dread vultures
Mystic Technology: Dread Vulture Messenging Service (1)
Technology: Stone Knives & Scrapers, Domestication: Dread Vulture

Total Fear/Faith:
Faith: 41 (27+14)
Fear: 18

Gamemaster's Post
Description: Drethen Cattle Clans

The open plains teem with cattle and twice a year the fearful lords of each clan give Dread Drethnor his due in cattle. Of course every so often the foolish and the weak steal from Drethnor's offerings. Some do it out of desperation and hunger, others out of a false sense of bravado thinking they can outwit or overpower the great and mighty lord of the vultures.

This has left each clan with a small population of The Wretched living a the center of their territory. The god won't let us kill the vile things and some few of the weaker clans give them their dead in an attempt to earn the lords favor, most clans prefer to ignore them. Drethnor doesn't seem to mind and his carrion birds get fed rather than the damned and their children.

The clans young men have started sparring with each other at the edge of the territories to see who has the most courage. Cattle theft between clans is up, but the peace holds because there is plenty for everyone and most clans have close blood ties to one another.

Gamemaster's Post
The Chosen

The flocks thrive, we are small in numbers but great in courage and in the favor of might Drethnor! Our brave and clever children buck the great cave lion at it's kill and race the mighty gazzele to the ground! We battle on another for honor, for courage, and simply for the joy of the contest! Old men and women raise the young on tales of our tribes exploits and children compare the honor of their birth flocks and the flocks of their mates!

Given the ability to communicate without harming each other we rank the clans every year. It's tempting to rank ourselves higher than our neighbors but respect for each others prowess and fear of indignant rage should we insult another brave flock keeps us honest. Drethnor's own in the highest ranking flock rule over us all for the next year! But they must be sure to keep their tribe strong and not offend the others or they will lose the privilage and be thrown into the dirt quickly!

Drethnor's reply

Before I take my turn I want to investigate why I have so many of The Wretched already and so few of The Chosen.

Gamemaster's Reply:

You have very few of the chosen because they breed slowly and started out with low numbers. They also live a reckless lifestyle that causes a good number of injuries and deaths. For the numbers equation humans breed at 2.5 children a generation on average, the chosen get 2.3 children per generation on average, and the wretched get 3 children a generation on average. Of course lifestyle and potential for injury also work into the equation.

The Drethen generally lose 1/3rd of their population each generation to injury, disease, and natural death, the drethen lose a bit over 1/2, and the wretched 1/4rth. The wretched survive best because they don't live recklessly and are protected by their psychic power so they increase in numbers fast. Plus each turn they get a trickle of Drethen added to their numbers.

So overall the wretched grow fastest, followed by the tribesmen, and the chosen grow the slowest. At the moment the difference in numbers isn't hugely noticable because the tribesmen have a lot higher population base to start with than the other two.

Drethnor's Post

(1) I've gotta do something to up my population amongst The Chosen, give them some numbers to make up for the lifestyle and the natural birthrate. So I'm upping their fertility for this turn ONLY from 2.3 to 5, that way they get a HUGE pop increase this turn but it shouldn't cost so much. I mean I made the ancestor race, then I made this race, I'm pretty good at this genetic and pop manipulation with these specific folks and it's not a "forever" change.

(2) After that I want to go in and give the leaders of the flocks a mass vision showing them the basic ideas behind martial arts. How it's done, basic meditation and self control techniques, non lethal competition with impartial judges for both individuals and teams, they've got the idea of competition and honor sort of worked out but I clarify it and give them a focus. I also explain the difference between single and group combat as a sport, in war (to the death), and clarify the difference between war (with intelligent beings) and hunting animals.

Note this is the first time I've done this but I don't want to GIVE them all that I want them to research it themselves. They are a very proud people and probably wouldn't respect a GIFT as much as something they have to earn. It should also lower my point cost.

(3) My people SHOULD fear my wraith, those dratted Drethen aren't giving my Wretched the dead as I asked. Now they shall pay!

What I want to do is to set up a curse, I'll take a point reserve to keep it active. If the dead aren't taken for proper disposal by the next full moon they shall rise and seek out their nearest relative. The animate corpse will have a very basic intellect and memory, just enough to moan, beg to be taken for proper disposal, complain that they are in pain, and follow their relative to the nearest nest of the Wretched.

However IF they don't find the relative within three days or are ignored the dead will change tactics and decide to KILL it's negligent relative. They are no more POWERFUL than strong man, but they are tough. The spirit animating the flesh will know how to use all basic weapons used by the clans and can continue animating the body so long as it's mostly intact. This includes moving severed limbs or tossing a severed head at the person.

Fire can destroy them, or having all of their limbs and head hacked off from the main torso.
Specific prayers to ME and repentence from the truly faithful will also deanimate the things, but I'm not going to give the people those prayers until they beg me for them. Once the corpse kills it's target it sinks into the ground but can be called forth to serve me again at need until it is destroyed. Calling up my undead forces should only cost a minor point cost, say one or two points to use them myelf for the turn.

I'll pay up to a 5 fear point reserve for all this, plus the initial cost. I also want to help power the thing by giving my wretched a specific ritual for feasting on the flesh of an intelligent worshipper, their own people, or the clansmen. Letting them know about this ritual will be part of this whole curse.

Finally the truly faithful among the wretched should be able to sense the angry zombie spirits within the ground, call them forth with mental will, and direct them to simple tasks and fighting. It's something they'll have to figure out and research on their own but I'll give them a hint to get them started with the ritual revelation.

Gamemasters post:
Feedback

(1) Five faith should do it, your fairly good at this by now and very experienced with these particular folks. It would cost more if you were going for regular humans or some alien race, but you made these guys and their ancestors to some extent on both sides of their genetic family tree.

(2) Ok mass vision teaching is normally 15 points, but your not simply giving them the tech this time. I'm going to charge it as 12 faith points simply because your giving them a LOT of concepts to work on. I know you'll want to argue it, but really these ideas aren't any less complex to grasp and start working on then the basic idea of fire or animal husbandry. In fact all of this is really a lot more complex but I'm assuming your not being very specific.

(3) ok this is going to cost you 30 fear to set up and you need to pay a reserve cost of 1 fear point for ever 100 zombies you keep active. So next turn it'll probably cost you between 3 & 4 points for the reserve, but if you have 1000 zombies at your command and under the control of your Wretched . . . well that would be ten points. I have a feeling you'll be letting these guys rest in peace after a certain number are risen! lol

Right now this only effects your Drethen clansmen and the wretched themselves. If you want it to effect more people later you'll have to pay again.

Drethnor's Reply:

Done, even having to pay 2 faith for every remaining fear point after my 18 I still can get it done this turn and I think these zombies should have a nice effect on my level of respect and proper worship amongst the clansmen!