Drethnor turn #7

Gamemaster's Post
Drethnor Turn #7

Drethen:
Faith Points 11 (0+11)
Fear Points 10 (0+10)
Human Population: 328
Cattle: 525

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)

Technology lost: Domestication: Dread Vulture

The Chosen (vulture men)
Faith: 10 (0+10)
Fear: 5 (0+5)
Vulture Men: 60
Drethnor's Own: 6
Dread Vultures: 240

Mystic Powers: Telepathic communication with Dread vultures

Technology Known: Stone Knives & Scrapers, Domestication: Dread Vulture

Technology lost: Cattle herding, fire, spears, leatherworking, basic cooking, boiling healthy water

Total Fear/Faith:
Fear: 16
Faith: 21

Gamemaster's Post:
Description: Overview

This turn your people have split into two tribes with different outlooks on the world, technological knowledge, and everything else. To reflect that I've split up your basic data above.

You can now see exactly how much faith or fear your getting from each group, their numbers, and what technologies they know. At the bottom your TOTAL faith and fear points are listed, you can still use them for whatever you want. The seperate listings just let you track how much your getting from each population, so if one group suddenly starts losing faith in you it's something you can spot quickly and easilly.

I'm also now keeping track of which tribe knows what skills and abilities. Your vulture men lost a lot of knowledge that was the property of the original tribes upper class, or which wasn't useful in their new form. They also gained the psychic link to your dread vultures. That makes a HUGE difference.

Gamemaster's Post:
Description: (Drethen)

We chased the out the scavengers who were filthy eaters of unpure water and rotting meat and settled into a stable life of herding cattle and hunting wild game. Less people died and more were born, the tribe has swelled in both numbers and wealth! Every clan now has a small herd of about 75 cattle and the numbers are growing!

For a time the filthy scavengers came and tried to convince us to join them in the dirt and grime but our lord Drethnor showed his displeasure with them by twisting them into horrid paradies of vultures. Seeing these filthy subhuman creatures left to scavenge the waste of better hunters and eat only rotten meat convinced those who had once been tempted that our ways were best and the tribe unified into a single whole. All the women belong to drethnors holy order of flame, and all the men now herd and hunt game on the rich plains.

Our people are now divided into seven clans led by the oldest son of a Noble Chief and his Wife. The chief is the oldest male decendent of one of the men who followed Sharp Eyed Vulture. The word of the chief is law to all men of the clan. His wife heads the order of flame and her word is law among all the wives and daughters.

Together our seven Noble Clans have travelled far to the north following the herds into a rich green land of grass threaded by thousands of small streams and springs. Here in this paradise we've spread out. Every clan claiming it's own rich grazing land to wander in.

We only gather together once a year to marry off our strong sons and nubile daughters. Other than that contact is limited to chance meetings between men tending to the herds and messengers sent between clans by the chiefs. We feel truly blessed!

Gamemaster's Post
Description: The Chosen part one

Long ago our noble tribe followed Drethnor's way as humans strong and smart we were lords of the plains hunting what we could kill and stealing what we could not! Yet the vile deceivers Sharp eyed Vulture and his consort Lady Wretched came to the tribe with false words and let the people astray. Under their guidance most of the people became servents to the cattle of the feild and hunted no more.

Jealous of our strength and afraid we would bring the people back into Drethnor's sacred ways the leaders of these Cow Slaves drove us from their numbers and left us to die. For years though we lurked at the edge of their encampments converting those who would listen. This ended though when our lord remade all his true people in his image. For a time we still tried to save The Fallen but they refused to listen and eventually we parted ways.

Our people travelled south following their prey into an area of wooded plains teaming with game. Here each family hunted and scavenged with the help of Drethnor's own sacred Dread Vultures! And it was here that the god finally severed our last bonds with misguided humanity.

Drethnor reached down to each family and the eggs of their dread vultures glowed with red anger and swelled to a huge size! From these eggs emerged new people decended from avian stock. These true vulture men were humanoid birds covered in a thick beautiful coat of green and black feathers. They had the legs of a great bird of prey, and arms ending in great scaley five fingered talons! Their heads were like that of a vulture with a huge sharp beak. Yet they were able to speak!

(Turkey vulture head: http://www.pbase.com/vantis/image/46487794 )

As we mated with the new children the result was a race blessed by drethnor. Every child bore the new mark and soon every one of us was a true vulture man! Children not just of misguided mankind but also from the dread vultures themselves. We even began to lay eggs!

When these egges hatched nine out of ten children were born as true vulture men, yet one in ten was truly blessed! Drethnor's Own are twelve foot tall 400 pound ostritch-like flightless vultures. These creatures are able to run 35 miles an hour and bear huge beaks with which they can bring down their prey. The only inheritance they get from our human ancestors is their intelligence and the ability to speak.

From that point on one out of every ten eggs has always produced a blessed child. These protectors never bear young of their own, but watch over us and keep us safe.

Gamemaster's Post
Description: The Chosen part two

These changes have had a dramatic effect on our lives. We make our nests in groves of trees where the small vulture men can sleep safely amongst the branches during the daylight hours. Our clawed hands and feet are excellent for climbing. Below us Drethnor's Own sleep guarding our huge eggs on the ground. Their dangerous presence serves to scare off most predators.

Thankfully both The Chosen and Drethnor's Own can run as fast as a horse! At night our hunters range forth from the nest bringing down prey and carting it back home where we lay it in open pits to rot until it is suitable for consumption.

Our hunts have been helped dramatically since we bear a close relationship to our Dread Vulture ancestors and can now watch prey with their eyes and even direct their movement within limits. Thus far our numbers are low, but already we are kings of the wooded grasslands! Who could stand against our might! Drethnor has truly blessed us!

Drethnor's Post

hmmm I'm going to have to look at my creature description to find the flaw here. How are these changes screwing me over? Tiny fast bird men who jump on prey in packs and bring it down with sharp beaks? Gigantic intelligent monster birds who attack with mighty beaks and strong kicking legs? Nice.

(1) First I want to go to my Drethen Cattle Clans and provide a mass vision to the cheifs of each tribe. I have blessed their people with prosperity and good land yet I get not one calf? Not one cow? Not one bull?

I'm giving these chiefs rituals to do on the summer and winter solstice. They will use their sharp knives and spears to give me three sacrifices per ritual. Thanking me for their prosperity and their luck. If they do not do this the cattle will sicken and die. These sacrifices are mine, not for the people to eat or use. The chiefs should make sure that the bodies are buried and NOT taken by any of the people.

(2) Someone is sure to buck me here and try to steal my sacrifices. If they do I want to sicken the cows, and turn the offender into a vulture man!

(3) If I have the points left over I'll give one of the women a vision telling her how to plant yams in the spots where the tribes bury their feces so that when the clans wanders back that way there will be food growing for them to eat.

Gamemaster's Reply:
Feedback

Well there are several catches actually, you'll find complete details in your creatures list.


(1) Easy its going to cost you about 12 points but you've got it.

(2) good thinking men are greedy and cattle is valuable. THe cattle is easy with your fear points, but you won't have the points to turn a man into a FERTILE Vulture Man when your done. I would however let you turn a man into a sterile facimile of a vulture man for 20 points, he won't have any of the advantages but it should make your point. It would be 20 fear points, but you only have 16, so you'll need to spend 8 faith points as well. Faith isn't as good for this as fear. However you'll only be able to do the change once.

(3) Done it will cost 5 points, but you have 13 left.

Drethnor's Post:

(2) Can I somehow make it a standing effect? I'm good with the sterility but I want the sickness and the change to happen whenever the tribe misses the sacrifice or someone steals from me, the sickness will last until the ritual is performed correctly on the opposing solstice and many cows will die, though not so many that the tribe is destroyed due to ONE mistake. Diseased cattle will visibly look emancipated and take on a greenish black coloring.

Gamemaster's Post:
Feedback

(2) Yes you can, but you'll have to sacrifice all your remaining points this turn and then reserve 2 points per turn after this to maintain the effect. If you do THAT I'll let the new bird men be fully formed and fertile PROVIDED that they truly curse their former tribe!

Drethnor's Post:

(2) Done!

Edit: Hey I just looked at the creature list. You bastard! Drethnors own are sterile! And all the vulture people are hugely territorial! With those limits I have no clue how I'm going to form a civilization with these guys!

Gamemaster's Post
Feedback

You'll manage these guys are pretty sweet, but not perfect. The territorial tendencies can be got around in a couple ways both Drethnors own and the pre-adolescent young can go anywhere to any tribal group they want. Territorial tendencies are found in both apes and birds and with the combination this made sense. These guys naturally live in groups much like a flock of birds or a troop of monkeys.

Also notice that these bird men have better hands for tool use than their original vulture men ancestors did.