Entity's Long Way Home (CYOA Civilization)

[NinjaCow64]

4) - "Oh my dear, my sweet Coruncanu," the Entity whispered "I feel the pain and hate deep within your soul. Your uncle and that priest are merely jealous of your power and exploited your misfortune to turn your lessors against you. I, too, was cast out by my people because they feared the power I possessed. But together we will have our revenge. Come! Follow my instructions, perform these rituals. They will manipulate the fears of the exiles of the hills. They will learn to fear Us. To respect Us. To adore Us. To worship Us. They will be in awe of Your great power and they will serve to have a taste of Our magic. We will gather a cult that will fly the flag of the Black Swan and together We will march on your uncle and You will have your revenge and together We shall rule.

 

[J.A.M.]

2, when this vessel sets off to slay the Giant clan singlehandedly, she'll need a bit more than a few rocks to be able to bash their heads in. A potion to breathe the ocean's blood, a poultice to heal any wound, an elixir of strength, those will be this vessel's keys to victory. Sure it'll be a tough job to do so alone with only the fellow exiles to help and experiment on, but it'll be well worth the effort when the tribe is united under our vessel's calloused fist.

 

[Kyzarc Fotjage]

7) The Entity once ruled multitudes with an iron appendage. There is no reason to waste time faffing around with 'elixers' or 'marriages' when we can simply SEIZE the power we want. The witch will wield us and strike down the old chief who dares believe himself our better and take the clan for her own!

 

[Marcher Jovian]

2) Revenge is sweetest when it's long and subtle — lay the groundwork now, so we can better strike later.

 

[Ahigin]

Option 2 wins.

Episode 4. The Medicine Woman of the Hills.

Survival in the wild wasn't an easy ordeal for the lone woman, but Entity wasn't as preoccupied with her daily struggles. As long as Coruncanu's body was somewhat fed and healthy, Entity was satisfied with using her as its exploration tool. Coruncanu spent long years walking the hills, gathering herbs, mushrooms, and roots, aiming to learn their primitive qualities. As primitive as that process was, eventually Entity had to give its vessel some credit: she was smart and persistent, and her knowledge of potions and brews grew quicker than it expected. The herbal concoctions kept her warm and healthy, and only her habit of blabbering to Entity on and off suggested that, perhaps, her social skills suffered a little.

Over time, the male hunters and female berry gatherers from the Swan and Mullet clans stopped avoiding her whenever they saw her walk the hilly meadows. One time, a rabbit hunter from the Swan clan got hurt falling from a rock, and Coruncanu took him to her cave, tending to his wounds and helping him recover. The day after he left her, his family arrived, bringing with them a gift of fire-cooked meat, fine pelts, and best stone tools they could get. She was no longer an exiled witch of the Swan clan.

Years passed, and Coruncanu's reputation spread across the two islands. Rarely a week passed without somebody visiting her cave, bringing best gifts they could afford and asking her about diseases and curses, perceived or real. A few times, she was even asked to brew poisons for jilted lovers. Eventually, the woman accumulated so much wealth (worthless as these items were in Entity's view) that she could afford taking apprentices from the local clans and even hiring servants.

Entity sensed that Coruncanu was happy with that life. But Entity wanted more.

What should Coruncanu do with her wealth?
1. Hire strongest clubmen and slingers from the local clans and extort tolls from anyone entering Coruncanu's domain. (Challenge: low (Vitality/Cunning); Effort: medium; Risk: high; Reward: medium (Asset: Hill Guards; Asset: Wealth +1))
2. Train female apprentices as healers and poisoners and direct them to return to their clans, paying her a fraction of their earnings. (Challenge: low (Intelligence/Commerce); Effort: medium; Risk: low; Reward: low (Asset: Wealth +1))
3. Open her loins for any man wondering into the cave, spawning her own clan as a matriarch. (Challenge: low (Vitality/Command); Effort: high; Risk: medium; Reward: medium (Background: Great Mother of the Hills; Asset: Black Swan clan))
4. Decorate the cave, fill it with herbal smoke, and learn blood-chilling chants, playing on people's superstitions. (Challenge: low (Charisma/Performance); Effort: low; Risk: high; Reward: high (Background: Witch of the Hills; Asset: Sacrificial gifts))
5. Learn to cultivate wild barley, millet, and oat, and make the aspiring apprentices work on her farm. (Challenge: low (Intelligence/Learning); Effort: high; Risk: low ; Reward: high (Asset: Wealth +2; Asset: Grain stores))
6. Direct her apprentices to capture young beasts and birds, raising them in her home, to be slaughtered later for food and craft material. (Challenge: low (Intelligence/Craft); Effort: high; Risk: low; Reward: high (Asset: Wealth +2; Asset: Cattle))
7. Choose your own.

Entity
Attributes
Vitality 1 | Charisma 1 | Intelligence 1

Abilities
Melee 1 | Spirituality 1 | Learning 1
Cunning 1 | Politics 1 | Commerce 1
Command 1 | Performance 1 | Craft 1

Reveries
Entity the Cruel Reroll Vitality rolls once per Vessel's lifetime.

Coruncanu
Attributes
Vitality 1 | Charisma 2 | Intelligence 3
Abilities
Melee 1 | Spirituality 3 | Learning 4
Cunning 3 | Politics 2 | Commerce 1
Command 1 | Performance 3 | Craft 2
Health 8
Sanity 5
Assets & Backgrounds
Medicine Woman of the Hills (B) 1
Wealth (A) 3
Poisons and Potions (A) 1

 

[jackelgull]

My vote in order of preference 1,4,3,5,6,2

 

[NinjaCow64]

2) Perhaps these monkeys are not yet worthy of my rule. I was a Sovereign of the Stars, at the height of my rule such primitive life-forms would not even be fit to step foot in my throne room! Perhaps the training of more apprentices will nudge the technological development of this infantile civilisation, producing creatures slightly less embarrassing to lord over. Or at the very least it may reduce my stay on this Me-forsaken rock. It will not be difficult to manipulate Coruncanu's desire for contact with other members of her species to this end...

 

[Seon]

These ACCURSED PRIMITIVES have not even yet mastered agriculture—they will soon, very soon, however, face the wrath of our army of beasts!

Besides, like, maybe we can finally get some decent hirelings around here once we are rolling in cash.

6, 5

 

[Kyzarc Fotjage]

6, 1: More, beefier minions are necessary. An army of beasts would do nicely or, failing that, very large apes with slightly less large clubs. The Entity has labored long enough with this one pathetic minion, too weak to slay even one flimsy sack of muscle and bone, the Entity needs more.

 

[Ahigin]

Option 6 wins.

Episode 5. Town of Coruncanuma.

Domestication of local animals, besides the ubiquitous dogs, Entity decided, was the easiest way toward greater prosperity. Using her knowledge of the local fauna, Coruncanu spent the next few years guiding her servants and apprentices in their hunt for amiable young animals to capture and domesticate. This proved a harder task than expected, but wealth breeds wealth, and at some point the help of Coruncanu's apprentices and servants proved sufficient in breeding the first generation of domestic animals grown in captivity. First animals to be bred were goats that grazed the hilly pastures and were the staple game of local hunters. The second triumph was the domestication of the dwarf elephant, an insular species barely bigger than a goat, but much smarter and significantly meatier. Finally, the giant swans of the island were turned into prime poultry shortly before their wild cousins were hunted into extinction by the Swan clan.

This achievement, however, took two decades to accomplish, and soon Entity started to see the toll that aging took on Coruncanu's health. Yet, she was no longer a hermit herbalist, but rather a leader of a small cluster of cattle-herding hamlets, formed by her apprentices and their servants. With time, these people developed their own identity, separate from the clans they once belonged to, and instead associating themselves with the primitive, pastoralist town of Coruncanuma.

As time passed, the surplus of food and craft material brought about by the animal husbandry, elevated Coruncanuma over the islands' three clans and helped it grow in size. However, at some point the herders of goats and dwarf elephants started to report conflicts with lowland hunters, especially those of the Swan clan. Dependent on the access to the grazing lands to feed their growing cattle herds, they often clashed (bloodlessly, for now) with the hunters and gatherers who viewed these territories as their domain.

The time of the first hostility had come.

How should Cornucanu resolve these clashes?
1. Use the surplus of food, pottery, and tools to hire strongest clubmen and slingers from the Giant clan, before leading them in a retaliatory raid against the Swan clan. (Challenge: low (Vitality/Melee); Effort: medium; Risk: high; Reward: medium (Asset: Hill Guards; Asset: Cattle +1; Swan clan may be eradicated))
2. Share the secrets of animal husbandry with the Swan clan, shifting their economy from hunting-gathering to cattle herding. (Challenge: low (Intelligence/Commerce); Effort: high; Risk: low; Reward: low (Asset: Cattle +1; Swan clan becomes more prosperous))
3.Use the surplus of food, pottery, and tools to hire more craftsmen from the Mullet clan, building up the craft industry in Cornucanuma with which to placate other clans. (Challenge: low (Intelligence/Craft); Effort: high; Risk: medium; Reward: high (Background: City of Coruncanuma; Asset: Wealth +2; Asset: Bone, Wood, and Flint material culture))
4. Perform an impressive, dark ritual, persuading the lowlanders that a curse will be placed on them if they don't leave the sacred hilly meadows alone. (Challenge: low (Charisma/Spirituality); Effort: low; Risk: low; Reward: low (Asset: Sacrificial gifts))
5. Learn to cultivate wild barley, millet, and oat, and make the aspiring apprentices work on her farm. This could lower the town's dependence on grazing lands. (Challenge: low (Intelligence/Learning); Effort: high; Risk: low ; Reward: high (Asset: Wealth +2; Asset: Grain stores))
6. Strike an alliance with the Mullet and Giant clans and use them to eradicate the Swan clan. (Challenge: low (Charisma/Politics); Effort: low; Risk: medium; Reward: low (Asset: Cattle +1; Swan clan may be eradicated))
7. Choose your own.

Entity
Attributes
Vitality 1 | Charisma 1 | Intelligence 1

Abilities
Melee 1 | Spirituality 1 | Learning 1
Cunning 1 | Politics 1 | Commerce 1
Command 1 | Performance 1 | Craft 1

Reveries
Entity the Cruel Reroll Vitality rolls once per Vessel's lifetime.

Coruncanu
Attributes
Vitality 1 | Charisma 2 | Intelligence 3

Abilities
Melee 1 | Spirituality 3 | Learning 4
Cunning 3 | Politics 2 | Commerce 1
Command 1 | Performance 3 | Craft 2

Health 6
Sanity 5

Assets & Backgrounds
Medicine Woman of the Hills (B) 1
Wealth (A) 5
Poisons and Potions (A) 1
Cattle (A) 1

 

[Kyzarc Fotjage]

1, 6: Entity's tarried long enough, it is time to begin seizing power from the lesser beings. With luck one of our apprentices will prove themselves in the conflict that we can move to a new host before the current one fails.

 

[Seon]

Listen to me, I’m the voice of reason and sanity inside your head. You can’t be sure of victory with your weak little nerd arms! Why risk so much on foolhardy quest for vengeance when we can build a small town of our own on this island?

3, 1 in that order

 

[Marcher Jovian]

1: If we want something, we should just take it. If they wanted to live, they should have treated our vessel better. And if we fear the high risk involved? Our vessel’s only getting older anyways and second chances are there to be spent.

 

[NinjaCow64]

6, 1: While I agree that we should begin our conquest, our host is more suited for manipulating armies than leading them. We should let the other tribes do the hard work for us and then reap the rewards.

 

[Jehoshua]

1, 6 in that order - These primitives must be united before they can be a fitting tool for our designs. The sooner the hindrances are cleared, the better.

 

[J.A.M.]

1, but make sure to use our stores of poisons and potions!

 

[Ahigin]

Option 1 wins.

Episode 6. The Swan song.

Entity was not new to war and violence, and Cornucanu's course of action was a sealed deal.

With so much unused wealth of food and craft items being stored in her cave, she could easily afford paying off all the meanest members of the Giant clan to fight on her behalf. They arrived to the big island on their rafts, armed with clubs, spears, and slings, ready to bring woe to their long time opponents from the Swan clan. The war in the lowlands was a disorganized, hectic affair, hunters stalking human game rather than true warriors fighting. As lowly as it looked in Entity's view, it helped it achieve its goal, albeit with its vessel getting her arm broken by a stray hurled rock.

Once the Swan clan warriors were broken or dispersed, the aggrieved Giants couldn't hold back their anger, raising the Swan clan's campsite to the ground and stopping only a step short of eradicating the Swan families completely. Eventually, the survivors were roped and taken to Cornucanuma as prisoners, along with other plunder and fruits of war. From now on, the lowlands of the Big Island were free to be used as the grazing ground for the Cornucanuman herders.

The victory was complete, but it ultimately shifted the balance of power on the two Islands. The Giants clan lost much of its manpower, with its strongest fighters gravitating to Coruncanuma, happy to join the Hill Guard in exchange for the riches of the Medicine Woman of the Hills. With the Giant clan weakened and the Swan clan virtually eradicated, the Millet clan got a chance to prosper, with their increasingly more sophisticated fishing rafts and boats navigating the waters around the island.

However, Coruncanu now had another problem to solve. The captured youths, women, and elders of the Swan clan, along with a few surviving men, crowded Coruncanuma and put a strain on its wealth and food supply. The surplus of meat, leather, feather, and bone provided by the animal husbandry, wasn't big enough to feed the excessive, hostile population which could contribute little besides simple household tasks. As months dragged on, many in Coruncanu's entourage started to question what to do with the surviving Swan prisoners.

What should Coruncanu do with the captives?
1. Release them into the least valuable scrublands as free hunters-gatherers, extorting tribute from them in exchange for freedom from raiding. (Challenge: low (Vitality/Command); Effort: low; Risk: low; Reward: low (Asset: Swan Tributaries +1; Swan clan is reinstated))
2. Keep them as house servants and direct the Hill Guards to raid the Millet clan for tribute and loot, staving off the food shortage for the time being. (Challenge: low (Vitality/Melee); Effort: low; Risk: high; Reward: low (Asset: Slaves +1; Millet clan grows weakened))
3. Use the surplus of material wealth to hire craftsmen from the Mullet clan to teach the Swan captives the basics of woodcraft and pottery, turning them into indentured craftsmen. It would put a strain on the Caruncanuman cattle herding economy, but could improve the town's material culture. (Challenge: low (Intelligence/Craft); Effort: high; Risk: medium; Reward: high (Background: City of Coruncanuma; Asset: Wealth -1; Asset: Cattle -1; Asset: Late Stone Age material culture +1, Asset: Slaves +1))
4. Learn to cultivate wild barley, millet, and oat, and make the captives work on the land. This could lower the town's dependence on grazing lands and produce food surplus in the long run, but could put strain on the cattle herding economy. (Challenge: low (Intelligence/Learning); Effort: high; Risk: low ; Reward: medium (Asset: Grain stores, Asset: Slaves +1))
5. Perform a massive sacrifice to the spirits, impressing all inhabitants of the two Islands with the power of her faith. [Describe your own cult]. (Challenge: low (Charisma/Performance); Effort: medium; Risk: low; Reward: medium (Asset: Sacrificial gifts +1))
6. Force the captives to work on a massive megalithic project, building an impressive stone temple. [Describe your own cult]. It would put a strain on the Caruncanuman cattle herding economy, but could impress all inhabitants of the two Islands with the power of her faith. (Challenge: low (Charisma/Spirituality); Effort: high; Risk: medium; Reward: high (Asset: Cattle -1; Asset: Wealth -1 Asset: Slaves +1; Asset: Sacrificial gifts +1, Background: Megalith of Caruncanuma))
7. Choose your own.

Entity
Attributes
Vitality 1 | Charisma 1 | Intelligence 1

Abilities
Melee 1 | Spirituality 1 | Learning 1
Cunning 1 | Politics 1 | Commerce 1
Command 1 | Performance 1 | Craft 1

Reveries
Entity the Cruel Reroll Vitality rolls once per Vessel's lifetime.

Coruncanu
Attributes
Vitality 1 | Charisma 2 | Intelligence 3

Abilities
Melee 1 | Spirituality 3 | Learning 4
Cunning 3 | Politics 2 | Commerce 1
Command 1 | Performance 3 | Craft 2

Health 5
Sanity 5

Assets & Backgrounds
Medicine Woman of the Hills (B) 1
Wealth (A) 4
Poisons and Potions (A) 1
Cattle (A) 2
Hill Guardians (A) 1

 

[Kyzarc Fotjage]

6-3-5 Finally these primitive screwheads are acknowledging Entity's obvious superiority. Now we just need to make sure they never forget it. A giant diamond the size of the-wait no, can't do that yet. Something simple even their monkey brains can't screw up. Perhaps a giant pile of rocks reaching high towards the heavens so they know where they should be yearning for. No, better yet, a giant stone calendar so they know what time it is. Entity is tired of them never remembering the equinox or solstice. Start breaking time into small chunks that fit into their stupid, stupid brains.

 

[Seon]

6. It is finally time for us to make our mark upon this world with a creation of a temple dedicated to the only being in this universe worthy of worship—us, who will show these lesser primitives the way to the stars in our infinite mercy. Our little witch shall be declared our Holy Puppet and a conduit for our wisdom and benevolence. Dance witch girl, dance!

create cult: Worship of the Entity, Starcrested God, The Kindly, Master of Diamonds, and the Lord of the Milky Way.

the title of the Kindly should not be taken as a sign of the Entity’s benevolence.

lead by the Holy Puppet, inheritor of our wisdom and benevolence. Belief that the Gods possess the bodies of the most worthy to deliver the knowledge of the gods.

Belief that obeying the Entity through the Puppet’s words will, eventually, lead the true faithful to the stars/ascend to a place of true enlightenment and wisdom.

Belief that all lizards are the fudging worst

Priesthood composed of the Witch’s most loyal and devoted students.

 

[NinjaCow64]

5. While I agree with the sentiment, why should we misdirect these primitive's worship to a pile of rocks? They should worship only Me and those whom I deem worthy to be My Vessel. Slaughter those who would anger My Vessel, preferably with Me. It has been too long since I have tasted the blood of enemies.

Cult: Worship of the Entity and Our Prophet/Vessel/Divine Puppet. Second Seon's titles. I am a jealous God, there are no Gods other than me and the Vessels (who are my subordinates). If there were other Gods then they would also be my subordinates. Emphasise the importance of the stars and the importance of people ascending to the stars, this will hopefully focus research and development in the correct direction.