REFUGEVILLE

While I do agree with eventually taking an expedition to the village the God Box is in to acquire ingots, oil, and whatever else we can carry with us... we already used Call of the Wild for today to get a chicken. Though, your idea of summoning a creature that can sense the invisible monster is definitely a good one.

Also, you're thinking of the Plant Box, which is to the west, according to the scroll Aello took. Mind, I'd also be interested in checking out Aniro Village, and seeing what's up with the three people that went mad there, along with maybe salvaging whatever we can from there as well, but I'm not exactly sure how... belligerent the three villagers there will be. Either way, I'm interested in looking to the east and west for other landmarks of note, along with figuring out where the Plant and Brain Boxes are.

Does Preeray have any resources they would be able to make or trade with us?

A regular trade route would benefit both our relations and income. Even just having each group specialize in producing some material would be advantageous either to sell or stockpile.

Can our blessing of mind extend to those who may also be affected? Like the three mad inhabitants in the West?

I also like the idea of examining the god box. If the creature gives off heat, then snakes or other creatures that can see infrared would be helpful.

Can our blessing of mind extend to those who may also be affected? Like the three mad inhabitants in the West?

we could always try and find out. at the least, it means that if we send someone clothed in the wizard robe to their neither undeath nor mind-control will affect them.

>Send the most willing to try and chip 6 pieces of clay into amulets to leave as offerings at the graveyard. Clothe them in the wizard robe, and carry the lantern with them

>try and dice a piece of rabbit meat and see if the fish can be fed
>Use shovel and branches to try and create a small pond for fish to be fed and lay eggs in.
https://78.media.tumblr.com/766b7050c561...c0_500.png
Here's the concept I was going off of

>Use shovel and branches to create a hare hutch for later (to trap and release hare into), and send those with hooks to take care of the cobra quietly as possible

>try and dice a piece of rabbit meat and see if the fish can be fed
>Use shovel and branches to try and create a small pond for fish to be fed and lay eggs in.
https://78.media.tumblr.com/766b7050c561...c0_500.png
Here's the concept I was going off of

>Use shovel and branches to create a hare hutch for later (to trap and release hare into), and send those with hooks to take care of the cobra quietly as possible

Your people construct a tiny pond for easy collection of fish, as well as a hare hutch. The two hook-users deftly kill the cobra nearby, and its meat and venom are collected.

Does Preeray have any resources they would be able to make or trade with us?

They’re still arguing about what else they can trade with Refugeville. They have an abundance of alligators and poisonous swamp water, though.

Can our blessing of mind extend to those who may also be affected? Like the three mad inhabitants in the West?

Maybe!

I also like the idea of examining the god box.

While the others were busy building the fish-pond and hare hutch, two explorers have already gone northwards to the God Box. You quickly trace their steps, and you find Mosstown once more.



There is a group of very tall strangers here. Your explorers don’t know who they could be. They wear suits of plate armor, and they’re all armed. Giant warriors? You can hear them shouting.

Bucket-helmet: “I GOT IT BLEEDING JOJI!”

Joji?: “Good work! We got it on the defensive!”

Diamond-helmet: “Careful, there could be another one!”

Your two explorers are armed with stone axes. What should they do?

- RIDE THE HORSE INTO BATTLE

- Observe from afar

- Loot the buildings while the invisible monster and the strangers are distracted

- Run back home

- Something else!

>_


Population: 12 out of 24 shelter spaces
Allies: Preeray Village

Wealth: 1 crumbit

Animals:
1 Dog (Relief)
2 Cows (Bilin, Daina)
1 Horse (Comet)

Plants:
12 tapioca (sapling, 18 days left)
10 mangould (sapling, 14 days left)

Weapons:
Iron Knife x 1 (4 crumbits)
Stone Axe x 5 (2 crumbits)
Stone Shovel x 1 (2 crumbits)
Steel Hooked Chains x 2 (Equipped by Guards, 8 crumbits each)

Vehicles:
Crude Wooden Raft (Kori won’t buy it)

Guards:
Two Chain-Hook Users

Merchants:
Kori (Miscellaneous Goods)
Ogot (Building Materials)

Stockpile:
290 branches (1 crumbit for 4 branches)
5 beef jerky (5 crumbits each)
18 rabbit meat (2 crumbits each)
30 fish meat (2 crumbits each)
6 jar of milk (4 crumbits each)
5 loincloths (1 crumbit each)
30 pieces of clay (2 crumbits each)
188 stones

Buildings:
1 stone house (with basement)
1 shrine
1 palisade
1 fishpond
1 rabbit hutch

Items:
Leather Bag
4 Treated Bandages
Construction Manual
Yaranga Phrasebook

Fishblood Lantern - A lantern that uses fish blood as fuel. Provides light and warmth. One adult fish from the river should be enough for one night. Easy to carry, even for a dog or a wolf.

Copy of Hildevert’s Journal: Hate Box - The Signet have been hunting a man named Hildevert for the past month, and he continues to elude capture. This book is about what he saw in a place called the Hate Box, a place where powerful prisoners are tortured for amusement.

Mycah Wizard Robe - Doesn’t grant magical powers, but Mycah spells are woven into it that protect the wearer from undeath. The spells repel teeth and rotten meat, so it’s perfect for fighting ghouls.

Acid Jar - A jar full of liquid that will melt anything metal. Extremely useful against armored opponents and locks.

Divine Artifacts:

Shrunken Head of Asimuth - Screams when an agent of the Signet sees Refugeville.

Blessings:

Devoted Wolfpack: Rimewulf’s followers can transform into wolves at night, granting faster movement, enhanced senses and combat strength.

Call of the Wild: Once per day, you may summon one animal to appear in the village. The animal will always obey your people and never harm them.

Arara’s Shade: Your people can endure heat that would normally cause heatstrokes. A common blessing for desert-dwellers and those who wish to endure drought.

Guarded Thoughts: Your people are protected from mind-altering poisons and curses. They cannot be brainwashed or mind controlled, not even by the Signet.


Curses:

Marked By The Signet: The Signet will never stop sending scouts.

Loot the forge for the tools, ingots, and the pot of oil. They'll be of great use to us. Though, at the same time, use it as an opportunity to get a closer look. Though, do be careful, as that one fellow does bring up a point.

>Really tempted to turn into a wolf and help fight the creature. If these people fight monsters, they might be potential allies and I cannot think of any better way to show ur goodwill.

>And in the meantime the /other/ villager can discretly go take the loot, the ingots, the oil, and tools in a big bag and saddle the horse ready to run in case they AREN'T friendly after all.

>Really tempted to turn into a wolf and help fight the creature. If these people fight monsters, they might be potential allies and I cannot think of any better way to show ur goodwill.

>And in the meantime the /other/ villager can discretly go take the loot, the ingots, the oil, and tools in a big bag and saddle the horse ready to run in case they AREN'T friendly after all.

I second this, though I advise on being a bit more discreet. They might be fighting the monsters, but if you just go out there directly as a wolf, they might think of you as a threat. Unless you can show some form of goodwill beforehand, it would be best to find some way to cripple the creature first. We've done it before, we can do it again.

>Just loot and hide until you know more about these strangers

> turn into a wolf, approach them and start dancing on your hind legs

>Ask if the Strangers are Signet

Oh I remembered there is one simple way to know if the strangers are signet for sure but it's terribly risky. Tracing the sigil of courage into the moss. If they go berserk at the sight of it, we know they are Signet. Of course then there would be both an invisible monter and three rampaging giant in the village so better do that after we loaded all the loot :p

Alligators are a good source of leather and meat, maybe even some bone-tools/armor, though they're risky to catch.

They could perhaps boil the swamp water to distill the poison. Whatever toxin is in there could be stockpiled and laced on our pallisade.

And of course Kori may be interested in something as well.

As for this trio - when we loot we should specifically look for items that could help fight the creature. Start with the forge. Weapons are great, but oil or grease would be ideal for staining it and making it visible. Even if these three are Signet, if they're killing the beast, that would still make this area safer.

Also I doubt they are Signet. They seem too...normal?

Draw the symbol of courage on a large spot of moss (Or on the God Box) with some oil and then light it.

>Just loot and hide until you know more about these strangers

One explorer goes to quietly loot the forge while the other observes from afar. The three giant warriors easily end the invisible creature that’s been patrolling the moss. Whatever the creature was, it was incapable of penetrating the giants’ armor.

Joji: (talking to bucket-helmet) Well done, Strogan. That’s another pest off our list.

Strogan: (pointing to Diamond-helmet) Hey, I’ll gladly share the glory with Rezi. She’s the one who knocked it off me earlier.

Rezi: Too kind, Strogan. We should tell King Vondar the God Box is ready for expedition and eventual colonization.

Then, out of nowhere, another giant appears. An invisibility spell!



???: There is no need. I have already sent ravens to Palace Stellarion. We will have scholars and more soldiers coming.

Joji: Ah, were you there all along, Nevis?

Nevis: Yes. And there are spies watching.

Nevis points to your explorer hiding near the forge.

Nevis: Minikin, comrades.

Joji: How many?

Nevis: Two, and a mini-horse.

Strogan: Do they look like good stock, Nevis?

Stock?

Nevis: They are of the Verezan tribe, but unusually healthy. Would be excellent for field work.

Rezi: We could always use more slaves.

Oh no. Oh no no no. You remember. You remember who these giants are. Dermilians.

They’re from Dermilyu, a kingdom of giants that conquers people they deem inferior. In their terms, it means ‘anyone smaller than us’. They have advanced technology, being among the first nations to invent plate armor and cannons. You remember their strange obsession with notions of superiority, more willing to start a war than trade with an ‘inferior nation’.

The Dermilians suffered numerous horrific defeats at the hands of the Signet’s forces, but the fact that they are here means they’re still determined to conquer. Still willing to enslave others.

Your explorers recognize the giants’ intent, and fortunately already finished looting. These items are added to their inventory:

- 1 pot of crude oil
- 9 iron ingots
- 2 steel hammers
- 2 steel pliers
- 2 boxes of matches
- 1 steel chain

The duo make a mad dash back home on horseback. However, Nevis is in hot pursuit. Though slower than a horse, Nevis is clearly able to track hoofprints.

Nevis seems to be more of a spy or an assassin than an outright soldier. She wears leather armor, and carries needles instead of knives, though each needle is definitely big enough to be a spear for your people. There are runes engraved on her clothing, possibly related to her invisibility spells.

What should the two explorers do?

- Splash oil on Nevis and set her on fire!
- Run to Refugeville and fight her with numbers on their side!
- Use the desert wasteland to your advantage; bury yourselves in sand and ambush her.
- Try to bargain with her.
- Fight her. She’s only wearing leather armor, and the stone axes can definitely hurt her. However, you don’t know how good her fighting skills are…
- Feign surrender.

>_


Population: 12 out of 24 shelter spaces
Allies: Preeray Village

Wealth: 1 crumbit

Animals:
1 Dog (Relief)
2 Cows (Bilin, Daina)
1 Horse (Comet)

Plants:
12 tapioca (sapling, 18 days left)
10 mangould (sapling, 14 days left)

Weapons:
Iron Knife x 1 (4 crumbits)
Stone Axe x 5 (2 crumbits)
Stone Shovel x 1 (2 crumbits)
Steel Hooked Chains x 2 (Equipped by Guards, 8 crumbits each)

Vehicles:
Crude Wooden Raft (Kori won’t buy it)

Guards:
Two Chain-Hook Users

Merchants:
Kori (Miscellaneous Goods)
Ogot (Building Materials)

Stockpile:
290 branches (1 crumbit for 4 branches)
5 beef jerky (5 crumbits each)
18 rabbit meat (2 crumbits each)
30 fish meat (2 crumbits each)
6 jar of milk (4 crumbits each)
5 loincloths (1 crumbit each)
30 pieces of clay (2 crumbits each)
188 stones

Buildings:
1 stone house (with basement)
1 shrine
1 palisade
1 fishpond
1 rabbit hutch

Items:
Leather Bag
4 Treated Bandages
Construction Manual
Yaranga Phrasebook

Fishblood Lantern - A lantern that uses fish blood as fuel. Provides light and warmth. One adult fish from the river should be enough for one night. Easy to carry, even for a dog or a wolf.

Copy of Hildevert’s Journal: Hate Box - The Signet have been hunting a man named Hildevert for the past month, and he continues to elude capture. This book is about what he saw in a place called the Hate Box, a place where powerful prisoners are tortured for amusement.

Mycah Wizard Robe - Doesn’t grant magical powers, but Mycah spells are woven into it that protect the wearer from undeath. The spells repel teeth and rotten meat, so it’s perfect for fighting ghouls.

Acid Jar - A jar full of liquid that will melt anything metal. Extremely useful against armored opponents and locks.

Divine Artifacts:

Shrunken Head of Asimuth - Screams when an agent of the Signet sees Refugeville.

Blessings:

Devoted Wolfpack: Rimewulf’s followers can transform into wolves at night, granting faster movement, enhanced senses and combat strength.

Call of the Wild: Once per day, you may summon one animal to appear in the village. The animal will always obey your people and never harm them.

Arara’s Shade: Your people can endure heat that would normally cause heatstrokes. A common blessing for desert-dwellers and those who wish to endure drought.

Guarded Thoughts: Your people are protected from mind-altering poisons and curses. They cannot be brainwashed or mind controlled, not even by the Signet.


Curses:

Marked By The Signet: The Signet will never stop sending scouts.

Hrmm... it's going to be tough hiding from an opponent with invisibility, I say that if possible, it's best to limit her senses before escaping. And make escape a priority. You should definitely not fight these guys at the moment. It would also be dangerous if she ever finds the town in the case that she might bring with her others that would go in and conquer it.

An option might be to feign surrender and bide your time till you can escape under the cover of darkness.

We can't let her come close to refugeville.
I very much doubt we'd win an engagement even if

We will loose her and get rid of her with the two most dangrous rweapon we have: ruse and our overly deadly environement

I have a plan:



1) Head to the pond full of rotten chickens that's just close South of the god box.
It is important she follows our villager in there so she can be nicely impreganted by the smell.
Just to be sure, we might as well take two rotting chickens in a bag for later.

One of our villager can turn into a wolf and use their canine smell to track how close she is, even if the spell hides more than jsut vision, hopefully it won't do her new smell of rotten chicken

2) Then imediatly head East and then after a while then back Suth and reach all the way back to The Twins territory.

The Twins are blind, once they are woken up by loud sounds they hunt by sound and smell.

The trick will be to wake them up when she's closer to the Twins than our two scavengers. Just to be sure tat crossing the river din't wash the smell too much, we can leave the sack of rotting chicken back in he right position.
What matters is that the twins rush into her dirrection first while our guys hghtail it far away as possible.

If we still can for the day, use call of the wild to have a bird fly over the twins and wake them up, even less risky that way. or maybe sacrifice our horse if push come to shove.

3) The twins should have pretty much stopped her from following but just to be sure, our villagers will go near the screaming cemetery. If she's jsut deayed and still following maybe she'll be foolish enought o try to touch the jewels (after all if you don't know the teick, you mught be tempted)

4) Out two guys loop back to the river by the West, wash themselves to shake any smell of themselves and then fllow the river upstream, an old trick to avoid leaving tracks up to Refugeville.

I like this plan.

I concur with this plan.

We can't let her come close to refugeville.

>agreed
My original plan was to draw the mark of the signet into the moss to force them to deal with constant assault, but this works too.
too bad we cannot get close enough to draw the mark onto Nevis, as that would mean the twins would be forced to attack her
>at the screaming cemetery, make it look as though we are to pick a jewel up while resting. if they do not know the trick they will be even more susceptible

THE PLAN

Nevis is in hot pursuit of your explorers, running almost as fast as a horse. The two explorers manage to reach the pond of rotten chicken blood and make Comet run through the awful-smelling pool, even taking a couple of dead chickens with them.

You wish Rimewulf’s Devoted Wolfpack blessing, the one that allows his followers to transform into wolves, would work during the day. At least as wolves they’d be more of a threat.

However, Nevis isn’t stupid enough to just wade through rotten blood just because her prey did. She runs around the pool and continues her pursuit. In a desperate bid, your explorers throw a chicken at her. Luck smiles upon you as the carcass slams into her face. She’s stunned, and crucially, wastes several seconds just retching.

Your riders keep going for The Twins, and intentionally attract its attention. When Nevis catches up, the stench firmly stuck on her is enough to distract the giant monster. As she deals with this abomination, the two riders flee towards the graveyard.

There, they find no sign of Nevis chasing after them. After spending time waiting just to be absolutely sure she’s stopped following, they return to Refugeville.

You and your people are relieved to know that at least for now, the Dermilians do not know where your home is. The Preeray definitely had a valid point in keeping their settlement hidden. Knowing the history of the Dermilians, they will not even bother to send a messenger before conquering your tribe.

Back home, your explorers put into the stockpile what they’ve found at Moss Town.

- 1 pot of crude oil
- 9 iron ingots
- 2 steel hammers
- 2 steel pliers
- 2 boxes of matches
- 1 steel chain

There is a new visitor sitting in the river.



It’s an enormous freshwater lobster, whiter than any lobster you’ve ever seen. The creature has been talking to your eldest citizen, proposing some sort of deal.

The lobster identifies himself as Wally-Two-Four-Two, or just Wally for short. He is an escaped Signet experiment, with the Sigil of Courage carved onto his claws. They called him a ‘Pearl Lobster’. He escaped after seeing the other lobsters killed just for the sake of amusement.

Wally is offering supplies from another settlement along the river. According to him, there are three other villages, and one of them is wealthy and generous enough to share resources. He can run fast on the bottom of the river, so he can make daily deliveries.

The wealthy village is Padabon, inhabited by very small but very smart people called the Zalugi. Wally came into contact with them after getting caught in one of their traps. Wally says that it would take an entire day to reach it on horseback, but he can run much faster than that. Whatever the Signet did to him, they made him able to move through water swiftly.

Padabon decided to make use of Wally, delivering ‘care packages’ to other people trying to escape or fight the Signet.

Wally also mentions that the care packages will come with these things called ‘news notes’, pieces of paper with news the Zalugi deem important such as Signet patrols, weddings between leaders, monster sightings, things like that. Occasionally, the news note might have a prayer dedicated to the praise and well-being of Arara, the God of Fire, attached. Seems he was their favorite deity before the Signet ruined everything.

Whoever these Zalugi are, they most certainly warrant a visit from your people someday. Not right now, though.

Which one of these care packages should Wally bring to Refugeville?

Wally can send one of the following tomorrow afternoon:

- Weapon pack: Contains 2 steel-tipped spears, light enough to be thrown.
- Medicine pack: Contains a bandage and a healing poultice for bleeding wounds.
- Money pack: Contains 20 crumbits.
- Fungal pack: Contains edible mushroom spores, can be grown underground.

After that delivery’s done, you can tell him what to bring the day after. It seems these packages were meant to respond to changing circumstances.

Your explorers take this opportunity tell Wally to warn the Zalugi about the Dermilians, the giant conquerors taking position up north at the God Box.

>_


Population: 12 out of 24 shelter spaces
Allies: Preeray Village

Wealth: 1 crumbit

Animals:
1 Dog (Relief)
2 Cows (Bilin, Daina)
1 Horse (Comet)

Plants:
12 tapioca (sapling, 18 days left)
10 mangould (sapling, 14 days left)

Weapons:
Iron Knife x 1 (4 crumbits)
Stone Axe x 5 (2 crumbits)
Stone Shovel x 1 (2 crumbits)
Steel Hooked Chains x 2 (Equipped by Guards, 8 crumbits each)

Vehicles:
Crude Wooden Raft (Kori won’t buy it)

Guards:
Two Chain-Hook Users

Merchants:
Kori (Miscellaneous Goods)
Ogot (Building Materials)

Stockpile:
290 branches (1 crumbit for 4 branches)
5 beef jerky (5 crumbits each)
18 rabbit meat (2 crumbits each)
30 fish meat (2 crumbits each)
6 jar of milk (4 crumbits each)
5 loincloths (1 crumbit each)
30 pieces of clay (2 crumbits each)
188 stones

Buildings:
1 stone house (with basement)
1 shrine
1 palisade
1 fishpond
1 rabbit hutch

Items:
2 Steel Hammers
Leather Bag
4 Treated Bandages
Construction Manual
Yaranga Phrasebook
2 Steel Pliers
2 Boxes of matches
1 Steel Chain

Fishblood Lantern - A lantern that uses fish blood as fuel. Provides light and warmth. One adult fish from the river should be enough for one night. Easy to carry, even for a dog or a wolf.

Copy of Hildevert’s Journal: Hate Box - The Signet have been hunting a man named Hildevert for the past month, and he continues to elude capture. This book is about what he saw in a place called the Hate Box, a place where powerful prisoners are tortured for amusement.

Mycah Wizard Robe - Doesn’t grant magical powers, but Mycah spells are woven into it that protect the wearer from undeath. The spells repel teeth and rotten meat, so it’s perfect for fighting ghouls.

Acid Jar - A jar full of liquid that will melt anything metal. Extremely useful against armored opponents and locks.

Divine Artifacts:

Shrunken Head of Asimuth - Screams when an agent of the Signet sees Refugeville.

Blessings:

Devoted Wolfpack: Rimewulf’s followers can transform into wolves at night, granting faster movement, enhanced senses and combat strength.

Call of the Wild: Once per day, you may summon one animal to appear in the village. The animal will always obey your people and never harm them.

Arara’s Shade: Your people can endure heat that would normally cause heatstrokes. A common blessing for desert-dwellers and those who wish to endure drought.

Guarded Thoughts: Your people are protected from mind-altering poisons and curses. They cannot be brainwashed or mind controlled, not even by the Signet.

Curses:

Marked By The Signet: The Signet will never stop sending scouts.

>Fungal pack. The rest we can easily eventualy make or buy on our own. More self resplenible food sources are alway good idea long term, especialy since we're giving fodcto the Prejay as well now.

> Reminds me we should dig the basement some more tonight.
As we expand underground Make sure to leave some thick walls and pillars to avoid fragilising the ground above too much and steer away from the river.

>We should also smoke (and if we can salt) some of the fishes and rabbit meat for long term conservation

>Next exploration, I propose to go in the dirrection of the Plant Box.

>Also I realise we could ask our winged woman to do some exploration or run some deiveries?. she can fly, that's one hell f amobility advantage. fo example we could ask her to go warnt he Preejay about the Dermilians and maybe check on the twins.

>Can one of our villager read and write ? Because if so we should have them start maps and jurnals or monsters and things encountered so far.

>I do wonder, does the Zalujis have guardian spirits ? Or for that matter, the Prejays ? We didn't feel any such resence when our people where at their village but ho know how it work ?)

>Fungal, and Weapons the day after
>Dig and stabilize our tunnels

>Send word that we are in contact with a tribe that may be willing to trade with the Zalugi, but we must confirm with them first
>Ask the Preeray their thoughts on the Zalugi, and if trade can be arranged between the two

Ask Wally about the other two villages. Send a note in reply with a gift. Maybe a jar of milk? Something Wally thinks the Zalugi don’t already have. Mark it with the Sigil of courage.

Make sure your smelly horse and explorers clean up.

I'm also agreeing with all the votes for the fungal pack, along with further work on our underground base. Another source of food is always appreciated, especially considering that we're expanding underground anyways, that's all the more reason for us to have a mushroom farm! Also, a gift probably wouldn't hurt, but we should definitely ask if there's anything they'd want that they may be lacking at the moment.

Regardless, now that we've got some iron ingots that we can use, we can make either a forge or a lab. The former would require us to also make a table and a chair beforehand, but that's nothing we can't manage. It'd leave us with four ingots to work with, which we could immediately put to use for better gear. And while the lab doesn't require much more than stones, sticks, and fire to go with the ingots, we'd only have one ingot left, and I'm not even sure if we have an invention ideas we can muck around with yet. Honestly, I'm not entirely sure on what to start working towards.

Either way, on the point smuchmuch brought up regarding Aello... while she could very well be able to do that, I don't think she wants to just yet, out of fear that Signet scouts are still actively looking out for her.

While usefull, I see a few problems with the forge

-We'd need a regular source of iron for it to be really worth the invetement, the few ingot we have will only go so far. (we have the matrial merchant but his prices are somewhat steep)
-It would aldo need a lot of fuel for the fires. (a good forge fire needs to be at a ertain temperature and be kept that way). i fear it may just eat throgh our wood branches stock.
-It makes highly smoke and between the Signet scouts and those giants just north, the added visibility is not great.

You can't use wood to reach Forge temperatures. Wood doesn't burn hot enough nor long enough to sustain a forge on wood alone. You can just barely make it if you used bellows, I think, but coal or charcoal is ideal.