Part 140: Omens

Insert your own tasteless fishy odor jokes here.




It's raiding season, and I just had to show off Elmalandti's advice here because what the hell dude. Everyone else was just fine with saying "Fire season is the traditional time for raids," but you just had to be a special snowflake. I go for cattle raiding since that was much more popular than regular raiding at Sacred Time voting.


Incidentally, Harvar says that the Vostangi are now the weakest nearby clan. We really did a number on them last year! I might do a regular raid on them next turn since we might stand a chance of winning now.




Sometimes, true bravery is running away when the enemy spots you.


I swear this turns into "we actually won and got away with cows & without many casualites" sometimes, but I can't complain about "we ran away and didn't get hurt" given this clan's history & the fact that we were outnumbered.


Okay, fuck it. Full on raid! We must keep the Vostangi down before they get a chance to rebuild their strength too much!





Jorator, why are you fighting? You're supposed to be lazing around being useless for anything but leadership...stuff. Actually, he's Very Good at Combat, so he's not completely screwed here. I have him lead our warriors to victory since that sounds like it emphasises his Renowned Leadership slightly more than his Very Good(but could be better) Combat.



The #1 way to prove your mettle as a leader: Bloodshed.


We'd get slightly more loot if we didn't bring the Wolves along, but I don't want to risk losing and then getting yelled at for not bringing the Wolves along. Incidentally, note that only 4 Vostangi warriors got away without being killed or injured. Since we're actually winning now, we're actually more likely to keep it up since successful raids improve the mood of our weaponthanes, and happy weaponthanes are more likely to win raids, which improves their mood even more...


I'm going to assume this attack happened before we crippled them again.




See the horsemen they have? That's right, zero. We've literally killed or injured every single weaponthane in their clan. And they still insist on raiding us. They slipped by our patrols, but we have weaponthanes and they don't, so uh...


On top of all that, Orlanth is pissed off at them. Harvar is a Renowned Leader and Heroic at combat, so he could actually get away with taking insane risks to win...but why bother risking him when everything else is stacked in our favor anyway? Just lead us to victory, Harvar.


What? I just got done talking you up! You're not allowed to fight poorly!


We win anyway.




Inganna, a young, unmarried woman of your clan, sees a terrible omen. As she is sitting doing needlework, the shadow of a bird passes over her. When the people hear of this, they are very troubled; this omen means that some grave disaster looms. It might mean death or illness for the girl or one of her kinfolk, or trouble for the entire clan.

Uh, guys? You're aware that our entire clan history has involved grave disaster, right? This bird shadow was just restating the obvious in case we forgot.

-Do nothing.
-Sacrifice to the gods for luck.
-"This is not a bad omen."
-"We are strong enough to face any misfortune."
-Send her on a pilgrimage to Kero Fin.

Once everyone believes in an omen, they have a way of coming true. Reassurance is most needed here.

It is better to inspire them than to argue what is a bad omen and what is not.

Sacrifice to Humakt; we have kept the warriors happy, so he will favor us with good luck.

Birds are bad because they were sacred to Orlanth's enemy, Yelm the Emperor.

Circling the base of the Holy Mountain is believed to be a cure for all manner of evils.

If we send her off, we'll avoid whatever misfortune awaits her.

It is a very sinister omen, but our clan magic is strong. Inganna will suffer no ill effects.