Part 144: Slaughter All Around
Tulip posted:
Holy shit we have a lot of horses.
(man, I knew we had extra horses, but now that I look at the exact number...anywhere near 100 horses is a shitload. Guess what we're using for gifts/trading this year!)
We lost one magic for this, but it was well-spent. Although the Rakstanti are at a far corner of the pass, so they won't be very useful for warning us about raids & for future tribe-making...but an ally is an ally.
Now to dump some of our plentiful horses on the Squat Oaks so they stop disliking us.
No goodies, but we officially know what that area is called now.
Jarolor picked the right ring position to fill. Getting free drunken singing all because you took some horses to another clan? Hell, sign *me* up for that.
(alas, the Squat Oaks are still pink on our map. But it's progress.)
The most popular votes for Vostangi strategy involved at least one wave of killing them before taking their stuff(or taking them as thralls), so let's get to it.
At this point, we might not even need to invite the Wolves along; we're outnumbering the Vostangi anyway.
Dunorl is a 71-year old hunter with Very Good combat skill. I have him fight harder since we're sure as fuck not retreating & he's not a good enough leader for me to trust him to rally the cowards. As for finding Harvar...well, the last time I tried that, he never heard the cries for help over the sound of the battle. Lesson learnt.
Oh no, we killed a grey-haired noble we'd never heard of before now. A tragic loss.
Oh look, we already made back the horses we spent wooing the Squat Oaks.
Hey! We just gave you guys gifts! That's not very appreciative!
Let's just pretend the 2 horses were from the ones we gave them. (I have no idea what pissed the Squat Oaks off so much, but we should probably focus our diplomacy on them if we don't want another feud on our hands)
Bronze-Olende of the Woodpeckers comes seeking your help with a raid against the Six Brothers. He reminds you of the obligations you owe to the Woodpeckers, and tells you that the storehouses of the Six Brothers are like a tantalizing fruit, ripe for the picking.
-Offer sacrifices to a war god of Olende's choice.
-Politely decline his request.
-Send a full war party.
-Send only a token force.
We cannot be so eager that we threaten to steal the Woodpeckers's thunder.
Clans that answer such requests are respected, and follow Orlanth's way.
The Six Brothers are unpredictable. Sometimes they fight poorly; sometimes, ferociously.
We have enough warriors to defend our land and equip a war party.
Even if we send more warriors than the Woodpeckers, Olende will have cause to be offended if we try to take most of the loot.
The Woodpeckers always act as if they really like us, but I'm not sure they really do.
If we decide on sacrifice, the war gods will expect no less than three and no more than ten cows.