Part 146: Heroquest Preparations

The game isn't explicit about this before you foolishly accept a one-time tribute(although it does imply it in the bolded part of the choice above), but such arrangements are only good for a specific number of years, after which you are free to raid the shit out of your enemy again. Of course, your enemies also tend to "forget" their yearly tribute after a while, so you'll eventually be able to raid them again either way.



Of course, we are wise, so we're going for annual tribute. The bulk of the votes were in the range of 20 to 25 cows, so I go for the middle ground of asking them to turn the amount of their offered one-time tribute into annual tribute(since that was conveniently in the amount of 23 cows).

PS: The choice boxes are conveniently positioned over that ugly redheaded thing normally. I'm going to assume that some artist finished that, went "damn", and begged whoever positioned the boxes to cover it up for them.


Alas, the Vostangi aren't okay with this. Oh well, at least we can continue pummeling them(and their new mercenaries) into the ground.


The Squat Oaks are now neutral with us, and Jarolor is now developing an appreciation for getting drunk for free diplomacy.

And before I do anything else, it's time for heroquest voting! I'm doing it now because Ernalda Feeds the Tribe gets a boost in Earth, and all the rest get boosts from Storm or Dark(yes, even Elmal's. Remember, his quest takes place during the Great Darkness.). Look here in case you're wondering about young nobles we could train up; having less-skilled nobles go on these quests is more dangerous, but can be worthwhile in the long run. Then again, there are an awful lot of heroquest treasures we can get...

Humakt The Champion. Possible rewards include strengthening the quester, defending against undead, reconciling the weaponthanes, obtaining a treasure, and bestowing Humakt's blessing upon our battles. We already have the coolest treasure(Humakt's Sword) from this, and we've already made Harvar Heroic in combat, but this could be a good way to train up a backup warleader. Then again, Harvar's not getting grey-headed yet, so training up a replacement isn't that urgent.

Chalana Arroy Heals the Scars. Possible rewards include healing the sick/wounded, mending a rift in the clan, making peace with a neighbor, making the quester wiser, or making our wounds heal faster in the future. We do have a few Chalana Arroy worshippers to do this, but our best one is only at Very Good magic(and I'm not sure what other skills impact success here). We could also send a non-Chalana Arroy person out there(like, say, Elmalandti) and see if they can brute force their way through with suprerior magic.

Elmal Guards the Stead. Possible rewards include strengthening our defenses, gaining fine horses, strengthening our leaders or the quester, warding against chaos, or reconciling the weaponthanes. Jorator's Combat has improved, but it's still only very good, so sending him on this quest may be hard. He's also the best Elmali in the clan in terms of fighting. Of course, nobody says we have to send an Elmali on the quest - the bonus for having great combat skill(from, say, Harvar) could very well outweigh the bonus from sending an Elmal devotee.

The Making of the Storm Tribe. Possible rewards include gaining Orlanth's blessing for tribe-making, improving our reputation or political abilities, and making the quester a strong leader. Elmalandti is still very nicely well-rounded for this one. Our youngest Elmali, Penterest, could be made a suitable next-in-line for Jorator by getting strengthened by this quest, but he has Excellent leadership and not much else.

Orlanth and Aroka. Possible rewards include bringing rain, strengthening our clan or the quester, making dragonewts fear us, or bringing back a treasure. Combat is super-important here and the new Orlanth guy, Kulbrast, would be the best bet for that(he has the second-best Combat in the clan, if you recall).

Ernalda Feeds The Tribe. Rewards include bringing back a (useless) treasure, increasing crop yield, making peace with the elves, making our cows healthy, reconciling the farmers, and strengthening the quester. The crop yield increase from the previous quest seems to have worn out, so it may be worth it to go for it again.

Lhankor Mhy Finds The Truth. AKA "that quest I accidentally sent us on last time, which we failed at so hard we fucked up the maps." If we're confident we can actually succeed at it this time, the rewards include learning new myths, making our quester or the leaders wise, fighting darkness(whatever the hell that means), defending against chaos, or "learning more about dragon pass"(revealing more of the map, in reality). Brandgor would be best suited for this quest, but he's also the one who failed utterly at it last time.



Also, while I was looking through the nobles to double check skill levels...

RED ALERT. THERE IS A TRICKSTER IN THE CLAN.


I strongly suspect I know the answer to these two questions already, but do we put Brenna on the ring, and if so, who do we replace? I can post stats of the current nobles if need be, but the most expendable ones would be Dorasa and Beneva.
Tricksters provide a lot of fun options in certain events, for those who don't know, and also trigger special events themselves. They also let you put an extra point of magic in Quests at sacred time.