Part 354: Thief

Pfft, we have cows coming out our ears. Take 'em!


It's no fairy in a bottle, but close enough. This treasure is called Captured Spirit, and it "helps to perform rituals."


Ah, I see the problem with our sudden cow overcrowding. We used to have ~170 hides of pastureland, and now have 86. Excess pastureland will slowly convert back to forest if you have tons more than your herds need, so the shrinking pastures and growing herds collided with each other.


This is fixed easiily enough. Adjusting pasture allotment takes up a turn, so I might as well do a ton at once to give us more wiggle room. (and to piss off elves)


Now it's time for a raid.


A very special raid.


Sadly, the game seemed to decide "you can't do that, dumbass", so we just get a normal raid.


We hit them while they were sacrificing, we had the magic advantage, we outnumbered them, we have a solid warleader, and we did slightly more damage to them than they did to us, but we lost. Sometimes I wonder how the hell the game decides battles.


An opportunity for revenge quickly presents itself.


What. Okay, the next raid against them is getting raven bannnered because .


Carls catch a man trying to sneak into a stead at night. He wears the insignia of clan Woodpecker. He identifies himself as Kagradus. Housed in the stead were a number of valuable items, including Humakt's Raven Banner.

-Beat him, then let him go.
-Kill him.
-Let him go.
-Ransom him back to the Woodpeckers.
-Take him as a thrall.

A thrall is easy to take but hard to keep. (That means "kill him")
He did not give the proper greetings, and clearly meant to take from us. We can dispose of him as we want. (That means "kill him")
His clan is trouble and always has been. (That means "kill him")
If we ransom him, we can turn theft into advantage. (That means "kill hi...er, I mean, "ransom him")
If we beat him and let him go to tell the tale, thieves will fear us, whether Woodpecker thieves or outlaw bandits.
He was trying to steal our cows! (That means "kill him")
If, in emulation of our ancestors, we take him as a thrall, our clan magic will benefit.