Part 416: Bribes

The game lets you try options after this one, so it's built to assume the player's just going to blindly click any option that says "town."


Tarkala's dumb idea of giving them a one-time payment of a mere 20 cows works, somehow! She's not as dumb as we thought.


Miraculously, this option works too, and doesn't require us to give up anything. Too bad we didn't pick it.


But we're being nice and ending their curse, so here it is.



Giving them that land did something really funky to our tula - it appears to be made of three seperate areas now! (Labels off so you can actually see what's going on, but if you're confused, remember that our tula is always outlined in white)


Our weaponthanes' morale has dipped to Confident for some reason, so I do an easy raid against the Vostangi to get that back up to Unshakeable.


This is honestly the first time I've seen the "avoid the Elmalquester" option not work perfectly.


Not that it mattered in the end.


Next up, Blue Jays.


That's all we got from them? Man, these losers are getting poor.


The Vostang still aren't desperate enough to accept maximum tribute, although they have stopped their odd tradition of hiring themselves as mercenaries.


Hey, it's been ages since we've seen these guys!


They're still pretty nasty to go up against, even when we win.




Renatha, the head of a prosperous family from the Six Brothers clan, brings you a gift of five fine horses. She then says that she is engaged with members of the Squat Oak clan over accusations of sabotage. She assures you that her clan is in the right, and hopes you will support them at the upcoming moot, which will hear the case brought by the Squat Oaks.

-Accept the gift; let the Squat Oaks know she has made it.
-Agree to give her cause due consideration.
-Agree to support her cause.
-Give her a reciprocal gift.
-Refuse the gift.

The Squat Oaks are better friends to us than the Six Brothers. Give Renatha a reciprocal gift, so we are not obligated to support them.
Their horses are nearly as fine as their bachelors.
Side with the Six Brothers.
"No one is generous enough to refuse a reciprocal gift; no one is rich enough that it hurts to be repaid."
Legal claims can be quite profitable, for those called on to judge them. Let the bidding begin!
Why do they give us horses, and not wine? (I agree with him fully.)
The case sounds complicated. There are precedents to support both sides.