Part 320: 1355: Badgers Complain

To battle! With our allies, led by the mighty bear!



Eh, I don't really care. He worships whats-her-name, goddess of the hunt.



Also, bursting with all that holy energy didn't help when he was the only person in our entire army to suffer an injury. The auxiliaries didn't even have anything to do.



Anyway, a wildly successful, refracted-light powered raid for us. It's the end of the Fire Season, and has been one year since our last heroquest, so it's time for another one!



Maybe not--our strongest Elmali is still injured from those bandits, and our second strongest is kind of a chump. Questing will be delayed for the moment.




Instead, I have spent the next two months doing scutt work about the tula.



Thanes from the Badger clan come to lodge a claim against you. Unlike most clans in the area, their main god is the sun deity, Elmal. In their tradition, it is Elmal who is the exemplar of the good chieftain. Elmali clans still worship Orlanth and the other gods, and their laws are otherwise similar to yours. These thanes are here to complain that thanes of your clan disrupted their holy ceremonies and lobbed dirt clods at their temple.

Allow them to lob dirt clods at your temple.

Compose a poem of apology.

Offer them compensation.

"Elmal must always be subordinate to Orlanth."

"Take your claim to the moot, if you want."

It's true that Elmal walks behind Orlanth, but that is no excuse for such disruptive acts by our weaponthanes. We must make amends.

If we lose at the moot, they will fine us ten cows.

The other clans all feel as we do about Elmal's subservience to Orlanth. That means the Elmali are likely to be offended at a moot, no matter which way the ruling goes.

A tangible gift shows greater respect than do pretty words.

Bulls will be bulls.

Our magic will suffer if we let them lob dirt at our temple. But if we offend them, they could call on Elmal to curse uch, which might be worse.

It is good to see Elmal getting picked on, intead of Eurmal.