On the shoulders of giants: a new multiple choices LP!

[Cassidy]

B.

And now it is only a matter of time before the wielder of fire inflicts his devastating revenge on the tribe.

 

[Esquilax]

He straightened slightly and kept talking: 'So... here we are. Do not be afraid, you will not be harmed. I want you to bring a message back to your chief. Tell him that what happened a few days back was a mistake. A lesser chief acted without orders. I hear he paid the price of it, so that's settled. I can see your tribe is different from the ones who unfortunately fell when I was younger. You are stronger, you wield strange powers. For those reasons, you will not be bothered again. But, remember this if you remember anything of this encounter, trespassing into the forest will not be tolerated. It is our home, our domain. We give you the lake and its shores to do as you will. But you shall not enter our forest. As a boon of goodwill, I will tell you this: fire is the key to the weapons wielded by the lesser chief you killed.'
The old man turned back and started limping back to his monsters: 'Go back now. You shall not be bothered by any of us. Go back and bring my message.' And he disappeared into the mists. The monsters soon vanished as well, leaving me with the head of my friend, staring accusingly up at me.'

Bullshit. This guy knew exactly what he was doing: "a lesser chief acted without orders", my ass. What about the refugee tribe that we encountered many decades ago? Or the tribe near the lake we met recently? I wonder, were those "mistakes", too? They attacked us and got more than they bargained for, and now they're beginning to shit themselves.

I can see your tribe is different from the ones who unfortunately fell when I was younger. You are stronger, you wield strange powers. For those reasons, you will not be bothered again.

Translation: We started a fight, and we lost. Let's be friends instead.

I think that this whole demonstration was smoke and mirrors and what the scouts saw was probably the last line of defense the beastmen have. I think that's a hell of a gamble to make, so I'm hesitant to vote for A, but I definitely think he's bullshitting us big-time. They've been aggressive to every single tribe in the area, now all of a sudden they're cool with us hanging out near the lake? I don't buy it. This whole thing smells of a bluff and they really don't have anything.

That being said, I'm not sure if I want to find out if this is a bluff or not. Swaying a few tribes to join us would be a great way to add a lot more moderates to our tribe and religion. There's nothing like peace, prosperity and trade to ease fanaticism.

 

[Kalin]

A

 

[Tigranes]

I do think they are at least partly bullshitting. But as I say, we have a number of confirmed factors that discourage us from A - internal and external. We don't need to believe or disbelieve these guys in order to make our decision here.

It is tempting to call their bluff, but what stops me doing so is the fact that there is no sign of our prize. Are they wealthy in any way? Do they have a large population, or was that it? Are they all crazy barbarians that can't assimilate into our tribe anyway, crazy barbarians that can, or have other populations? Is the forest rich in any kind of resources? Do they have any civilisation with technologies or tools? At the moment we don't have any sightings of the rewards we might reap for taking such a gamble.

I'm always on the side of taking gambles, as with the wielder, but as we all know that situation is far from over and we need to focus on one gamble at a time.

 

[Urist McLurker]

B.
They do have mastery of iron it seems, which is quite a step up in terms of technology but it seems like an awful lot of time and risk, going many days into their home turf to call what might be a bluff just for technology that the old man seemed very cavalier with.
It's not like we were planning to spread into the forest anyway so there really seems no point to pick A par from the shits and giggles of doing so.

 

[Zwist]

B

 

[Jick Magger]

B, bluff or no I'm not in the mood to try and call it with our fifty scared and wounded soldiers on their home turf. Not to mention the forest sounds vaguely mystical.

 

[Quetzacoatl]

B
We'll exterminate them in due time. An empire must be forged in the meantime.

 

[Esquilax]

B, bluff or no I'm not in the mood to try and call it with our fifty scared and wounded soldiers on their home turf. Not to mention the forest sounds vaguely mystical.

I would say that terrain is the biggest danger to us, more so than our diminished numbers. In the battle, we had a lot of things going for us in terms of tactics and terrain: we had a lot of time to soften their charge with javelins, then we had a great reach advantage with our spears as they were struggling up the hill. We won't have an advantage like that in a forest. There are a lot of trees to hide in, and enemies are more difficult to spot on account of the fog, meaning that closing the distance will be far easier for them. Our battle-tested bears could be very helpful in the forest since they are fearsome in close combat and their keen sense of smell can alert us to danger, but with only seven of them going into hostile territory it would be dangerous. And that's not even going into the potential powers of animal Charming that the old tribal leader might have.

Our fire apprentices will be as much of a hindrance as they are a boon in there as well since we could torch our own men just as easily as we could theirs, and I'm not particularly keen on setting the forest ablaze. Charred corpses make poor vassals and slaves. Enemies we defeat in battle should be allowed to swear fealty and join us, providing us with whatever knowledge they have.

Anyways, I am pretty sure that it's a bluff because I don't think that they would offer the secret of iron to a tribe of pyromaniacs if they weren't desperate.

 

[newcomer]

B

Bluff or not, those beastmen are more adapt fighting in the forest, and thus we might suffer heavy losses if we try to invade. I think we need to establish a diplomatic relation to the plains tribe and ask for their troop and seer guidance, only after that shall we attempt to invade (either by entering or by burning & surrounding the forest)

 

[Quetzacoatl]

This situation reminds me of the Barbarians first CYOA, where the Codexian Empire fought against those alien bugs for the first time.

 

[Monty]

B

Bluff or not, those beastmen are more adapt fighting in the forest, and thus we might suffer heavy losses if we try to invade. I think we need to establish a diplomatic relation to the plains tribe and ask for their troop and seer guidance, only after that shall we attempt to invade (either by entering or by burning & surrounding the forest)

This. I don't think we should forget the seer who may be able to shed some more light on our situation.

 

[treave]

This situation reminds me of the Barbarians first CYOA, where the Codexian Empire fought against those alien bugs for the first time.

Good times, good times. Anyway this is a no brainer.

B.

This isn't the time to be overly ambitious. We have an internal storm brewing in the form of the Wielder.

 

[Esquilax]

I am pretty sure that the beastmen will now retreat into the forest to lick their wounds and replenish their numbers. They've probably never faced an enemy that gave them as much trouble as we did, so I'm definitely expecting them to go back to the drawing board and develop plans for their next invasion. The old man's story about the whole thing being some wacky misunderstanding was complete bullshit. They already know how to forge iron, and they live in a forest, so expect them all to have shields the next time we meet on the battlefield.

 

[Vernydar]

I am pretty sure that the beastmen will now retreat into the forest to lick their wounds and replenish their numbers. They've probably never faced an enemy that gave them as much trouble as we did, so I'm definitely expecting them to go back to the drawing board and develop plans for their next invasion. The old man's story about the whole thing being some wacky misunderstanding was complete bullshit. They already know how to forge iron, and they live in a forest, so expect them all to have shields the next time we meet on the battlefield.

I partly agree. I do not think it likely it was a misunderstanding. But I do think there's a LOT of them.

That said, I keep seeing people who talk about burning the forest. How? It seems pretty huge to me. And VERY humid. It's not going to burn if we start one fire you know? Burning the forest is not going to work. Not to mention I consider it a pointless waste of resources

 

[Quetzacoatl]

How will our diplomacy with other bigger tribes go? A die or join one or an alliance sort of thing?

 

[Vernydar]

How will our diplomacy with other bigger tribes go? A die or join one or an alliance sort of thing?

At this technological and social level, I think the possible pacific interaction choices would be: barter and no aggression pact, or, absorbing much smaller tribe. I think any other possibility is remote.

Of course, if the Wielder DOES take control of our tribe, the only pacific choice possible is: convert or die

 

[TOME]

That said, I keep seeing people who talk about burning the forest. How?

Just start a big enough fire. The heat will dry the surrounding air and trees and the flames will spead. But nevertheless, forest will burn especially with the help of fire spirits.

It is entirely another thing whether we should burn the forest or not.

 

[newcomer]

I partly agree. I do not think it likely it was a misunderstanding. But I do think there's a LOT of them.

That said, I keep seeing people who talk about burning the forest. How? It seems pretty huge to me. And VERY humid. It's not going to burn if we start one fire you know? Burning the forest is not going to work. Not to mention I consider it a pointless waste of resources

What I have on my mind is burning the forest from outside to inside, kind of like surrounding the outer part of forest with fire. Then, place soldiers outside the forest, and kill any lifeform that tries to escape. This will result in the forest totally erased from the map...

 

[Vernydar]

People, looking at the map, the forest is tens or hundreds of kilometers wide maybe. How do you plan to burn that? How do you plan to surround it?

 

[newcomer]

People, looking at the map, the forest is tens or hundreds of kilometers wide maybe. How do you plan to burn that? How do you plan to surround it?

Introducing our god-emperor, FIRE BEAR

 

[TOME]

Start a fire, watch it burn, start a new fire, watch it burn...

But maybe we should consider it only as a last resort, should the barbarians decide to attack.

 

[Esquilax]

People, looking at the map, the forest is tens or hundreds of kilometers wide maybe. How do you plan to burn that? How do you plan to surround it?

We don't have to burn the whole forest. In fact, it would probably be a smart idea to burn part of the forest, then attack the enemy as they're trying to put it out. Still though, I don't like the idea of setting the place ablaze. The wood is really useful, and I actually want there to be something left to conquer once we've defeated them. I would only consider setting their forest on fire if we were losing a war with them badly.

I partly agree. I do not think it likely it was a misunderstanding. But I do think there's a LOT of them.

What do you base that on? You keep assuming that there's a horde of tens of thousands of barbarians out there when everything we've learned shows that this is not the case. They're not to be underestimated, certainly, but they're still men and they can be killed.

In fact, based on what the old man said, it is far more likely that they are in a weak position than in a strong one. They would not have offered the secret of how to make iron gratis if they weren't reeling from a failed assault into our lands. Also, we know for a fact that their story about the attack being a misunderstanding is bullshit because they've preyed upon the lake tribes for a few generations now. They meant to do it, and now that they've suffered a humiliating defeat, they want to lick their wounds. They'll come by again in several years, so we should make sure we're ready by then.

Now, I'm not saying it's a good idea to attack them, rather I'm saying let's not be so quick to assume that everyone is going to be so much stronger and more powerful than we are.

 

[Vernydar]

What do you base that on? You keep assuming that there's a horde of tens of thousands of barbarians out there when everything we've learned shows that this is not the case. They're not to be underestimated, certainly, but they're still men and they can be killed.

I am assuming so because the forest is very big. Basically, I think we may have killed off most warriors from ONE tribe, but if the forest is so big there can be many other tribes inside. Consider that this old man seems quite calmer and very different from the warriors. So to speak, some sort of "elder". Maybe even some sort of Nature shaman.

I think it strange that, with elders like this, the warriors are raving barbarians. I think we may have found a tribe that preys upon others because they do not follow their Nature spirit. They know about metal forging, they cannot be just fanatics and madmen! They did not just use a metal axe, they gave us a tip on how to make one! So, if their incursions were due to religion, there may be other tribes as well, which are semi-peaceful to each other because they all follow the nature spirit.

You may wonder why I think this is some sort of religious war, but I think it's almost certain. Consider this: they came out of their forest, killed everyone, and went back inside. They take no prisoners, we found heaps of bones with teeth marks. They do not conquer and settle outside. And at this semi prehistoric age there's basically nothing to loot.

So, yes I think the old man was covering his ass, and maybe his tribe is indeed weakened. But this does not mean there are no other tribes inside the forest, similar to this one. And they may get involved if we decide to invade.

Of course, they are just suppositions. But I think them solid enough, and really, they are no more fictional than just saying: yeah surely we have killed most of them and they are just trying to avoid us invading.

 

[TOME]

We don't have to burn the whole forest. In fact, it would probably be a smart idea to burn part of the forest, then attack the enemy as they're trying to put it out.

Don't know about full scale attack, but we could send a small strike team to get more iron or kill their leader.

...once we've defeated them.

Let's keep in mind that this isn't a computer game targeted to 'broad' audience. There is always the possibility of game over text.

 

[Quetzacoatl]

I doubt Curufinwe will end this CYOA no matter how much we fuck up. Maybe when he gets burn out.