Your name is Anatiwe, you are a member of the Olopozo tribe. You are a deeply devoted and spiritual tribe inhabiting a large birch forest.
Every year your tribe celebrates the coming of winter with a great celebration to welcome the new season and ask the ancestors for their blessings. It is an incredibly important time of the year and the preparation requires great effort and knowledge of the woods and lake of your home. Specific ritual artifacts and material are all found throughout your ancestral lands.
As an apprentice shaman it is your duty and honor to help the elders and chieftain prepare the tribe for the [[new season.|Tribe Lore]]
You are standing in the clearing where you will host the celebration in $day days.
{(if: $campLvl1 is true)[The celebration camp is coming along nicely, you have tents and firepits set up for worship.]
(if: $foeEffigy is true)[The caged effigy of the Urukaya awaits its firey fate.]}
Where will you begin your search?
[[Explore the Birch Forest.]]
[[Head to the Lake.]]
[[Craft and improve camp.|Innovate.]]
[[Rest.]]
{(set: $day to 3)
(set: $tribalAxeKnowledge to false)
(set: $tribalFireKnowledge to false)
(set: $camp to 0)
(set: $campLvl1 to false)
(set: $hatchet to false)
(set: $fire to false)
(set: $didEastShore to false)
(set: $didWestShore to false)
(set: $rageTea to false)
(set: $rageSeeds to false)
(set: $shroomDust to false)
(set: $foeEffigy to false)
(set: $thistle to false)
(set: $lily to false)
(set: $offerLily to false)
}
{(if: $hatchet is false and $fire is false)[The forest is too thick and vast to explore with such little preperation.
<p>
You should gather some equpiment before making the trek.
<p>
[[You could still press on... if you think it wise.|Hub 2]]]
}
{(if: $hatchet is true and $fire is false)[Armed but not aided by the light of flame you could traverse the forest a touch easier now.
<p>
[[Trek on.|Hub 2]]]
}
{(if: $hatchet is false and $fire is true)[With the aid of light the dark forest is less daunting, but the lack of a weapon o tool leaves a touch of dread in your chest.
<p>
[[Trek on.|Hub 2]]]
}
{(if: $hatchet is true and $fire is true)[With bright flame and sharpened stone you are prepared for the forest just as your ancestors before you.
<p>
[[Trek on.|Hub 2]]]
}
[[Back to the clearing.|Hub]]You make your way to a small lake, the sun beautifully refelcting off of the surface of its crystal clear surface.
Where will you explore?
The [[Eastern Shore]] has many materials of a stoney nature. Flint, smooth soft stones, and raw ores.
The [[Western Shore]] has many resources for tools and buildings.
[[Head Back.|Hub]]You look upon your collected material and think of what to create:
{(if: $day is 3)[You need materials. Or rest if you have them, you are too excited to concentrate.]
(if: $day < 3)[(if: $tribalAxeKnowledge is true and $hatchet is false)[Craft a [[Hatchet]]]
{(if: $hatchet is true)[You have your Smashing-Axe.]}
<p>
(if: $tribalFireKnowledge is true and $fire is false)[Spark up some [[fire.]]]
{(if:$fire is true)[You hold the power of flint, to create flame.]}
<p>
(if: $camp > 0)[Improve the [[celebration camp.]]]
<p>
(if: $foeEffigy is true)[[Set the foe's effigy in camp.]]
(if: $thistle is true)[[Offer thistle to the shaman.]]
(if: $lily is true and $offerLily is false)[[Offer lily to the shaman.]]
]}
<p>
[[Back to the clearing.|Hub]]With a piece of glassy black flint in your hand and a thin rod of metal. You strike the flint atop the metal, sparks fluttering from the collision.
With a grin you begin piling up dry kindling and start to strike the sparks into the wooden pile. You form a stone circle around the fire carving symbols of strength, endurance, and rebirth onto the soft stones you found from the shore.
You ask a young group of the tribe boys to keep the fire stoked and strong for the coming celebration.
You might utilize this fire for a whole host of preparations still to come.
[[Return|Innovate.]]
(set: $fire to true)(if: $didWestShore is true)[You have explored the Western shore already today.]
(else:)[On the eastern shore lies a pebble beach overlooking the length of the great lake. It is a truly marvelous sight to behold, calm and peaceful.
You steal a moment for yourself.
As you take a deep breath you see a shiny mineral, (link:"flint.")[you pocket the flint, you know its value for creating flames. You also pickup a piece of ore to strike the flint with. A few other odds and ends such as a few soft smooth stones for effigy carving and you are off.(set: $tribalFireKnowledge to true)(set: $didEastShore to true)]
(if: $tribalFireKnowledge is true)[The scenary still remains as beautiful as it was the last time you were here. You are proud of the home your ancestors left to you. You steal just one more moment for yourself.]
]
[[Head back.|Head to the Lake.]]
{(if: $didEastShore is true)[You have already explored the Eastern shore today.]
(if: $didEastShore is false and $tribalAxeKnowledge is false and $camp is 0)[You spot a bounty of materials to be sure:
<p>
(link: "Large sturdy driftwood.")[(set: $didWestShore to true)(set: $camp to it + .5)Good structural material for tents and shelter]
<p>
(link: "Loose ferns.")[(set: $didWestShore to true)(set: $camp to it + .5)Gathered to make simple effective bindings.]
<p>
(link: "A few hand sized stones")[(set: $didWestShore to true)(set: $tribalAxeKnowledge to true)These give you a few ideas for tools and effigies.
<p>
[[Head back to the lake.|Head to the Lake.]]]
]}
{(if:$camp is 1 and $tribalAxeKnowledge is true)[You've scoured the shore clean. Its small smooth pebble beach is comforting for your weary feet. There is nothing left here to take, but the beauty of the crystal lake.]
}
<p>
[[Head back to the camp clearing.|Hub]]
You twist some sturdy bindings from the ferns you found with the help of the tribe weaver women. Masters of all manner of fibrous work you make a good few 100 feet of secure bindings with the quiet effective group of women.
Once the bindings are prepared and properly treated for weather, both cold and hot, you begin assembling the simple structures for the layfolk in the celebration. Things like small tents and gathering areas to sing and worship.
Beautifully crafted just as the ancestors would have done it, you feel closer to your tribe than ever before as your pride in yourself grows and you immerse yourself in your spiritual craft.
[[Return.|Innovate.]]
(set: $campLvl1 to true)You have only $day days to accomplish your spiritual tasks before the celebration.
You enter the vast forest to find the ritual items you require for the celebration. The forest should have everything you will need to commune with and appease your ancestors' spirits.
The shaman and elders ask that you pursue a Lily of midnight black with veins of crimson red to prepare a potent elixir to commune with the ancestors and peer into their vast insight for the winter to come. This can be found in the [[ancestral shade]] of the forest.
Chieftain Kalru asks that you pursue an effigy of the Urukaya's ancestor. [[As a long standing tribal foe|tribal foe's]] their effigy is to be burned to appease the ancestral warriors of your tribe for blessings, and to bolster your people's morale for the coming winter.
With either of these items the Olopozo ritual celebration will provide the tribe with greater blessings from the ancestors and prepare them for the harsh winter in different ways.
With a large sack of stones from the shore, some driftwood, and the strong fern bindings you begin to bend, set, and fasten a small tool for yourself.
With a sharpened axe head and a heavy stone set on the back all held together by a straight leather wrapped handle. It has the functions of both an axe and a small hammer and is your tribe's preferred multitool of choice.
You have a smashing-axe in you possesion.
[[Return.|Innovate.]]
(set: $hatchet to true)You rest in your bed-roll pondering what you have to accomplish tomorrow. You are eager to please your devoted tribe as best you can, and earn the title of Grand Shaman.
The light of father sun drifts into your tent, [[It is time to wake up.|Hub]]
(set: $day to it - 1)
(set: $didEastShore to false)
(set: $didWestShore to false)You decide to tread the dark of the forest.
(if: $fire is true)[With your torch in hand you begin your journey into the [[dark belly|Help of Fire]] of the birch forest.]
(if: $fire is false)[Without the light of a torch the journey may be difficult. You can still [[make your journey|No Fire]] if you think it wise. ]
[[Return to the clearing.|Hub]]
or
[[Return to the Forest entrance.|Hub 2]]You decide that your path lies in the rival tribe Urukaya's settlement and acquiring their ancestral effigy.
(if: $hatchet is true)[With the aid of your smashing-axe you feel up to the task of [[acquiring|Into the Urukaya]] the Urukaya's ancestor effigy.]
(if: $hatchet is false)[Without the safety of a weapon you feel as naked as a new born faun. [["My spirit is as strong as my body"|Into the Urukaya]] you think that you could perhaps still acquire the effigy even without a weapon.]
[[Return to the clearing.|Hub]]
or
[[Return to the Forest entrance|Hub 2]]With the aid of a sturdy torch you sparked to life with your flint you start into the ancestral shade. The surroundings are lit up enough for you to really gather a strong understanding of your surroundings.
Your fire throws light upon the ancient old birch trees and fungi colonies on the forest floor. The sight is eerie but much easier to navigate than wandering blind into the forest.
You pride yourself on your pragmatic appliance of your ancestral ingenuity.
[[Keep Moving.]]Without any man-made light you will have to rely on the ancestors to provide guidance through the forest.
The light peaking through the trees, the dim bioluminescent glow of the plants and fungi and your prior knowledge of the old and weird ancetral shade.
Not many dare to enter the shade without light, but you are not like many.
[[Hopefully...]]You start your trek to the Urukaya's land. You ponder what the best way to steal the effigy might be.
You trudge through their marshy land of balding cypress and choking dogwoods half submerged in knee high water and mud.
You see a small area of [[dry land]] to catch your breath on.You climb sopping wet on to the dry land with $day day(s) until the celebration.
As a shaman your keen eye notices many plants, herbs, roots and fungi others may pass over. With that knowledge of the natural world you spot two very familiar plants growing on this spit of land:
(if: $shroomDust is false)[One of them is actually a (link:"fungus.")[patch of inky black mushrooms with blinking powder blue bioluminescent spots on its cap, they are varying in height and width. You recognize them as Lolup mushrooms or "fog-caps". They can be prepared to release a cloud of vaporus spores that confuse, dizzy, and cloud the minds of those who smell it, you know this from your childhood. You were quite the little trouble maker and had made this powder as a prank on the grand shamn Uru, it is one of the main reason he offered you apprenticeship to become a shaman. Its effect is not longlasting or lethal, but it will take half a day to prepare the spore powder to burn. [[Harvest fog-caps.]]]]
(if: $rageTea is false and $rageSeeds is false)[The other a (link: "red root.")[cluster of tightly wound crimson roots that surround a hard shell. You instantly recognize this root as Calfix root or "wrath bramble". If the shell entwined in the spiky bramble can be harvested and prepared those who ingest it will gain uncontrollable strength at the cost of their mind. You often use it to treat severely ill individuals to give them strength to fuel a recovery and fight against the illness, it is still a rather dangerous technique and takes years of practice to measure a safe dosage. To use it on a healthy individual is an extrodinarily dangeous decision. It will take half a day to prepare the remedy. [[Harvest wrath bramble.]]]]
[[To Urukaya.]]
or
[[Back to the Forest entrance.|Hub 2]](if: $fire is true)[You strike up a small fire and pluck the mushrooms from their grassy homes. You grind them into a mushy clumpy powder and steep them with water. After a while you strain the water and produce a pouch of powder that can be burned like incense to create the dizzying spore fog. [[Return.|dry land]](set: $day to it -.5)(set: $shroomDust to true)]
(if: $fire is false)[Without fire to brew the powder you cannot possibly hope to produce the dizzying fog. [[Return.|dry land]]]{(if: $hatchet is true and $fire is true)[You swing at the base of the cluster with your smashing-axe chopping away its firm root-woven tether from the soil. With the cluster free you use the hammer of you tool to smash open the shell revealing hundreds of small gooey seeds. You strike up a fire and brew a strong pungent red fluid, the process is slow and you loose half of your day but the product of your patience is perfectly brewed. (set: $day to it - .5)(set: $rageTea to true)[[Return.|dry land]]]
(if: $hatchet is true and $fire is false)[You swing at the base of the cluster with your smashing-axe chopping away its firm root-woven tether from the soil. With the cluster free you use the hammer of you tool to smash open the shell revealing hundreds of small gooey seeds. With out fire you cannot brew the seeds into the remedy, but they can still be eaten for a less controlled alternative and save time. (set: $rageSeeds to true)[[Return.|dry land]]]
(if: $fire is true and $hatchet is false)[Without a physical tool to free the bramble you attempt to burn it carefully, it consumes the root with no yield. [[Return.|dry land]]]
(if: $fire is false and $hatchet is false)[You attempt to free the bramble with nothing to aid you it is a waste of effort. [[Return.|dry land]]]
}
You approach carefully upon the walls of the Urukaya's settment with $day day(s) before the celebration.
{(if: $rageTea is false and $rageSeeds is false and $shroomDust is false)[You have no advantage, you consider turning back. Will you [[push in|Ending: Fool's Errand]] or [[go home?]]]
(if: $rageTea is true)[You have the rage tea in hand prepared to [[sow chaos|Rage Tea]] amongst the people of the Urukaya. ]
(if: $rageSeeds is true)[With a handful of gooey wrath bramble seeds you know what you must do to secure the effigy and you have [[the strength to do it|Rage seeds]] with these small seeds.]
(if: $shroomDust is true)[With the pouch of dizzying spore dust you could walk amongst them without the need of violence and take the effigy with [[no blood-shed.|Shroom Dust]]]
}You spot the well where the Urukaya gather water. The perfect traget for a controlled assault. You slink closer to the well unfasten the cover of your canteen and pour the concotion into the water supply.
Time passes.
Then you hear a shrill scream from within the walls you peak through a gap in the wall you found while waiting for the concotion to take effect and see the source of the [[commotion]].You pull out a small woven pouch, now damp from the juices of the seeds that lie within.
The unprepared raw seeds are a dangerous path to take. You remember a time back in you settlement when a young man had eaten the seeds out of desperation to stave off starvation. He was no shaman, but a strong tree-felling man and the potency of the seeds went unbeknownst to him. He entered an awful trance of ravenous violence attacking everyone in the settlement. He had killed his own father and was finally stopped when his mother had struck him over the head with his own axe and killing him.
These seeds will give you strength, but at the cost of control.
[[At the cost of your very humanity.]]In all your training as a shaman and all of your teacher's experience, the Olopozo tribe have never tried to weaponize the fog-caps. They are more of a recreational substance for some younger tribesmen. When eaten raw they are sweet and allow for a feint dizziness that some find enjoyable. When brewed with other common plants the effect could become rather potent, that is at least what you had theorized wile concoting the powder, and now you will test your efforts.
You pour the clumpy powder from the bag into a small dish, and cover your mouth with a woven wrap, hopefully it will be protection enough against the smoke.
[[You light the powder.]]The Urukaya descend upon themselves like wilf foul beasts of a dark nature. A disturbing image of man, woman, and child fighting tooth and nail over nothing turns your stomach.
You will not let this diversion go to waste and amongst the chaos you slip over the wall and grab the effigy.
(set: $foeEffigy to true)
You run like hell is following you, for it very well could be, back to the celebration clearing to add the effigy to the celebration.
[[Return to the clearing|Travel.]]You place the wooden effigy into a wooden cage adorned with charms and symbols meant to trap the ancestor's attached spirit in the cage with the effigy as you burn it.
As you set the effigy on the pyre stack cheiftan Karlu suprises you from behind. With a hearty pat on your back she laughs raucously,"Well young sprout! I was not expecting you to actually get this, what with your sapling stature and what not." (You are actually fairly well built for a person of your age strong long limbs and incredible stamina. But compared to Karlu a bear would seem twiggy.) "Meaning no offense to our future grand shaman of course." She sends you a soft smile and a wink.
"I hope you will regale the tribe with the methods you used to get this twisted thing, I know I would love to hear it! Ancestors be with you sapling, now get on your way!"
[[Return.|Hub]]You spend half a day walking back through the swamp to get back to the clearing.
(set: $day to it -.5)
[[A real waste of time.|Hub]]You try to sneak into the village all by yourself with no advantage at all. You sneak past a few of the sentinels at the entrance of the settlement. But as you cross the settlement you bump into an Urukaya woman. You lock eyes with each other, and you try to force your own thoughts into her head, "Please don't do anything."
She couldn't hear your pyschic pleas, go figure.
The young woman pulls from her hip a horn and blows it with such force that you think the entirety of the continent might have heard it. The village descends upon you beating and arresting you.
You spend the remainder of the month in a heavy wooden cage unable to pursue your celebration and your peoples' sacred ritual.
It will be a hard and cursed winter for the Olopozo without the aid of the ancestors, and its all thanks to your foolishness.
A truly Pathetic End!(if: $day is 0)[(set: $day to -5)(goto: "End Eval")]You stop your actions and make your way to the clearing to begin the celebration at once!
You have arrived to the day of the festival and it is a beautiful day indeed. The last harvest sun is falling from its high perch and throws its light on the beautiful birch that surrounds your home. The first of the cold winter wind whisp through the orange and yellow leaves and you know deep down, winter is in flight and it is carried on cold frosty wings.
[[Start the Celebration!|Hidden Eval]]You palm the seeds into your mouth, they are bitter as they burst from their soft jelly shells.
Your breath is hot, hotter then flame and your blood begins to boil, heating up from your core and crawling out towards your skin. The pain is at first unbearable, but your brain begins to fade to red you can hardly feel the pain let alone recognize where your own body ends and the worlds begins. Everything, including you seems to begin to melt and then rapidly harden around you.
You rush toward the entrance of the settlement Smashing-axe in hand an Urukaya man sees you and begins to yell for others, but his voice is somehow slower than you. With a leap and a scream you shoot across the clearing and swing the stone tool in your hand toward his head. With an crushing blow his skull fragments, almost blooming into a sort of red flower from the contact.
You land on his body and look at the people in the settlement ahead of you, and with the howl of a new breed of monster you think to yourself,
[["What have I done?"]]When you come to you can't see anything and there is a pressure on your chest, legs, and head. With an attempt to get up you realize that it is not fatigue that weighs on you...
(link: "Your head is weighed down.")[With a strenuous pull, the corpse of a strong warrior's body slumps to your left. His face a shattered mess of what it was before.]
(link: "Your chest is weighed down.")[With a hearty tug, the remains of an old woman with a neck limp from breaking crumbles off of your legs.]
(link: "Your legs are weighed down.")[With a weak push, a small girl tumbles off your legs. Her small chest sundered open from savage hatred.
[[What have you done?|Ending: Bloodlust]]]
With the powder lit you circle the small settlement's perimeter in hopes that the smoke might effect the people closest to the wall around the settlement. After you make a few more passes around the perimeter you hear some laughs coming from the inside of the settlement.
With a smile and a feeling of pride you deduce that your plan has worked well enough to [[enter]] with the still burning dish to retrieve the effigy.The smokey clouds of spores are thick and seem to travel as though they are a light mist. They drift rather effortlessly as you walk to the front entrance. You see the two watchemen covering their mouths as they laugh together leaning back against the wall of the settlement. You can't help but laugh too, hopipng your laugh is from their foolishness and not your handiwork sneaking through your mask.
You press on and are awestruck by the effectiveness of the mushrooms.
That is until you approach the shrine to secure the effigy a group of four young Urukaya stumble around and see you. They playfully jump at you trying to grab at your hair and face. You take hold of the effigy rather annoyed at the young creatures and try to kick them away from you. As you are making your exit one of the young cubs grabs the cloth covering on your face and pulls down on it while one of the other children, like a dog begging for scraps, fell to the ground in font of you causing you to trip over her.
You fall to the ground and your face collides with the potent clumpy dust of the fog-caps. With a strong inhale from falling down on your stomach you inhale a concentrated miasma of the smoke.
[[Oh how wonderful.]]As you turn to lie on your back you look up at the sky as it begins to gently swirl and spin with beautiful bending colors and shapes. The trees sway like the bark and branches are made of water and the falling leaves seem to stop in the air.
What an enchanting experience you think to yourself, the sun spins and turns behind trees and branches as you nod off to the most vivid dreams you have ever experienced, but due to the nature of dreams, none of them linger [[when you wake.]] Just the emaculate feelings they have left in your very spirit.
You wake up in a pile of warm bodies cuddling up to you. The Urukaya have taken a liking to your mushroom smoke and a liking to you.
You sit up watching as they pass the dish back and forth huffing deeply of the smoke. They pass it to you, you shrug and inhale deeply of the smoke.
You lose track of time. Honestly you couldn't be bothered, man. You take another hit and close your eyes, this is the knd of spiritual life you really wanted anyway.
You squint through the shadows trying to spy a marker or familiar land mark but to no avail... until.
Ahead of you, maybe three feet or less, you see a familiar dim crimson glow. The ource is a crawling crimson, a vine like plant that crawls to the tops of trees and spouts leafs to gather the light it needs to live. The light trails the vines and looks as though the light is being pushed along the vine's insides like the veins of a living animal.
The tree the crawling crimson lies on is in between a fork in the road. You can't see what is down either path without light and it has been years since your last venture into the shade so you cannot remember what lies down either.
[[Left]]
or
[[Right]]{(if: $fire is true)[Despite the clear warning of danger you press on [[into the danger|wolf encounter]] of the ancestral shade. "My actions are reckless but often times the greater reward lies where the path is most treacherous." you reassure yourself half-heartedly.]}
{(if: $fire is false)[You push on groping for trees or brush to guide you through the darkness praying that the ancestors might have led you on to a safe [[path forward.|wolf encounter]]]}{(if: $fire is true)[You acknowledge the blatant warning of danger from your ancestors and proceed right into what is [[hopefully a safer path.|Find herb]]]
(if: $fire is false)[You push on groping for trees or brush to guide you through the darkness praying that the ancestors might have led you to a safe [[path forward.|Find herb]]]}With the torches light you spy all manner of beast and brush. Squirrels, foxes, deer, fungus, and even a fascinating crimson crawler, a unique vine that crawls to the tops of trees and spouts leafs to gather the light it needs to live, attached securely to a tree.
Your torch reveals a tribal pathfinder symbol from the Olopozo tribe carved into the tree's black and white bark. The symbol points to the left of the tree but is an omen symbol for dangerous animals.
[[Left]]
or
[[Right]]Your tribe has maintained its traditional hierarchy of leaderships since your ancestors first devised it. It is a simple three part structure that governs together on equal grounds.
Firstly, the chieftain handles all material and physical governing making sure the people are healthy, well equipped, and defended against tribal foes like the Urukaya. The current chieftain is named Kalru, she is a stern and compassionate chieftain but savage when her people are threatened, the tribe likens her to a mother bear.
Secondly is the Elders, they are our connection to the ancestors and their ancient ways of life. They make sure we do not stray from the path of our beloved ancestors and defend our memories from time's hungry maw as it tries to steal from our minds our old and great ways. They are the keepers of all knowledge that was, and through their stories the knowledge is to be shared with who are, and who will be of the noble Olopozo.
And finally the last governing body is the spirtual bridge between nature and man, our shamans. You are an apprentice shaman and thus are studying and learning to join the Olopozo's coven. What the elders are for the knowledge of the tribe, the shamans are for all of nature. They share their expertise and knowledge where they can and learn more with every year of experience. Operating as physics and spirtual interpreters of the ancestors' will. They are vital for the spiritual health of the community.
You are proud to be a student of the great shaman Uru and hope to succeed him as the grand shaman of the Olopozo.
[[Onward to the Clearing.|Hub]]{(if: $fire is true)[With the light in your palm the danger seem a touch more apparent to you. The forest floor has many a broken arrows and sundered weapon shaft all around the various rocks and roots. Your light cast its rays upon an [[animal den|with light]] of some kind. Mayhaps your herb lies tucked away in this natural shelter]
(if: $fire is false)[You stumble around scratching and scraping your feet on sharp splintered wood and snagging your feet on large rots ands stones. You feel for any kind of information you can, much like how a blind cat might with its whiskers to feel something before slamming its face into a wall. You finally find a large gap in the dirt and stone at the base of what you surmise must be a large dead tree. Some [[kind of hole or den|no light]] lies ahead of you, mayhaps your herbs lie in this ]}You head carefully into the den with torch extended ahead of you. As you delve deeper you hear a rustling from deeper within.
With a few more feet of crawling you see three small masses of fur. As your light shines on them you recognize them immediately.
Three young wolf cubs lie in there bedding. They begin to shake and whimper from the foreign body invading their den with a hot and bright tool. You recoil and scan the earthy surroundingsfor their mother.
[[Nothing.|Ending: Food for Wolves]]As you tumble into the hole or den in the dark you crawl deeper attempting to grasp out for the familiar herb. Instead your hand falls upon a soft and warm body.
A yelp comes from the body under your palm and you pull back with great haste. With your best attempt to gain more information about the predictament you've cast yourself into you grope the den to find out whayt all lives in it.
Only three small bodies, wolf cubs by the feel of them, and there mother must be gone hunting. [[What a relief.|Ending: Food for Wolves]]With a sigh of relief you laugh and try to soothe the poor scared creatures with gentle pets and shushing.
The pups cease their whimpering, you are astonished this strategy worked. But as you feel some semblance of pride in your soothing tactic swell up in your chest you feel a hot breath hit the back of your neck.
With a low growling growing in volume you realize it was not your attempts at soothing that lulled the pups into contnetness, but the presence of their returning mother.
You don't even get the chance to turn and look upon their mother before you feel the flow of hot blood pass from your neck to your shoulders followed by the sharp pain of razors digging into your neck.
You die at the hands the nature you claimed to know so much about. What a shame... You enter a grove of stunning primeval beauty. It has plants and herbs you have only heard of from Grand shaman Uru's stories.
There is giant's thistle, pepper poppy, and gallow petal to name only a few you were familiar with, the rest are new and strange to you.
You need to remember what the plant looked like. The elders and the shaman had told you it was a:
[[A black Lily with red veins.]]
[[A purple thistle with a white stem.]]
You think you remember the elders describing the plant as a purple thistle with a white stem.
[[or maybe it wasn't...|Find herb]]
(Link:"Look around the grove.")[You search the grove for a while looking for a suitable collection of matching plants and gather a small pouch of a thistle that sort of matches the description. With an off color blue, that looks sort of purple in certain lights and a pale grayish stem. (set: $thistle to true)
[[You begin your day trip back to the clearing to deliver the plant.|Pass time]]](set: $day to it - 1)(goto: "Innovate.")You remember pretty quickly and clearly that the shamans described the plant as midnight black lily with veins of crimson red.
[[or maybe it wasn't...|Find herb]]
(Link:"Look around the grove.")[You search the grove and find the exact lily almost instantly. Surely this is the proper plant for the ancestral communing elixir.(set: $lily to true)
[[You begin your day trip back to the clearing to deliver the plant.|Pass time]]]The Grand shamn Uru, your mentor, smiles at you as you hand him the pouch of lilies, "Well done child, your memory is truly a beautiful tool. Keep it sharp and practiced and always at your tribe's disposal, that is the true calling of all shaman. To aid his brothers and sisters with nature's bounty."
With a reverant bow of your head he places his palm upon the top of your head, "Go now child, proceed with your preperations. I will brew the elixir for the celebration, know you have done well and proven yourself to our people and to myself. Go now, go." He shoos you away playfully and begins his work.
[[Return.|Hub]]
(set: $offerLily to true)A frown is pulled across the Grand shaman's face as you offer him the thistle, "No my child, no. You have ventured hard and far for naught. This is not the plant we require for the elixir, I thought I had told you the plants features did I not?"
You look down at your feet with shame as Uru sighs. "Perhaps there is time left for more preperation, I pray there is. For your sake my child."
[[Return.|Hub]]{(if: $day is -5 and $campLvl1 is false and $foeEffigy is false and $lily is false)[(goto: "Ending: Lazy")]
(if: $day is -5 and $campLvl1 is true and $foeEffigy is false and $lily is false)[(goto: "Ending: Just a camp in the clearing")]
(if: $day is -5 and $foeEffigy is True and $lily is false)[(goto: "Ending: Chieftain favor")]
(if: $day is -5 and $foeEffigy is false and $lily is true)[(goto: "Ending: Shaman's Favor")]
}Your tribe gathers to the clearing where you lie in your bed-roll. They all look distraught.
You have done nothing. You have betrayed your tribe. While they were preparing for the celebration you lied in your bed-roll for 4 days doing all but naught.
You are a disappointment and you knew the [[consequences for it.]]The camp in the clearing is robust and offers a wonderful space for the tribe to gather. There is a feast held where songs and stories are exchanged.
It is pleasant and heart warming to see the tribe come together but there is nothing really memorable about the celebration. There are a few prayers offered to the ancestors for aid but really only from the devoted elders of the tribe.
The winter will remain harsh and the Olopozo will endure it as best they can. At the very least the tribe had a nice night before winter soars across the land on its icy wings.The chieftain stands in the clearing with the wooden cage holding the Urukaya effigy captive above her head howling, lauging, and singing. The people come from their homes to see their chieftain and to prepare for a [[lively celebration.]]
The tribe gathers around the Grand Shaman Uru's home with great anticipation. You have told your fellow tribesmen of a mystical midnight black lily with veins of beautiful crimson red to give to Uru to concoct a potion capable of hearing the ancestors.
[[The crowd falls silent as a chanting is heard from Uru's home.]]As is customary by the ancient ways of the Olopozo you are sentenced to be burnt and consumed for your blatant negligence. It is the Olopozo's last attempt to appease the ancestors lest they bring their wrath upon them in the cold of winter.
"Rolut, get my best flaying knife! And Belru get a fire going! Large and blazing like our hate for this free-loader!" Barks chieftain Kalru.
Your mentor Grand Shaman Uru looks to you with sad eyes, "Why child? Why have you decided on this fate? You knew the repercussions of this path, and yet you still wandered down it. You had such potential."
The elders stand shoulder to shoulder stern and unsympathetic. They think of you the same way one might think of an old and blind dog or a stomach ulcer.
A fire is struck, knives are sharpened.
The Olopozo pray that their sacrifce is not in vain and that the ancestors hear their plea. You are served with a soft flat bread and a warm seasoned carrot soup.Uru emerges naked painted with black and white to match the birch trees around the Olopozo, and in his palms a large bowl of dark oily looking liquid spiraling with red threads.
The tribe and yourself shed your clothes and dawn the same black and white paint just as Uru had and gather around a large bonfire. The bowl is passed from one tribesmen to another each taking their sip while praying to hear their ancestors above. The bowl finally comes to you, you take your sip and fall into deep conversation with nature and your ancestors.
After much time and many visions from every memeber of the Olopozo, a [[revelation]] is had from the elders who have been interpreting these vision by using the ancient wisdom of the ancestors. The elders look upon you and ask, "Tell us, child. Tell us. What did the ancestors say to you?"
You tell them of a great fire from a hateful tribe and the withering of crops. The elders think hard on your warning and decide that with this knowledge the Olopozo should move from the lake front and head inward to the forest leaving a garrison of warriors to ambush the Urukaya should they try to attack. As for the crops, each storage is to be observed and searched for any type of bug or mold.
After weeks of preparing you hear word of your old settlement by the lake from the comfort of your new home deep in the forest. The Urukaya tribe were ambushed by Cheiftain Karlu and her warriors as the Urukaya desperately tried to raid resources from your old home. More great news follows suit as a young tribe boy a week later says he found a large maggot nest in the crop storage and that the tribe women have already cleaned it out along with all the other storages finding 6 more nests, disposing of them all.
The knowledge from you ancestors has saved your tribe from a harsh winter, and it is your efforts that are to thank. The bitter wings of winter have been clipped and your tribe is eternally in your debt.The tribesmen of the Olopozo begin to fill the clearing celebrating your victory over an ancient foe and calling you "Olo'or" or "The ancestors' axe".
You regale your tribe with the tale of your theft embelshing a few elements and ommiting others. You can tell the tribe is not only proud of you, but they seem to be radiating a certain kind of energy. They are rallying and hollering screaming with delight, and you indulge them more and more.
Their spirits seem to be aflame and emboldened. You can hear from the congregation, "A single Olopozo can handle a whole Urukaya settlement? Imagine what a hundred could do against the winter's onslaught!" followed by a yell of agreement from every man, woman, and child of the tribe chieftain Kalru raises you atop her shoulder and begins to cheer with the tribe and sing your praise.
The tribe screams and chants praising their new Olo'or and the ancestors' wisodm in their selection of "axe". The tribe's spirit is hot and vitalized, full of pride and ancestral strength to take on not only the Urukaya but the very winged beast of winter itself.
You look around at the carnage you have wrought. This cannot be what the ancestors had planned for you.
With shame in your heart, you know there is no facing your tribe like this. The blood is to heavy upon your skin. You grab hold of an Urukaya warriors spear.
"One last spear, to slay one last beast." You thrust the spear into your stomach a twsit hard.
A grim end for a grizzly beast, such as yourself.(set: $day to it - .5)(goto: "Innovate.")