Total War: Seas of Change OOC

[GameOfChampions]

Total War: Seas of Change

The priests tell tales of the days of yore, when land could stretch as far as the eye could see. When it would take months or years to walk from one ocean to another. Only the children and elders believe them now. These are the days of oar and spear, oceans spreading in every direction with more dangers every span rowed.

The world flooded and the gods rose with the waters, living among the rising tribes of men. The gods brought the mortal races to live with them in the Sea of Gods, a utopia where the evil spirits from the flooding and creatures from the depths dare not tread. However things grew tense as the gods started to fight.

Eventually the mortal races fled from the Sea of Gods as their utopian islands started to turn into nightmares of divine fights and disasters. They fled over the Chromatic seas and settled into the Middle Sea. Their new home had evil spirits and sea creatures, they worried about food and resources but there were no great gods.

The mortal races split into tribes living on their new islands. The new tribes made their islands into homes, after a while even finding new gods by awakening their island spirits. The tribes expanded and found their place in the world yet the gods never stopped fighting. It only grew worse.

After several centuries one night the dreamers of every tribe had a dream, they all woke in unison after seeing the same vision of a great god falling into the sea. The dreamers spread the word and the tribes attempted to prepare for a devastating event… but they didn’t prepare enough.

The Primal Storm devastated the islands of the middle sea. Seas and winds swept through the islands, ripping buildings and debris off the island. Villagers and Caste members alike were pulled off the island, dropped all throughout the Middle Sea and further. The storm raised wicked spirits from the depths, angered sea monsters, raised reefs, and changed the sea currents. The island gods barely survive after trying to protect their people and falling into deep slumbers.

Last night the priests managed to raise your Island God from its slumber. Though severely weakened, its gifts once more empower your tribe. The Great Gods remain, but they have grown reserved and restrained, the world is no longer their plaything. A new Age dawns - will your tribe survive it? Will your name be remembered forever in it’s legends? Or will you share the fate of the ancient men, forgotten deep below, as your Island is claimed by the ocean?

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All right here we go!

IC will be Here

Intro:

Total war is semi-freeform nation game that have long tradition on this forum. Total War is a game of strategy. The Players play as factions vying for control of the world/galaxy/continent/city/seas. They fight wars, build projects, secretly assassinate each others leader, vie for control of resources, and build vast empires. Along the way they will have the opportunity to forge alliances, and break them, create powerful spells, and amazing artifacts while designing the specifics of their faction down to the smallest detail.

Turn Length:

Each full turn will be, in game, about six months, enough time to justify exploration, gathering food, and so forth. In player terms I'm gonna aim for about eight days for players to do their interaction, exploration, and spying. If this is ending up being too long then we can disscuss making it shorter. During each turn the players tribes talk to each other and NPC Tribes, make treaties, discuss agreements, hold conferences, and generally role-play their faction. They also explore the seas and spy on each others messages as laid out in the rules.

Map of Middle Sea

Map of Red Sea

Map of White Sea

Map of Green Sea

Map of Black Sea

Map of God Sea

Here are the Rules!

Player Name	Tribe Name	Spirit Name	Order to Choose
A_Dinosaur	Kahealahana Holt	The Great Gold Scale	1
mjorkk	The Opae	The Great Soul-Catcher	2
St. Justicar	The Children of the Sun	Xiyah, the Sun	3
bladescape	The Raxithakra	Sethrika the Dreamerstealer	4
Writtensanity	The Hunt of Alu'li	Ba'thokae, the Everegg	5
Let'sGetKraken	The Endless Gaze	She-Who-Conjoins	6
Eldan	The Coral Singers	The Great Spirit	7

The order of numbers denote who will get to choose first and then the order down to last, 1 chooses first and then down to the lowest who picks last. A_Dinosaur won the dice roll I did so he starts then mjorkk and so on. So you guys can either post island preferences and I'll put them down in order and if there is an overlap I'll reach out or you guys can place top three territory allocations or just message in the discord when its your turn. Everyone pick their colors when they're in for maps and roleplaying purposes.

Lets try and get the opening posts in the OOC to be everyone's factions. Also don't forget colors!

[GameOfChampions]

NPC's

Spoiler: Middle Sea (Everyone)

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Spoiler: Sunken Eyes Raiders

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A motley collection of remnants and survivors from the Primal Storm that have banded together to survive by taking from those others struggling to survive. The raiders are cautious and wary of outsiders, never targeting the big tribes or powerful wanderers. They are led by Wary Valu who brings them constantly moving through the Middle Sea.

Spoiler: Stats

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Priests: 1
Dreamers: 1
Warriors: 5
Traders: 1
Craftsmen: 1
Wayfinders: 4

Spoiler: Secondary Stats

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VIP: Wary Velu (Tier 1 Warrior)
Villagers: 0
Resources: 0

Spoiler: Undying Congregation

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A great Priest and his flock was saved from the Storm by an unnatural current rising from the depths. Some think it may have just been one of the new currents rising from the depths but the Priest sacrificed those non believers to the Undying One below, them and all others who refused to convert to the one true god from their previous worships of Humia. Now the Priest Rengu and his rapidly loyal flock circle the current rising from the depths and sacrifice all they find to their god to gain his benefit.

Spoiler: Stats

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Priests: 5
Dreamers: 4
Warriors: 1
Traders: 1
Craftsmen: 1
Wayfinders: 1

Spoiler: Secondary Stats

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VIP: Great Preacher Rengu (Tier 1 Priest)
Villagers: 0
Resources: 0

Spoiler: Red Sea

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Spoiler: Kihawahine, The Great Dragon

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Spoiler: Stats

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Priests: 2
Dreamers: 5
Warriors: 5
Traders: 1
Craftsmen: 1
Wayfinders: 1

Spoiler: Secondary Stats

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VIP: Kihawahine (Tier 2 Warr)
Villagers: 20
Resources: 0

Spoiler: Green Sea

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Spoiler: Depth Farmers

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Spoiler: Stats

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Priests: 1
Dreamers: 1
Warriors: 1
Traders: 5
Craftsmen: 4
Wayfinders: 1

Spoiler: Secondary Stats

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VIP: Whetuga (Tier 2 Trade)
Villagers: 18
Resources: 0

Spoiler: Black Sea

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Spoiler: Raiders of the Ink

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Spoiler: Stats

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Priests: 1
Dreamers: 2
Warriors: 6
Traders: 1
Craftsmen: 4
Wayfinders: 1

Spoiler: Secondary Stats

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VIP: Oraga (Tier 2 Warr)
Villagers: 21
Resources: 0

Spoiler: White Sea

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Spoiler: The Ever Hungry

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Spoiler: Stats

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Priests: 5
Dreamers: 1
Warriors: 6
Traders: 1
Craftsmen: 1
Wayfinders: 1

Spoiler: Secondary Stats

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VIP: Gunnbjorn (Tier 1 Warr/Tier 1 Priest)
Villagers: 21
Resources: 0

Spoiler: God Sea

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[bladescape]

The Raxithakra

Explorers, traders, dreamers

Spoiler: To Sail the Raxi Seas

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Once upon the waves did blow,
Four-score men and then some more,
Each a-searin' for some gold,
Ne'er to return to the shore.

Each was wily, strong and hardy,
Each had braved the waves an' more,
But pon the waves they ran a-reef,
Split the ship, aft to fore.

As the men a-drownin' sat,
A Raxi showed, tween ten or more,
The lass smiled wide with shark-like teeth,
"Want a guide unto the shore?"

The question brought our minds alive!
Ne'er thought we'd live once more!
We asked no questions of the lass,
Hope burned us deep within our core!

They laughed as if a trade was made,
And ne'er said but one thing more,
Instead the seafoam flaken lass,
Took the crew and I to shore.

"And ne'er mind what ye have lost"
The handful of us on the shore,
Laughed instead in gay relief,
And didn't ask the lass no more.

Twas only after a score of days,
I asked what it was we'd lost,
What the price of saviour been,
Whether e'en we knew the cost.

Now at night I lay awake,
And stare in fear at sea and more,
For now I no longer dream,
I lost my dreams upon that shore.

Spoiler: Island Deity - Sethrika the Dreamerstealer

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Sethrika seeks to eat the dreams of those who have taken her blessing. She seeks to embroil herself in the dreams she has been given by her followers, instead allowing them to trace the dreamscape in reality. She covets the realities that are hidden from all but herself. (To add more here? If I have time.)

Spoiler: Primary Stats

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Priests – 3 - Priests of Whalefather and Dreamstealer, though revered in the tribe, neither are said to be the highest of the Raxi's folk. They are respected, nothing more.
Dreamers – 6 - For there to be dreams to steal, there must be dreamers. The Raxi who dream are gifted by Sethrika, and all revere her in ecstatic absolution.
Traders - 2 - While trade and exploration are crafts that are needed, few in the Raxi willingly indulge in such things. A necessity is all.
Warriors - 1 - Monsters are seen as the only true need for warriors amongst the Raxi, and even then they are not the most important of the folk. Instead it is the few with hot blood in their veins that swim towards conflict.
Craftsmen - 2 - Crafting things for the wayfinders is seen as an honour, but many would much prefer to be wayfinders than to make for them.
Wayfarers(Ruling Caste) - 6 - Mapping the ocean, filling the sea. Seeing the far ends of the waters. All these are dreams that Sethrika allows in reality, and that which is given as blessed to the Raxi people.

Spoiler: Secondary stats

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Villagers: 40
Total Upkeep: 26
Food: 0
Resources/Goods: Wood 2

Spoiler: Traits

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Trait 1 - Natural Seadwellers
The cost of the Blessing of Waterbreathing is reduced by 2 priests.

Trait 2 - Wave Hunters
All Sea Food sources have +5 food and you can spend 1 villager a round to get a 20% chance of gathering an additional sea resource.

Spoiler: Thesikathrix, the Breezespeaker (Wayfinder 2)

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VIP Trait - Whenever Thesikathrix is tasked with finding a new route to an island, they count as adding their VIP level of wayfinder to a random sea route available. If this completes another sea route then they also discover a random sea resource associated with the new island.

(To add: Lore here)

[Let'sGetKraken]

The Endless Gaze






Listen, child, and I will tell you a story, passed down through generations. Our people keep no scrolls, and while we carry many stories in our hearts, this is the one that guides us.

Once, the sky was full of gods.

No, child, not the gods you know now. Hush.

There were thousands of them, filling the sky with colour and magic and beauty. There was no day, no night, just a tapestry of divinity above. This is a time when humanity was young, and an era of wonders. It was an time of constant change, where we interacted with spirits great and small alike, who viewed us as delightful curiosity, much like you would, child, to find a colony of ants that could sing. And while humanity prospered, it was a chaotic time.

And then came Semiramis, of the new gods, the great ones worshipped now. We do not know why he did what he did. Some think he was jealous of the attention the other gods received. Others say that he wanted to protect us from the capriciousness of tens of thousands of gods. It matters not. Semiramis banished the old gods in their multitudes in a great whirlwind, driving them out of the sky, and claimed it as his domain. And so began the cycle of day and night, and a sky empty save for one.

Ah, but I can hear you, child. The sky is not empty at all, is it? For Semiramis could not banish them away entirely. He was strong, but the old gods were many, and would not relinquish their hold on their home so easily. Only a pinprick of their essence remains, but at night, when Semiramis sleeps, they watch and listen to us still from the cosmos above. There, child, look - you can see them glittering far above. Each star, the tiniest tip of an old god.

And when you are older, I will teach you how to speak to them and see as they do, as my mother did to me, as her grandmother did before her. And we will show the world what the attention of ten thousand gods can accomplish.

Spoiler: Background

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While the Endless Gaze acknowledge the present Gods, they carry forward an older faith - they worship the Stars, which they believe to be the Elder Gods, banished by Semiramis millenia ago. Through the blessing granted to them by She-Who-Conjoins, they have been able to commune with these ancient spirits, who have been watching the seas for untold generations with curiosity and interest. She-Who-Conjoins allows them to share the briefest glimmer of consciousness with the Gods, seeing as they do, granting the Endless Gaze access to their celestial point of view. Whether the existence of these gods is true, or just the workings of a powerful island spirit, cannot be determined.

Recently, travellers through the Middle Sea have claimed strange happenings - the feeling of being watched when alone on the waters. Of shafts of light, thin as a man, falling from the night skies and vanishing just as quickly. And most strangely, reports of eyes blossoming in the heavens, yawning pinpricks of light, pupils fixed upon sailors, their gaze unwavering. Mere rumours, no doubt. And yet.

While the the Endless Gaze’s workings can be certainly strange or disturbing, the tribe itself seems to be friendly and straightforward when dealing with outsiders, with seemingly no hint of hostility. Followers of Semiramis are treated politely but coldly; otherwise, all are welcome beneath the eyes of the elder gods.

Spoiler: Starting Island: Elikapeka

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Elikapeka, home of the Endless Gaze, is notable for a few traits. For unknown reasons, the sands of the beaches shimmer, with glass protrusions spiking up from beneath the earth. As one gets close to the centre of the crescent-shaped island, where one can find the mountain on which She-Who-Conjoins makes her home, the glass pillars become more frequent, and it is said that within them, one can see glimpses of the island from above. The island is surrounded by beautiful, glimmering seaweed, in which particularly beautiful shells and rich clay can be found.

Resource: Shells x1, Clay x1

Spoiler: Island Spirit: She-Who-Conjoins

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She-Who-Conjoins lives within the hollowed-out peak of Mount Ionana, emerging mostly to work her blessings on the people. She is a spirit of connections, of communion, and of bridges; she is the one that allows the the Endless Gaze to beseech the Elder Gods in their multitudes, and to see as they do - if only briefly. She takes the form of a translucent stingray swimming through her cavern, with its tail splitting into a thousand glimmering strands of light.

Spoiler: Stats

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Priests 4: The Endless Gaze are extremely devout - just not to the new Gods, who they see (with the exception of Semiramis) as largely benign squatters. Their worship is instead directed towards She-Who-Conjoins and the thousands of banished gods in the skies.

Dreamers 4: The Endless Gaze have the ability to share in the small fragment of perception that the old gods still hold in the night sky, allowing them to see happening on distant islands. Meanwhile, their closeness to these gods means that dreamers from other times will struggle to comprehend the workings of the Endless Gaze.

Traders 3: The Endless Gaze are a friendly and welcoming people, with their traders moving from island to island. While they aren’t able to be everywhere at once, they are directed by ten thousand watching eyes and move with purpose when they do.

Warriors 1: Why would the Endless Gaze wish harm on others? All are loved beneath the eyes of the expanse.

Craftsmen 2: The Endless Gaze are rather preoccupied with gazing outward, not inward. Despite this, a few talented craftspeople - notably Tarrakosh - have begun crafting items and places of reverence for the elder gods.

Wayfarers 6 [Ruling Caste]: The Endless Gaze are blessed with almost unparalleled vision of the seas, thanks to their ability to commune with the remaining fragments of the elder gods and share in their perception. While they are not necessarily skilled navigators, they do not have to be when they know where their destination is from the very beginning.

Spoiler: Traits

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They Are Ever-Watching: Every Priest action completed by the the Endless Gaze reveals the resources of a random island among the seas they have discovered.

The Very Constellations Shift In Anger: If a faction takes an aggressive action against the Endless Gaze, the current they used to do so is lost, or if none was used, a random one is lost instead.

Spoiler: VIP: Tarrakosh, the Irisforger

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Tarrakosh, the Irisforger [Tier 2 Crafting]

Tarrakosh is unique among the Endless Gaze. When he forges an item for his tribe, he sees not the present, but the future - seeing those people who will one day touch or hold the item. With this, it allows the Pupil’s traders are able to continue to grow the tribe, far better than they would without his guidance.

Ability: Whenever Tarrakosh builds an item, the Endless Gaze attract villagers equal to the tier of that item.

(Colour is Indigo)

[St. Justicar]

The Children of the Sun

Once, the land was bountiful, and the seas calm. Man in those days was not so different than any other beast, living and dying without great deeds or tales worth remembering across the islands of the world. The gods played and loved and warred, and endlessly remade the world as they did so – in such chaos man could reach no higher than any other beast.

It was only after a dozen dozen ages had passed that the highest and greatest of the Gods – Xiyah, the Sun – looked down upon the world and beheld humanity, starving and drowning and helpless before wilds beasts and cruel storms alike. Xiyal took pity on these foolish beasts, and reached down to offer them a gift. They descended to the tallest mountain on the grandest island in all the seas, scorching the sky with their descent and cracking the rocks beneath their feet. They cut their palm and let the men they found drink of their blood, and so gain the fire and light of the gods within them.

With that light driving them, men built boats and temples, spread far and wide and found great treasures. But as they spread, Xiyal’s blood within them has grown thin and watery, and they have forgotten the debt they owe to the greatest of the gods. Xiyal in turn has grown distant, allowing themselves to be hidden beneath the clouds of ever-growing storms.

It is only right that it is the men of the island where Xiyal once touched the earth that have remembered their debt, and thickened the blood within them. It is only just that they reach out across the waters to pay the debt that is owed.

Spoiler: Stats

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Priests – 5
Dreamers – 1
Traders - 2
Warriors - 6
Craftsmen - 3
Wayfarers - 3

Spoiler: Secondary Stats

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Ruling Class: Warriors
Villagers: 40
Total Upkeep: 26
Food: 0
Resources/Goods: 1 Bone

Traits: The Ever-Growing Chorus – If The Children of the Sun would gain 1 point of skilled villagers from migration or raiding, they may instead gain 1d4+1 points of villagers.

Ships Like Beams of Light – If The Children of the Sun spend Wayfarers to create a route to an island within the same sea as one of their HQs, should they raid that island they count the points of Wayferers spent as if they were warriors invested.

VIP: Three Eclipse, Bloody-Handed Herald – Priest 2 – Each turn, Three Eclipse may choose to ritually sacrifice up to their tier in villagers. For each villager so sacrificed, they gain one tier of any stat for that turn.

[mjorkk]

Opae
My color claim is dark grey.

Spoiler: Species Picture

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Spoiler: Island Picture

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Spoiler: OOC Description of Opae

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Originating from a fresh-water spring on a remote island, there exists a species of eusocial hive-minded fresh-water shrimp who developed the parasitic ability to hijack the bodies of other animals to survive on land and in salt water. This singular entity calls itself Opae. If its own pre-sapient memories of events are to be trusted, it predates the diaspora of refugees into the middle-sea. Upon taking over its first sapient dreaming creature, it became able to access The Dream, and took a sudden leap forward in consciousness, and in empathy. It had never considered the possibility of an intelligent being inhabiting only one body before, and immediately felt great regret at destroying the individual selfhood of its first sapient host against its will. However, it also now understood the great toil and existential suffering that individual mortals have suffered after being cast out by the gods. It genuinely believes that life as a part of the hive is better than the lonely life of an individual, but has resolved to not take a sapient host without permission as anything but a last resort. Over the years, while most are turned off by the idea of sacrificing their individuality, many refugees and tribesmen have seen the value in becoming a part of a greater whole that will never die, and in turn Opae has become better at loosening the degree of direct control it has over its sapient drones: leaving much of their spark of individuality intact. These "Complex Drones" compose Opae's equivalent to caste members, while "simple drones" who were either never sapient to begin with, or who lacked sufficient spark to maintain a separate personality after joining the hive compose Opae's equivalent to Villagers. As a hive-mind, it takes naturally to the shared consciousness of The Dream, and as a parasite, it views the behavior of the priest caste as yet another form of parasitism that it seeks to perfect: if sapient mortals make good hosts, the gods would make perfect hosts.

Spoiler: In-Character History of Opae

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First: there was the great sponge. We made our hive in the sponge. We were the sponge. We were its arms. Food was plentiful, There was harmony.

Then: Food became scarce. We ventured out. The waters outside burned. Many drones perished. The survivors burrowed into the flesh of giants to survive. Their bodies made suitable homes. There was chaos, but there was growth. We reached a sustainable size. There was harmony.

Then: New giants came. We tried to build a home in one. It was was too complex to be fully controlled. Then it dreamed. Then we awoke.

With access to The Dream came an awareness we could never have anticipated. However, it also brought a realization: in taking this giant's body, we had killed an entire hive. Never before had we conceived of selfhood in a single body, and without care, we had destroyed it. With it final thought as an individual, it gave us something we had never had, a name: Opae. We vowed to make amends.

Using this giant's body, and its dreams, we reached out and found that many others of the giant's kind had made our seas their home. They had been cast out by even greater giants than they, and worst of all, they had been cursed with something they called mortality. We knew death: many drones and their hosts cease to function, but the hive lives on. However, to these single-bodied hives, the death of their one and only drone meant the death of an entire hive. These poor creatures needed to be given another option, so that their memories might carry on as part of the hive, even after their bodies fall.

Spoiler: Mechanics

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Priests: 6 (+1 from VIP)
-Arcane Drone take the disparate beliefs and religious practices of numerous tribes, and combines them with the cold pragmatism of a parasite to create a hermetic tradition almost as adept at siphoning the power of the gods as true and earnest worship... almost. Unfortunately true and earnest worship may simply be something Opae is incapable of.
Dreamers: 4 (Ruling Caste)
-Synapse Drones carry the will of Opae to all other drones through the harmonious humm of The Dream. Joining mental voices into a chorus has always been a successful strategy for tribal Dreamers, but the unity and synchronicity of Opae's hive mind takes this to a whole new level. They do, however spend the overwhelming majority of their lives in a hybernative state, and need nearly every physical need taken care of by simple drones.
Warriors: 2
-Warrior Drones are not particularly numerous. Opae would much rather convert than kill, as murder is even more reprehensible than an unwilling conversion, but existing on the political scale without soldiers capable of exerting external violence simply does not work, and Opae is nothing if not practical.
Traders: 4
-Diplomatic Drones carry the word of the hive to all corners of the earth, making sure that every mortal is at-least given the free choice to join the hive and transcend their mortality.
Craftsmen: 2
-Constructor Drones grow and maintain Opae's non-living infrastructure, which is a hyper-functional combination of naturally grown organic structures, and an eclectic spattering of architectural styles taken from different converted craftsmen.
Wayfinders: 2 (+1 from VIP)
-Explorator Drones are mostly former saolors who can use their skill to find mortals to save, though the hive has experimented with elevating aquatic mega-fauna to complex Drone status with mixed results.

Home Island: Breeding Pool
Resources: 2 Bone. (From farmed mega-fauna turned into simple drones)
Upkeep: 24

VIP-Captain Katrina Kook, Witch-Pirate (Priest 1, Wayfinder 1)

Spoiler: Portrait

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Fluff-Captain Kook, while not a part of the hive, has chosen to make her safe harbor the Opae's breeding pool, mostly because nobody else is willing to take her thanks to her blasphemous use of forbidden magics being distasteful to anyone but Opae. Rather than beseech the gods for power, she steals it like a trickster without paying proper homage. Her magic is weaker than that of the priesthood, but more versatile.

VIP Trait: Versatile Sea Witchcraft - Captain Kook can bring up to her level of priests or wayfinders with her on whatever action she’s participating in regardless of whether it’s a wayfinder or priest action.

Trait 1 - Constructions of Flesh and Chiton
-Fluff: The old organic construction methods that worked at the scale of sponge and shrimp have mostly been replaced with the skills learned from converted craftsmen. However, in times of dire need, mutated drone host bodies can still be repurposed as a building material by feeding them excessively and stimulating their growth. Unfortunately, the will to guide the growth process into a viable form at human scale means that the “donors” must be complex drones, and while the final growth spasms can create a facsimile of the original body that began it, too much of their spark of individuality (or Mana as the tribesmen call it) has been invested in their creations to return to the life of a complex drone.
Crunch - Once per turn, a single unit of caste members may function as a ruling caste craftsman for the turn (even though Craftsmen are not usually the ruling class, to represent the extra output and additional resources necessary.) However, at the end of the turn, after finishing their action and consuming food and support they demote to a villager.

Trait 2 - Arcane Monstrosities
Fluff - While Opae does not actively advertise this fact, it conducts what the more pious tribes would consider blasphemous experimentation into the divine nature of the newcomer’s biology, seeking to harness the power of the the gods more directly. This has resulted in the spawning of multiple biological abominations that cannot survive without both the constant supervision of the Arcane Drones (priest caste) and the residual dream magic of the hive core. Even if they could survive a voyage, Opae would prefer that prospective converts not be made aware of such creatures.
Crunch - When calculating passive defense for raids and stat attacks, instead of warriors, priests may be used instead. (Not both) However, only priests that remain on land conducting arcane experiments can maintain the experimental monster drones, so only priest points actively seeking blessings count: not those solving problems on other islands, recruiting new priests to convert to Arcane Drones, or joining Captain Kook adventures. Similarly this does not give priests the ability to participate in any warrior actions, nor do Wayfarers joining Captain Kook count towards this total.

Spoiler: Island Spirit: The Great Soul-Catcher

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Opae views the gods as just an elaborate set of superstitions allowing humans to codify and understand the arcane, and as such, when the secrets of awakening Island Spirit's entered into Opae's knowledge base through new hosts, it sought to craft its own Island Spirit, albeit viewing it as a tool for magic, rather than a being deserving of reverence and worship, and carefully manipulated the dreamspace surrounding the island to create yet another tool to better the hive. By design, The Great Soul-Catcher is barely sapient in the conventional sense, but acts on pure instinct to increase the efficiency of the spiritual elements of the hive. Whenever a complex drone dies, the memories are saved, but SOMETHING is lost: the mortals call this a "soul" and The Great Soul-Catcher is specifically designed to recycle these "souls" back into the dream-self of the hive. Interestingly enough, this has had the added benefit of prompting some especially religious mortals who have been persecuted by their home faiths to join the hive, to avoid unfavorable afterlives.

[A_Dinosaur]

Kahealahana Holt

Iliowai are a people who sparsely inhabit the seas of change, ever split between their life in the waters and their homes on the shore. Fiercely communal, they live out lives of foraging beneath the waves and building small communities on the shores of the myriad of islands at all points of the compass. It is said in the stories of priests that Tamihiro retrieved a dream stolen from Humia, but while returning from Urgo’s realm, paused to fish and the Iliowa slipped from the dream into the water and snatched the Ocean God’s catch, hiding on the land while the hungry god’s wrath subsided.

Physically they are akin to a bipedal otter, with limbs slightly longer and tail slightly shorter, though with the long body of their look-a-likes they often rest on all fours for comfort. Compared to humans and many other common folk of the isles, they are short, with the tallest standing scarcely more than a meter, but their wiry frames hold plenty of natural muscle that a life of swimming and foraging only hones further.

While they are most commonly found in tiny communities, the Primal Storm and the ill omens of the Great Vision have driven many small communities together. The Great Holt of Kahealahana was born of many broken communities, and the first ever Taggarung named from the greatest of the Iliowai wayfinders. They call the Kahealahana Atoll home, and forage among its shallow reef beds for a bounty of kelp and shellfish to feed their rapidly growing community and remarkably robust industry. The wide Caldera is now dotted with Buildings that blur the lines between sea and shore. Led by Taggarung Ranakana, once a wayfinder of great renown, now blessed by the demigod spirit of the island, the Kahealahana holt seek to explore the oceans for a new safe haven from the Primal Storm and the monsters that lurk in these troubled waters.

Stats:

Spoiler

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Warriors: 3 - The Illowai being short of stature are at a few natural disadvantages as warriors, though they are no less fearsome for it. Warriors of the Kahealahana Holt are fewer in number than traders perhaps, but they ride the waves on outrigger boats and wield slings of whale gut with deadly accuracy.

Dreamers: 2 - Legends say that the Ilowai are born of dreams themselves, though on the Kahealahana Atoll there are fewer skilled dreamers than one might expect. Still, the folk floating in pairs on the water often fall into shared trances, communing with other otterfolk in distant seas.

Priests: 1 - Religion is a tricky thing for the Ilowai, while they are a very spiritual folk with countless legends and traditions, few among them truly dedicate themselves to the worship of the gods, and fewer still receive answers from the Godsea.

Traders: 6 - Scattered folk on a hundred dialects on a thousand different islands Ilowai gravitate naturally towards trade both with each other and with the many other peoples of the Seas of Changes. Most Holts are lead by a Wayfinder, but behind every brave and adventurous wayfinder is a host of many swimmers of charted routes who keep the records and mark the routes for future generations. While not the men and women who the stories are told of, they are the true backbone of the Ilowai.

Craftsmen: 4 - Kahealahana’s industry is a curious one, with different families and holts holding jealously onto secret techniques of crafting and cultivation even from eachother. The tools produced on the atoll are traded across the middle sea and known for their quality, but finding two tools alike from the otterfolk is an exercise in futility.

Wayfinders: 4 - Some of the finest Wayfinders in the Middle Sea, the ships departing the Kahealahana Atoll fling themselves bravely into new seas in a thirst for exploration that few others can match. Particularly among the youthful, the promise of being sung into the stories and legends and have a place of pride in the histories is an irresistible temptation.

Ruling Caste: Traders

Traits:

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Folk of the Flotsam: When taking the Migration action, gain a random tier 1 or 2 resource for every d4 villagers gained.


As the scattered communities of the Ilowai band together under the Kahealahana Holt, they bring with them a wealth of knowledge and resources from the many shores they once called home.

Waterbarrows: Can trade double the number of resources per turn than normal

A clever satchel of seagrass and sealed hide, the waterbarrows are crafted by Ilowai families and handed down the generations. The construction means they glide easily behind the Ilowai in water, and can be strung together to carry surprising amounts of goods without the need for ships.

VIP: Taggarung Ranakana (Trader 2)

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The Title of Taggarung is one of mixed spiritual and political power. The Ilowai of Kahealahana found it in the great dream, and believe that the Taggarung will lead them to the god sea, where they will bargain for an end to the Primal Storm and deliverance from the many monsters of the seas.

Trait: Keen Barter: Reduce Cost of stat investments that Ranakana is involved in by their tier

Island Spirit: Great Gold Scale

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Scattered on the seafloor around the great atoll are brilliant scales of a great lizard. Shimmering with subtle radiance, though they tempt many a diver, searching for them among the corals is a near fruitless endevour, as some strange trick of the diffuse light only allow their shimmer at a distance. These scales are of the Great Gold Scale, an old an sleepy spirit that curls around the atoll and quietly watches the Ilowai swim among the waters of its territory. Though at first it was thought that the great serpent was a purely neutral creature, its flashing scales have lured many a monster away from the fishing boats of the Holt, away from the kits at play in the water, away from the patrol returning to warn of an attack. Though its true motives are unknown, it clearly looks out for the residents of its island, and the Taggarung has spoken with it personally, promising that it has given the Holt its blessing to fish the waters and make homes on the shores.

[Eldan]

The Coral Singers

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In the beginning, Semiramis created the sky and Tamihiro created the ocean, and thus the world was made. And to fill the world, Semiramis made the birds, and Tamihiro made the fish, but the sky and water meet was empty. And to fill that space in between, Humia made humans, who were of both worlds, who would drink the water and breathe the air, and dive in the water and look up at the sky. And for a while, it was good, and humans sang songs of praise, and dreamt of the greatness of the gods.
But there was an urge, deep inside the humans. They had been made in the image of the gods, and like the gods, they wanted to create. But the world was only the ocean, and the sky, and both were fluid, and could not be shaped. And so Lumea, the first dreamer, dreamt the name of the Great Spirit and through it, pleaded with that son of the Gods, for a medium of their own, that humans could shape into new things.
And so, the Great Spirit made the Fourth Matter, Land, which, unlike fire, and water, and air, could hold its shape, and be made into tools, and art, and he made the first island.
And all the other gods saw that it was good. Tamihiro made the Reef, the Land under the water, as a home for her fish. Semiramis made the mountains, for the birds to build their nest. Humia made the plants, the life of land itself. And Urgo gave humans the gift of sleep, so they could lay down on land, and cease swimming, and dream of the gods. Even Rangu created the third fire, which was not as destructive as the fire of the deep, or as distant as the stars in the sky, and gave it into the hands of humans.
But the Great Spirit was tired, after creating all the land, and so he lay down to sleep, on the land that he had made. He sleeps still. But from his dreams, the most holy of substances is made: Coral, which is both alive and dead, which is hard as a rock, but moves and grows, and shapes itself into art without the work of human hands. And where the Great Spirit lay down, a great reef of coral bloomed, and was home to all life, and on his back, the greatest of all islands sat, to be a perfect kingdom, for Lumea and her descendants.

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Stats:
Priests 1
Dreamers 3
Warriors 6
Traders 1
Craftsmen 6
Wayfinders 3

Ruling caste: Craftsmen
Villagers: 40
Upkeep: 26
Food: 30
Resources/Goods: Shells
Renown:

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VIPs:
Coral-singer Hawea (Priest 2)
Among the Coral Singers, communicating with the divine is an especially exclusive and sacred pursuit, and communicating with the Great Spirit of the island is entirely reserved for the the current head of the first dreamer's clan. Hawea spends his days listening to the plans of the Shapers, and his nights dreaming them, communing with the great spirit and making the corals grow as benefits the people.
Whenever Hawea performs a blessing, he also transforms one unit of shells into corals.

Tribal abilities
The Beautiful Lands
The Coral Singers do not go out and trade, for what does the outside world have that they could want? They likewise do not need to tell people how beautiful their land is to attract migrants, they come by themselves as the glory of the Dream grows.
For one action every turn, the Coral Singers may add crafters to traders for the Migration action, though they still need at least one Trader.

Wavebreaker
The reefs encircling the Coral People's islands continuously grow and rise, in many great circles around the island itself. They break the fury of the waves, making the shores gentle and protected.
Reduce storm attrition by 1 for every 5 Crafters.

[Writtensanity]

The Hunt of Alu'li

“With this spear you join a hunt as old as the stars, in pursuit of a prey that leaves no scent or trail. With this mark you join a hunt as old as our voice, to kill that which does not bleed and hurt that which cannot know pain. With your song of fang and claw you add your voice to a chorus older than our people, the beating war drum of an unwinnable battle that must be won.

One of you will rise today as both souls in the hunt. The other body will rest in the waves, to protect our way home-”

Part of the Welcome to the Hunt. To be gifted by the Moon's Huntmaster to the youngest members of the hunt.

Before the first storms the hunt was mighty, a chorus and a history that stretched across the ages run by the philosophy of the scale. Alone a scale can get tossed into the ocean, interlaced they are the powerful skin of the fiercest monsters. The storms swallowed the world and no amount of rage or skill could stop the rising tide. For the first time since the start of the song, the world was unjust. The strongest didn't survive. The best hunters died like the faithless that had rejected the hunt.

What survived the floor was a small party, assigned to protect the priests of the order on a pilgrimage to the nest of the Mighty Kathrokai. Now the only remnants of their people, they took hold of the last thing they understood in the drowned world.

They sang the last fading notes of the song.

After the Storm of the Fallen God, the Priests set to finding the spirit at the centre of the island, the beating heart that spawned the Alu-li's twisted beastial prey. Now they have found them.

Ba'thokae, the everegg has lent their voice to the song, providing an infinite and glorious hunt... one that is set to sail across the sea.

Spoiler: The Stats:

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RULING CASTE: The Priests of the Hunt

When the Storm of the Fallen God swept over their island, the only hunters spared were those surrounding the Priesthood at the time. Though, in the early years of the song, the chorus references the Priests and Hunters as equals, this is no longer the case, especially with the ascent fo Ba'thokae. The Priests are the one who know the holy story of the song. The ones that can bless the hunt and induct the young. Their blood is offered to the divine alongside their front fangs, and with that comes ascendant status.

Wayfinders: 5

The main beneficiaries of the Alu'li's new way of life after the drowning. Wayfinders were seen as those who wanted to run away during the early years of the Song, and were often those that were cast off into the sea during the trial of the hunt. The population drop forced the Alu'li to keep the Wayfinders around to practice their craft, and now that the priests have put out a call for the hunt to expand, they have gained status as a critical part of the hunt. The only ones that can chase their prey from island to island, as the great Kohtal was described doing in myth.

Though they are still less skilled than some other, more traditioned, wayfinders, the natural resilience of the Alu'li lends to their tenacity and power when it comes to crossing the sea.

Priests: 5 - RC

The Priests of the Alu'li come in many ranks and positions, but the key is that all of them have given their frontal fangs in offering to the Gods. First the old, now the new spirit of Ba'thokae. These priests, blessed by the gods, call and track the hunts of the people, sending them on their holy warpath against the limitless tests of the divine.

As the Alu'li follow oral tradition in song, the Priests are expected to be artists and diplomats for the people, involved parties that can weave the verses of each generation and memorize the notes of the hunts that came before. They sing the songs of their people from the mountaintops, letting them echo over the advancing hunt and cover their steps.

There are few priests that reach the esteemed ranks of SongWeavers. Believed to have a stronger magic than the Dreamers visions, the Songweavers have an unbreakable tie to the past and help rewrite and correct the songs of the people, ensuring that the years don't decay the song of the ancestors.

Warriors: 6

Though they may not be the highest class in their society, Warriors are the beating heart of the Alu'li, though they call themselves hunter. People of tooth, claw and spear, the hunters of Alu'li have generations of tradition and daring on their side.

That said, the hunters of Alu'li are not an army, they don't practice formations that aren't useful in a hunt. Their tactics are suited for fighting creatures many times their size, or proving themselves against one another.

All of the hunters are Alu'li who proved themselves in the Welcome to the Hunt, which means they have all won a battle 'to the death.' Though the priests have made attempts to change the Welcome to a yield based contest, with the loser joining the other castes, many young Alu'li hopefuls still die in the trials, agreeing to kill one another instead of giving another the shame of leaving the hunt willingly.

The preferred weapons of the Alu'li warriors are crafted spears, with an ever-lengthening point marked with the teeth of each creature they kill. Once their spear is unwieldy and heavy, they retire the weapon and pick up a fresh start in the Ritual of New Blood. Some proud warriors refuse to take part in this bloodletting ritual, choosing to carry massive misshapen clubs of teeth gathered over a lifetime of hunts.

When a hunter dies they are buried with their current spear, and any retired are left with their family or sent to sea. Once there is a tooth on a weapon, no other Alu'li can pick it up, lest they risk angering the Gods.

Craftsmen 2

The Alu'li, coming into this conquest have been a people of little. Nomadic and following their prey around the islands. Small longhouses and spears have been most of their technology for their entire lifetimes.

Traders 1

Though there are some known traders, they are all the discarded of the hunt, those that lost the Welcome and searched for fortune to fill the gap. That said, their wares, mostly the rarer parts of monsters, provide precious materials to the Alu'li people.

Dreamers 1

The Dreamers have never been a caste within the Alu'li, more an oddity that woke within their people. This somewhat changed after their warnings fell on deaf ears during the Storm of the Drowned God, but it has been a slow process, and the craft is still mired in mystery for their people.

Spoiler: The Island

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For many cultures the island of Alu'li would be a death sentence. Being trapped there would have been unlivable. Though there are vast resources and plentiful shelter, the island is completely overrun by vicious beasts, a shattered ecosystem in the wake of the Storm of the Drowned God.

Covered in jungle, massive creatures stalk between the trees and the truly gigantic linger on the mountaintops above the canopy. Were it not for the hunt, the Alu'li would have been overrun long ago.

The island has good wood, and the strong bones of the creatures that shake it. Both are used by the tribe in their carefully crafted spears.

Resources: Wood and Bone.

Spoiler: The Spirit and Traits:

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Traits:

Monster Infested - The Alu'li are more than comfortable consuming their kills to gain their power. Killing a monster provides food [10] to the people on the island.

Worshipful - The Tribe gains a bonus of 1 effective stat to actions which require the Blessing of a God or Island Spirit (Needs balance?)

The Spirit: Ba'thokae, the Everegg

Their shell is found scattered in all corners of the island, and no matter how many times the monsters die they always return. The prayers have been answered with an eternal hunt, unlimited challenge for the people of the island.

Spoiler: VIP

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At the High Tide of each new moon on the coldest month of the year, the Alu'li hunters spill their blood into the Cove of Ari'gall, dripping their blood over the massive skeleton of the fallen beast.

Once all have given their payment, a warrior chosen by the priests drinks from this holy water, gaining the power of their allies and the monsters. They enter a bloodrage when in combat for the month, tearing apart anything left in their path. The experience is terrible on the body of the hunter, and no hunter has been able to maintain their bloodrage for more than a month, and most spend years between getting chosen by the priests, who attempt to avoid the fate that other blood rage hunters have faced.

The power of the Bloodrage is so great that it changes the tide of the hunt and allows the hunters to preserve precious materials from the monsters that would otherwise be lost in combat.

Name: Warrior VIP 2 - The Nameless Rage
Effect: When the Nameless Rage is part of a hunt that successfully kills a monster, they recover a an item from the corpse based on the level of monster killed.