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 EDIT: Now has a channel in the CYOA Discord. Join and discuss! https://discord.gg/uwUYXeE - #ascend-with-the-sun Dawn As a part of her responsibilities, the shaman Ilena was occasionally called to explain the nature of the world to the children of the tribe. Not in the full majesty of its complexity, which would take far too much time, or in the practical manner that was the responsibility of parents. Instead, her tale would serve as a kind of painting - a guide just informative enough to provide a shorthand for the values the children would need throughout their lives. After mentally reviewing the tale as was passed down to her one more time, the shaman put on her most friendly and approachable smile before going out to face her audience. The group of six that had been brought before the shaman looked mostly bored, with only one paying close attention. It was a little discouraging, but Ilena could work with that - it was definitely better than two dry seasons ago with that incorrigible set of twin brothers that wouldn't stop making faces the whole time. Maybe better to get straight to the point though. "Since the dawn of time, Man has been prey for the other animals of the savanna. For other animals are swifter and stronger and more cunning than we, even before they become Revered Ancestors. Those Ancestors improve their own strength at a rate we cannot match, and can pass down information to other animals even more effectively than we. But the spirits blessed humanity with stubbornness - for we never, ever give up." "Indeed, that is how our people won this land. Many lifetimes ago, we were wanderers: moving from place to place in order to avoid the wrath of the Revered Ancestors. But just before the beginning of one of these migrations, a family was forced to stay behind to accommodate a mother and her newborn child, who had no strength to make the journey. No sooner had the tribe wandered out of sight than a Leopard Matriarch came stalking through the tall grass. The husband interposed himself between the leopard and his wife and children and suffered many grievous wounds, before managing to get a single hit on the Matriarch, causing it to flee in amazement and surprise. But the hunter, knowing that the safety of his family was only temporary, tracked the leopard deep into the night, carefully making sure all the while to stay downwind so the leopard could not smell his blood. He slew the Matriarch in the baobab tree which she slept, before perishing himself." "After the hunter failed to return, his oldest son went out to discover his father's fate - finding both corpses at the base of the baobab tree, which over the course of the night had miraculously gained the Leopard Matriarch's spots. The boy buried both his father and the leopard, and then raced off to tell his family, and after several days of catching up, the tribe. From that point on, the tribe settled by the Spotted Baobab tree, and though it has often had to wander temporarily in search of food, the knowledge that when pushed humans could be dangerous has meant that we have never again had to run in fear..." "But why only the tree?" At this point, most of the children were now invested enough in the story to be staring in rapt attention. But the one who had previously seemed the most curious had interrupted Ilena just as she was bringing the story to a close. Nevertheless, she was willing to humor curiosity. "It was the most important feature left after the events concluded. The shaman who taught me said that his teacher believed that everything might have been blessed by the spirits as a result of the tale, but the only one that remains today is the Spotted Baobab and everything else would have rotted away..." "That's not what I meant!" the child once again interrupted. "Why wasn't the hunter blessed after he killed the leopard? The blessing might have saved him! Did the spirits really only consider the story complete with his death?" With this second interruption, Ilena grew annoyed. The curious child's second outburst was more enthusiastic than before and that had caused the other children to start getting confused and anxious. Besides, they had touched a nerve on a matter for which none had an answer. And so in a curt tone, she responded. "Who are we to question why? Besides, that blessing has forever been denied to humanity, no matter how great one's deeds." What is this? Inspired by such adventures as Forge of Destiny, The Path Unending, and our forum's own All Ways Be Cultivating, Dawn of an Age is a Choose Your Own Adventure game based on Xianxia/Cultivation stories. The big difference being that instead of your character growing up in a preexisting cultivation based society where humanity is dominant, you're being dumped into the equivalent of the Upper Paleolithic, the fauna/flora/megafauna have the power advantage, and you have to bang spirit stones together in order to invent cultivation from scratch. To reflect the difficulties of your situation, the story will intentionally have you on the back foot until you figure out a satisfying yet believable way to work towards overturning the applecart. It also means write ins are encouraged, as thinking outside the box reflects both the spirit of xianxia fiction's ambitions to defy the heavens and humanity's success in mastering its environment throughout our own history. Note however that despite these principles, this is not meant to be an adversarial game - we are trying to tell a story together. I will try to make it obvious when some things are a very bad idea and have narrative consequences. Generally though, you will be masters of your own destiny. Character Creation Options Right, you've had enough of me rambling. Here's some options. Make sure to list your selected options in bold font in your post or they'll be ignored. Skills In general, there are two things that are true - most average members of your band are Hunters or Gatherers and most children tend to learn from their parents. What you are selecting here is the skill which you have learned, which is assumed to be from your parents unless you specify otherwise. Skills are relevant mostly in terms of giving a framework for things you are actually good at, rather than just capable of doing. a) Hunting (Example related discipline: War) b) Gathering (Example related discipline: Medicine) c) Artistry (Example related discipline: Camouflage) d) Spiritual Practices (Example related discipline: History Knowledge) e) Crafting (Example related discipline: Construction) f) Leadership (Example related discipline: Trade) Family Any other family besides your parents? g) No, just us. h) A small immediate family. i) A large extended family. j) Both a large immediate and extended family. Gender There isn't enough slack for people to care about gender in terms of role performance. The category is here for matters of self identification and has no mechanical effect. k) Male l) Female Name There is a preference for two or three syllable names. Following the Russian tradition if possible, to ensure a common naming pattern, but this is weak at the beginning and can be changed. Jossar fucked around with this message at 20:03 on Apr 4, 2021 |
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Mar 30, 2021 20:00
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D I L I'm no good with names, so I pass.
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Mar 30, 2021 23:46
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Can't say I'm not a bit hesitant about the d20 since it's a bad die, that I don't think would handle xianxia stuff well, but hey, your game. I'll at least give it a chance. E J L We are a clever crafter with a large family to help support us, but who we also have to support when we get more talented. One day we will go full monster hunter and build weapons and armor from the hides of our enemies. For the good of the clan! This is totally not me finding Monster Hunter super rad or anything. KittyEmpress fucked around with this message at 04:22 on Mar 31, 2021 |
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Mar 31, 2021 04:00
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A J
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Mar 31, 2021 12:47
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After consulting with more experienced CYOA thread runners and considering KittyEmpress' advice, i've decided that because I didn't have that much confidence in my skill in mechanics and it's very early on, the thread will instead be more purely story-based/narrative in nature. The intro post has been edited. This doesn't change anything about the votes so far, except that Skills are more of a guideline as to things you are actually good at than providing a concrete mechanical bonus.
Jossar fucked around with this message at 13:40 on Mar 31, 2021 |
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Mar 31, 2021 13:38
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A I K Kill Also I assume this'll be covered later, but we're a tribe that lives round a single spirit tree for protection, and has some very limited ability to get power from it now? That's the vibe I got from the creation myth, which was pretty nice.
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Mar 31, 2021 14:06
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ehL
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Mar 31, 2021 14:06
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Nothingtoseehere posted:
Well, to clarify: The Known World The lands of the Spotted Baobab Tribe consist of roughly 20 wooden huts containing 3-6 people (mostly leaning towards lower values) surrounding a central clearing containing the tree itself. Most elements of crafting that can be performed by a particular household are directly next to the huts, but cooking hearths tend to be closer towards the center of the main camp and toolmaking and pigment production are located directly outside the boundary of huts to the east of the main camp. The effect of the tree, so far as you can tell, is solely limited to providing security for the camp itself. As a result, the area radiating out to a couple dozen meters from the tree is generally considered to be safe from normal wildlife, no matter the numbers advantage. Go any farther and regular animals consider you to be far enough from the settlement to be fair game. From the opposite perspective, the hunters consider it a good day if they can grab animals just outside the tree's range, but a hunt usually takes more effort than that. Whether Revered Ancestors are actually stopped by the tree's effect or they just don't want to pick a fight that will result in a life or death struggle is unknown. If there is a way for humans to personally harvest energy from the tree, no one knows how to do so, and there's generally a fear that doing anything to the tree will destroy the warding effect. "Don't touch the tree except during rituals" is a strongly ingrained tribal custom. Since we're talking geography anyway, here are the limits of the known world: - From the camp, only savanna is visible. But travel far enough to the north and the land rolls upwards and transitions from savanna into steppe and then further into mountains. During the transition from steppe to mountain, streams can be found (at least when the weather doesn't dry them up) and the occasional cave dots the landscape. They're not really suitable for habitation, but they are a boon for artists as both a location for painting and as a source of ocher and other pigments. - Travel far to the east and the savanna dries out and becomes a nearly impassable desert, though tradition says that if you somehow make it through, the desert eventually gives way to Mirovia, the great waters. - As you go west, the rare trees that dot the savanna start becoming more plentiful and you can eventually see a great clumping of them off in the distance. No one knows what's there though, because the number of Revered Ancestors spikes up once you hit an ill defined boundary. - The south just continues on as normal savanna for a long time, and it’s generally considered to be the safest of the Spotted Baobab Tribe’s boundaries. It is also the only direction in which you know other humans exist, albeit at the furthest edge of your people’s knowledge. There are no great settlements – only a series of smaller bands constantly wandering the savanna, although it was once suggested, from a trading trip made lifetimes ago, that at least one other permanent settlement exists somewhere. Jossar fucked around with this message at 01:10 on Apr 4, 2021 |
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Mar 31, 2021 14:37
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E + I + L Name: Vozha
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Mar 31, 2021 15:05
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AJK
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Mar 31, 2021 19:08
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EJK
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Mar 31, 2021 19:09
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AJL Ilyana
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Mar 31, 2021 19:55
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Alright, a day seems about right. Calling it here. Clear winners are J and L, everything else is up to the mercy of Orokos. https://orokos.com/roll/883558 quote:A Will start working on a write up.
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Mar 31, 2021 20:34
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First Steps, Taken In Anger Your name is Vozha, daughter of Ina and Milu, and as you storm out of the shaman’s lecture, you admit to yourself that you’re being kind of immature about this whole thing. Rather than your full 10 cycles, nearly a grown up, you’re throwing a tantrum like a child a third of your age. But it’s really hard for you to care when the shaman is just being so stubborn about this subject, fitting with the story she was trying to tell. It’s even more frustrating because you can see she’s just smart enough to be willing to consider your thoughts, but ultimately did what every adult does when they don’t know the answer to a question, which is say “because so” or “that’s the way we’ve always done it.” Your own parents did it often enough when you were young, although to their credit, the older you got, the more detailed their answers have become. You’re kind of a weirdo that way. Where other children eventually were satisfied with their parents’ incomplete answers, you were always questioning. Never satisfied with things the way they are. That’s why you became a hunter: you’re going to drag this tribe kicking and screaming towards a better future, and there’s no more thorough way to do so than by the roots. Everyone else in the tribe can tell that you’re on the warpath and avoids you as you stomp your way over to your family’s hut. You can overhear some vague snippets of conversation which indicate to you that the story will have passed around to everyone by the evening, but you don’t care. You’re going to take your anger out on some kind of animal, and the consequences of your actions can wait until after that’s done. Your family’s hut does not have any space which would truly be considered private, but fortunately for you, the rest of your family is out performing their daily labor and no one has moved your weapon. It’s not an adult’s weapon, but your mother trained you as hard as you were willing and able to accept, and your skill with it is as unmatched as a ten cycle old’s can be. What is your weapon of choice? a) A bow and arrow, the most precise of weapons. The sacrifice of pure strength and necessity of ammunition is well worth the ability to deliver devastating blows from a distance, exactly where you mean to. b) A club, the most powerful of weapons. While it’s not as fitting with the rest of your philosophy, the circumstances in which you live demand that you bring all the strength that you can bear to a single point. c) A spear, the most flexible of weapons. You prize adaptability over anything else. The spear lacks the precision of the bow or the power of the club, but it will never fail to deliver. d) A net, the most strategic of weapons. The net renders targets vulnerable rather than killing them directly. Against opponents whose sole virtue is their difficulty to catch or kill, it is exceedingly superior, but against targets whose primary asset is their strength, you might be better off with even your fists. e) A boomerang, the most bizarre of weapons. A sort of hybrid of the bow and club, but in a different way than the spear. Instead of being adaptable for all situations, it focuses on delivering power at range, and returning to the user if they are skilled enough in aiming. Most hunters decry it as wasteful relative to the amount of effort you have to put in, but it’s exactly the kind of thing that suits you best. f) Something else? You manage to make it all the way from your family’s hut to the edge of the tribe’s boundary before bumping into something. Consumed with rage, you raise your gaze to meet whatever has dared to block your path, only to meet the even more furious glare of your grandmother. Your father’s mother has walked upon the land for over 45 cycles and you can feel all that time weighing down on your head as she speaks. “Not alone, Vozha. NOT! ALONE! You will drive your parents to their graves if you go out looking for yours. If you must continue on this foolish venture, bring someone with a clear head who can stay alert. I will not leave here until you do or promise that you are heading home.” She means it. Your grandmother will stand here until the rest of her hair turns white. She’s also “subtly” encouraging you to give up, because most of the adults you know (who would be the sensible option for this endeavor) are engaged in their daily labor. Not like that’s going to stop you, you'll just bring someone around your own age instead. Who do you bring? g) Give up, you were not thinking clearly and this is madness. (Values Conflict: Requires 50% of total votes.) h) Bring your older cousin Sofya, although she might as well be your sister for how often she tries to follow your mother around. She’s exactly the kind of sensible hunter you need for this hunt, competent in all respects, but she's responsible enough that you’re certainly not going to have any kind of satisfying triumph. i) Bring Osip, who is probably the closest thing you have to a kindred spirit in terms of viewpoint among the tribe, though slightly more value-conforming. Of course this also means that despite your grandmother’s warning, you’re bringing two hothead hunters out beyond the boundary. j) Bring Maxim, who as a hunter is frankly speaking subpar, but would love the excuse to go out and observe nature. He’ll hold his own if things go wrong, but mostly you want him there so you’re not snuck up on. k) Bring Raisa, who you don’t know particularly well, although she’s the sort of pleasant person who gets along with everyone. As a gatherer you’re helping her as much as she is you in this case, and people with two different focuses might obtain greater benefits compared to one. But if things go wrong she is anti-useful. l) Someone else? Jossar fucked around with this message at 22:16 on Mar 31, 2021 |
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Mar 31, 2021 22:10
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E I Grandma, come along then since you're so interested.
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Mar 31, 2021 22:19
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C Throwing Spears K
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Mar 31, 2021 22:26
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E K Boomerangs. Boomerangs. Boomerangs.
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Mar 31, 2021 22:38
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EJ
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Apr 1, 2021 00:05
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E + K
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Apr 1, 2021 00:20
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Persuasion Grandmother will not be denied. So you had better find someone sensible enough to meet her standards. Your older cousin pops into your mind, but at this point you’ve made such a mess of today that the only way it doesn’t end a dismal failure is if you can prove that you really do know better than your elders. That means bringing home a large prize, and Sofya would never let you roam far enough away from the camp to do so if you weren't blessed by the spirits immediately. This leaves you in a position that is very unfamiliar. In the past you’ve kind of relied on your family having to deal with you because you’re family. It’s a strategy that’s worked very well, in part because you do in fact have relevant contributions to make in return and also because you have enough family members that you could just switch who you were bothering before it became unbearably obnoxious. Raisa, then. You don’t know her very well, but she’s built a reputation among those your age as a good natured person who’ll definitely listen to your problems. And you know she’s available – since she was with you during the shaman’s lecture. Convincing her to help isn’t a conversation you’re looking forward to having, but you can’t run away from your problems forever, and at least you don’t have to explain the most awkward parts of the story. _____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ This time, you’re a lot more careful as you walk through the camp. You just don’t have the sheer presence to force people not to deal with you any more, so you’re instead trying to avoid large groups, sticking to less well trod paths, and when unavoidable, passing by folks who are already busy or going somewhere. Eventually though, you manage to make it to the hut of Raisa’s family with relatively minimal human contact. Fortunately, Raisa’s parents and brothers are gone, as is the case for most of the families who brought their children to the shaman’s lecture – even the usually late risers know not to waste good daylight when they’re already up. But time is of the essence, since the luckier early morning gatherers might be returning soon, so you call out as loud as you can without having your voice travel too far. “Raisa!” The girl sitting at the entrance of the hut, relatively dainty as far as such things go for your people, looks up in surprise from her work. She’s in the finishing stages of sewing a passable enough gathering basket. Very practical minded thing for her to be working on, although you suppose it’s not like she has anything better to do for a while yet anyway. “Vozha? What happened back there? Ilena was practically fuming when you left. She tried to act like nothing was wrong and kept us for another few stories before sending us all home for the morning, but she said that if we found you to say that you’re not welcome back for the afternoon.” Not that you’d want to hear more of her dumb lectures anyway. Your answer is a bit more noncommittal on that front though. “It’s fine. We just don’t agree on some deep thinking things, it’s not the end of the world. I’m still gonna do my pacification rituals and stuff… speaking of which, would you like to go out on an adventure with me?” For a second you think that Raisa’s going to yell at you at the top of her lungs, but she quickly composes herself and tries a different tactic. “Hunting. You were planning on going out hunting by yourself, which you know is incredibly dangerous, even if I didn’t come along.” “Not just hunting! I was specifically looking for you because I wanted to make sure that whatever the spirits bring us, at least someone could benefit.” She raises a quizzical eyebrow. “And the danger part?” “Raisa, you’re a season older than me. We’re getting close to being adults, but no one’s ever going to think of us that way unless we can prove that we can take care of ourselves. Do you want to be a kid forever?” With that, Raisa hushes up and closes her eyes, sinking deep into thought. It’s a very long and awkward pause, accompanied by her fidgeting with the basket in her hands. You’re actually getting kind of worried that this might just be her way of ending a conversation without directly doing so. But before you can ask Raisa about it, she opens her eyes, sets the basket down, and gets up from the floor, before picking the basket back up. She then turns to you and with a sort of half-smile says: “You’re a really bad influence, you know that, right?” You smile in return, not just because Raisa’s agreeing to help you, but because for the first time today it seems like you’ve helped solve somebody’s problems rather than make them worse, if only in some small way. “The worst. Now come on!” _____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Having another person along makes the return trip to the boundary much easier, mostly because it dispels your own fear that people will have their eyes on you. Your grandmother is, indeed, still there although in the interim she’s sat down and is carving something into the dirt with a stick to amuse herself. Not that it distracts her so much as to not notice your approach. “Well Vozha, I am as good as my word - you are free to go. Although I am surprised, Raisa...” And with that she turns away from her… game? Art? You’re not really sure what it is. And instead trains her all too famous glare on the other girl. “...that a sensible girl like you chose to accompany my fool of a granddaughter out into the grassland.” As politely and formally as possible, Raisa responds: “With all due respect, honored elder, the most important lesson that we learned today from Shaman Ilena is that to be foolish is to be human. So for the rest of the day, I have chosen to be as in touch with my humanity as possible.” With that your grandmother bursts out into laughter. After calming down, she says: “Ever the optimist despite herself, huh? 20 cycles ago, she would have been the first to join you. Show the brush the best that humanity has to offer, children… and yes, you’re all still children to me, I’ve earned the right to say that. But know that today is only temporary and your families would still rather you home safe at the end of the day, even if you have nothing to show for it.” And with that your grandmother gets up and heads back to the camp, humming a strange tune all the while. _____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Your situation feels like it’s changed enough even from when you started this that you want to reevaluate your priorities. Or maybe it's just that you're a bit more clearheaded now and can actually think this through. So how serious were you about your comments to Raisa? a) You said you wanted an adventure, and you really meant that. The goal is to discover something new. b) This has turned out to be kind of a bigger deal for Raisa than you were expecting it to be, so a gathering expedition it is. You’ll still be useful, but as the lookout and defense rather than the primary focus. c) The original goal was about proving your own worthiness in light of walking out on Ilena’s lecture, so you’ve still gotta take point. d) Balance in all things. One of the reasons you picked Raisa is because you wanted to maximize what you got out of this trip. Neither of you is likely to find anything extraordinary, but if you just focus on yield you’ll get a lot more that way. e) Maybe just… hang out? You kind of just hoped that Raisa would do this out of the goodness of her spirit, but there was no guarantee it would have worked. It’s still going to be a bonding experience either way, but you could just settle for a nominal expedition and try to focus on really making friends with her. f) Something else. And the scale of the expedition? g) Just enough of a quick jaunt to actually find something, you’ve proven your point. h) No, you actually have to put some effort into this. The rest of the morning and early afternoon at least. Maybe Raisa (or even you) could get back in time for Ilena’s lecture. i) All day would definitely get you something, and you’re pretty sure as long as you get back at a sensible time of the evening you’ll be fine. j) This may be the only opportunity you’ll get of this nature for quite some time. Go big or don’t come home at all. (This is definitely a bad idea.) Jossar fucked around with this message at 02:23 on Apr 4, 2021 |
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Apr 1, 2021 14:36
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A + I
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Apr 1, 2021 14:59
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AI D is the sensible choice. It's doing our most to help the clan in a way they would understand and approve of (sort of). A seems more fit to who Vohza is. She doesn't want to be the best hunter feeding her family, she wants to find something new, change the tribe, take hold of destiny. We will get what we can easily carry as we adventure, but we want that adventure.
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Apr 1, 2021 15:08
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A I
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Apr 1, 2021 15:09
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DH
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Apr 1, 2021 15:28
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DI
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Apr 1, 2021 15:35
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AI
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Apr 1, 2021 17:25
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Your First Adventure An adventure it is, then! But which direction to pick… With the limited amount of knowledge that your people possess on your surroundings, new things are present everywhere. But the strangest places of all are at the edges of your perception, and you think that even with some delay you both could make it beyond the savanna proper and be back home by evening. As long as exploration is all you’re focusing on. This also means you’re heading north. The west and east are both exceptionally dangerous when the terrain changes, and the south is going to be mostly the same for a long time yet. _____________________________________ Both you and Raisa come to regret this decision over the course of your trek. Not because of something bad happening, in fact quite the opposite. At least once, each of you is made aware of a really good opportunity relative to your particular specialties that you have to give up on so that the journey can continue. A small herd of gazelle grazing with their young. Incredibly fast when provoked, but if you caught one unaware all it would take is one throw of the boomerang to break its legs and have as much meat as you both could carry home. Not to mention the hide, or fur, or horns... You can see a look of pain pass over Raisa’s face when the both of you pass a patch of sweet vernal grass large enough that it would likewise take the both of you to carry it all home. You’re not quite sure what it does apart from making a paste that causes animals to bleed out extra hard when you stab them, at the cost of their meat doing the same to people unless you carefully remove all traces of the stuff. But the grass certainly smells nice and probably has a lot more medicinal uses. It’s a reminder that as long as the spirits aren't against you, the lands surrounding the Spotted Baobab are filled with plenty. And though you are determined to continue searching for something special, the immensity of the waste gnaws at you both, just as intensely as hunger would. Actual hunger, fortunately, remains far at bay. You manage to smack a bird perched on a tree with one of your boomerangs. It’s more of a test of skill than hunting other animals, but it fits your style perfectly: if you can get that one good shot in from an unexpected angle, that’s usually all it takes for the animal to crumple. Doesn’t even matter that you’re no great bastion of strength just yet. Raisa’s been picking the occasional berry and edible grass, though it turns out that they start to add up after a while. Collectively it all makes for enough food that the two of you aren’t worried about starving for the rest of the trip, which is good because you’re getting less familiar with the animal patterns the farther you go out. _____________________________________ By the afternoon you’ve managed to make it to the hills. Descriptions of the Ochre Caves always lead you to believe that the area is full of rocks and barren steppe, but if anything, the general area has more trees than any place you’re familiar with. “Vozha, I think we’re lost.” Raisa chimes in. “Yeah, you’re probably right.” You admit. The two of you might have wandered a little further west than you intended. At least you think it’s west, since that’s the direction where all the plants are? Still mostly north, so there shouldn’t be any more chance of running into a Revered Ancestor than normal. Are the trees what you were looking for? Sure the Spotted Baobab Tribe uses wood for things, but even the most devoted crafter wouldn’t need a whole tree at once. Maybe if you were trying to make a whole house out of wood? But it would take several people working together with axes to cut down a tree like that one over there and then they’d either have to cut it into pieces or figure out how to drag the thing a distance that took several hours to reach just by walking. It’s just not worth it. Your eye returns to the felled tree you spotted in the middle of your observations. Wait, it’s lying at a weird curve. Almost as if… “Raisa, I found something!” The fallen tree in question is in fact one of several large... branches? Tree pieces? separated from the tree’s main trunk, which appears to have been heavily fragmented by whatever dropped the pieces off. The other pieces have fallen into a fairly shallow natural cave and you can barely make them out, but you’re pretty sure they’re glowing green. Raisa comes over to inspect the scene that you’ve found, she’s mostly interested in the glowing branches down in the cavern below. “Hmm… well, I’m definitely happy I came just to see such a pretty sight, but it’s going to be really hard to both grab whatever’s on the branches and investigate the cave beyond, which might also be interesting.” “Why not both?” “Because, Vozha, if it turns out the branches do have stuff and we’re scrambling up and down to grab all of it, I’d rather go slow and steady so we don’t slip and fall. And we won’t be able to do that, explore the cave, and make it back home in time.” And doing either of those things means you’re not investigating the mystery of how the tree got broken in the first place. Which you suppose you could both do and drag home an actually reasonable amount of wood for your cousins Alek and Oleg to work with. What’s worthy of your attention, and what’s a distraction? a) Focus on the cave. b) Focus on the branches. c) Focus on the tree.
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Apr 1, 2021 22:04
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b Glowing is a good sign
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Apr 1, 2021 22:12
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B
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Apr 1, 2021 23:02
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B Glowing stuff is neat, a cave can wait.
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Apr 1, 2021 23:31
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Last time we went into a cave in an SA cultivation cyoa, we found a magic elevator that took us to the outside world, separated us entirely from our family, and left us with horrible homesickness. But we also learned a lot about cultivation. So clearly we should spelunk every cave! A
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Apr 2, 2021 01:31
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C. Figure out why something happened and we might be able to make it happen again. Also the cause might indicate the effect, and I'd rather find out if the branches are dangerous before we touch them.
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Apr 2, 2021 05:44
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B It glows, obviously it's something juicy
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Apr 2, 2021 15:20
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B
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Apr 2, 2021 15:46
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clearly the glowing stuff is the thing we should investigate, why else would it be glowing? B
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Apr 2, 2021 16:28
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The Spoils You consider your options carefully, but in the end there’s only one decision you can make. “Who knows if we’ll find anything else? Glowing stuff it is.” The entrance to the cave isn’t particularly large, it’s just big enough for one of you to go down at a time, though not so small that either of you is forced to squeeze in or compromise on what you’re carrying. You volunteer to be first, and then help Raisa down afterwards since she’s still holding her basket. Fortunately the branches are large enough that after you get through the entrance, you can stabilize yourself by hugging them tightly. There’s not even any shaking at all, so these things must be really snugly fit, although the bark feels like it’s started rotting a bit. Kind of gross. Raisa’s entry is easier since you’re here to guide her to the branch. After you both turn away from the light of day and adjust your eyes to the dimmer conditions it turns out that while the cave is very narrow, it also runs a lot deeper than you thought. You really do have to be careful climbing around because if you slip and fall, you could get hurt. It’s still not so deep that you’d fall to your death, but the fall could very easily break your bones. Something that would be really bad considering that you’d be in no shape to climb up the walls and you’re very far away from the camp. So even if the other person volunteered to go and get help, you’d be lying there in helpless agony in the dark until very late tonight or tomorrow at least. But you never regret anything you do, no matter how dumb, as long as you can find a way for it to end well, and you won’t start now. Raisa, on the other hand, is kind of freaking out and muttering to herself about staying calm, even though she pretty much figured out that this would happen from the start. But then again, the basket isn’t helping her balance any. You grab a hold of her shoulders to snap her out of it in a manner that won’t send her careening into the depths. Which she does, after a slight twitch and a high pitched squeak of surprise. The two of you slowly climb down the first branch. As natural sunlight begins to fade entirely, it mingles with and then is taken over by the artificial green glow, which grows stronger the deeper you go. The branch, while still relatively secure, starts to get narrower and more difficult to navigate safely. But nevertheless, it only takes a short while before you find the source of the glow. _______________________ “That’s a lot of mushrooms.” “Yeah.” Raisa’s sounding a little bit calmer. “Usually these ones are considered to be pretty useless, but they also don’t usually glow like this.” “Well, you’re the expert. You up to handing me the basket and trying to grab them?” “Sure, it means I’m spending less time focused on the drop!” It’s actually a relatively sensible drop all things considered now that you’ve climbed down a few feet, but as much as you’d love to argue the point, this is not the time. So you carefully switch places on the branch so that she’s in the lead and you’re second, and then take hold of the basket while Raisa goes to work. You’re not quite aware of the intricacies of gathering. It’s about as interesting to you as, well… watching grass grow. But it is pretty impressive how by the end of Raisa’s harvesting, with her starting at the bottom of your branch and alternating between the two, moving upwards in a pattern that maximizes yield and ensures you’re both as high on the branch as you can possibly be, you’ve both been plunged into complete darkness again apart from the glow in the full basket. A quick request for forgiveness from the spirits of the mushrooms later and... “Okay, I think that’s the last of it, Vozha. Guide us back to the surface.” This basket is heavier than you’d thought it’d be, which makes you really thankful that the tree remains solid under you, despite the onset of rot. So it’s not really that dangerous climbing back up, just really, really slow. Even so, by the time both of you emerge from the cave it’s only late afternoon, so you’re still on schedule. Despite getting lost on the way here, it’ll be impossible to miss more familiar surroundings as long as you keep heading south. And a bit east too, but you don’t want to overcorrect your course too much. _______________________ The two of you keep waiting for something horrible to happen on the way back given that you’re two 10 cycle olds, barely armed, carrying a basket of glowing mushrooms through the savanna, in low light conditions. And you nearly manage to make it back to the camp before you run into the path of a flightless bird nearly one and a half times your size with powerful legs and a very large and nasty looking beak. You don’t think it’s spotted you just yet so you can come up with a quick plan. What do you do? a) Throw it some of the mushrooms to distract it. If this doesn’t work, you’ve just annoyed it and lost the stealth advantage. b) Run towards the camp and try to make it towards the barrier. If so, pick whether you or Raisa has the basket, or you’re leaving it behind. c) Fight it, with Raisa helping you to distract it. If you think conflict is inevitable, you’ll at least engage it on your own terms. d) Send Raisa on ahead while you distract it, then run. At least one of you will be safe and this is the way that best ensures you keep your prize. e) Try and intimidate it. There’s two of you and it looks pretty dumb. Why fight when you can present the illusion of fighting? f) Maybe if you just go back the way you came right now and don’t act like anything’s wrong, it won’t notice you and you can just take the long way around? g) Something else? Do you call for help? (Incompatible with Options A and F) h) Yes, the tribe’s right there. i) No, could attract the attention of even more dangerous wildlife.
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Apr 2, 2021 19:50
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C aim for the legs I
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Apr 2, 2021 20:13
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CH If we can break a leg or its neck with our boomerang it's done and we can bring back giant bird to go with our glowing mushrooms! We should call out if it doesn't go down to our boomerang alpha strike. Nothing wrong with getting some help for the hunt.
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Apr 2, 2021 20:16
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C/D combo G. Throw our boomerang to try to take out a leg before it notices us. Then make Raisa run to camp while we hold its attention here. If we get lucky we could break a leg, which is one of the ways aboriginal used hunting sticks (take out a leg then bash the head in). If we get unlucky at least we engaged it first, and hopefully did some damage. Terror birds are fast fucks, I dont think we could run past.
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Apr 2, 2021 20:18
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| # ? Apr 24, 2024 09:00 |
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DH We're probably not gonna be able to kill this thing, so best to distract while we get the loot to safety.
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Apr 2, 2021 21:10
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