Wow! Unless I've had a group of adventurers to
plunder I seldom have more than four to half a dozen
at tribe making time, and I doubt I've ever finished a
long game with much over a dozen. I guess I always
saw most of them as over valued by the time that,
later in the game, you can usually afford to buy them
easily.
>
> > (Another is the Shifting
> > > Statue, and the Scarf of the
> > > >Seven Somethings, and Ernalda's Oven)
> >
> > Ernalda's oven? Isn't that the one that saves on
> food
> > by making some loaves from almost no grain? Why
> is
> > this one so valuable? >
> Two reasons. One is that my strategy is to
> have a clan big enough to be
> powerful while small enough to not ask to be split
> up - and that means food can
> sometimes get low, although after the first few
> years you have basically no
> chance of starvation. So a little economy is a good
> thing. The second reason
> is that you can use food to trade - or, as my
> preferred vehicle, to give as
> gifts. 60 food gets the same effect as 30 goods or
> cows, and it's a lot
> cheaper. If you're buying horses, goods, or cows,
> it's always good to have at
> least two things to sell - the most you'll get is
> when you trade for 2 things
> and sell 2 things, and having enough food to sell
> 100 grain at a pop without
> flinching helps.
>
> If you're up to the wazoo in grain, you don't
> need it. I suppose I like
> it as a security blanket
Hmmm, I must admit I am typically spurting grain from the wazoo (and possibly other places). I'm a big fan of the Ernalda heroquest, as once you get it down it tends to be quite safe. I frequently take my best quester and run her through it once to improve her stats, then a few years later to increase the harvest, and again every so often to cheer up the carls, make the elves like me, or gain a treasure....or just to improve the clan mood a bit. Since each time you get the general befefit of improved harvests for the next three years, once you've also locked in the improved harvest benefit, I usually have more food than I could trade away if I tried....often enough for two years at the end of earth season. For sure I give large amounts away as gifts, and trade it, but still a fair bit goes to waste....and a quick heroquest can always fill up the storage bins if it is getting a bit low.
>
> > hidden benefits. The floods are very damaging,
> true,
> > but if you are generous to your neighbours it does
> > wonders for your relations with them >
> That's interesting - I suppose it's because
> they feel pity for you?
No, the floods affect your neighbours too, so by
helping them in their hour of need, even though you
too are suffering, you are displaying generosity on a
grand scale, the kind that REALLY impresses people.
Next to the Challana Arroy "peace bomb" it is the
fastest way to settle feuds (kind of key in the hard
game).
Bryan
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