Old Rivals, New Deities

Moots has drifted off to sleep by the time the pigs have devoured the last cabbage, a little ding indicating that you and Gero are too high level to get any reward from the otherwise charming quest. Charming, but excessively dirty. Fortunately a small well formed beside the pigsty during Moots's induction to your tribe, and a few moments later you and Gero are washing off the muck and mud.

"Did you know he could join us?" Gero asks as she goes about wiping herself clean.

"I had no idea." You dump what's left of the water onto your head, wringing the dirt from your long hair before moving to draw another bucketful. "But I did some digging into our Tribal information. If we had taken Isolationist, the Level One bonus would have made all of our natural classes stronger."

"Sounds good."

You nod. "Yeah it does, but Cooperative is what lets us invite non-kobolds to join us. So we can theoretically recruit classes we otherwise would never have access to."

Gero cocks an eyebrow, glancing towards the peacefully slumbering Moots. "So what, since we're Cooperative, we got to add the awe-inspiring power of the Pig Farmer class to our tribe?"

"First off, pigs are delicious."

"True."

"But no, Moots is actually a Townsperson. They normally upgrade into simple things, Farmer or Craftsman whatever? But Cultured boosts our villagers so instead we get things like as Pig Farmers and Carpenters. As far as I can tell they grant our village bigger and more unique bonuses."

Gero gives herself a final drying shake before shrugging her robe back on, a sour look on her face. "So in short, literally none of our Tribal choices benefit smashing things."

You finish tying back your hair. "We already have you Gero; if we took combat bonuses too it wouldn't be fair to the rest of the world."

Your flattery is rewarded with a splash of water and the delighted wagging of Gero's tail, so you decide to call that a draw. Despite her protestations, you're confident she'll come to appreciate the path your tribe has been set down. It absolutely suits you, at least. And after what you've seen at Moots' farm, you can't wait to see what the rest of the village looks like.

That eager anticipation dies in your chest as you turn back towards the direction of the village to find Higen crouched in a squat besides Moots. Fuck he can be quiet when he wants to. The wild-looking kobold is leveling a flat stare in your direction, absently twirling the point of his knife against the wooden porch. He holds your stare for a moment, the beckons you forward with a terse flick of his fingers. You knew you'd have to deal with Higen sooner rather than later, but you had certainly hoped for later. Either way, you can sense Gero's hackles rising beside you. No putting it off.

"Let me try to handle this, Gero. Please?"

The amazonian kobold growls, but seeing as she simply folds her powerful arms across her ample chest, she's at least willing to give you a shot. Okay, good. You think. Just bashing Higen over the head and dumping him in a ditch would be the easiest solution, but it can't be the only one, can it?

You keep an eye out for convenient ditch locations all the same.

Higen's rough voice is quiet when you approach, but the way he points his knife at you could only be called accusing. "So this is what you slunk away for? To invite one of the monsters that terrorized us or generations to be part of our home?"

You do your best to keep your voice level. "No, I came here to thank him. He's the only reason the three of us got our first few levels. I don't reget it, but the invitation was an accident.."

Higen spits. "Oh, I'm sure. I've been doing some reading while you two have been playing with pigs. So this is what being Cooperative gets us? With much more of your outstanding leadership, Shh, maybe the whole tribe can be frail old humans with piles of mud."

You choose to ignore the wilder's refusal to use your new name. "I'm not in charge, Higen. Every decision we made was as a group."

"Bull shit."

The frown comes to your face unbidden. Boastful, bullying Hi-Hi had been bad, but the combative to the point of petulance Higen is fucking obnoxious. "Okay. You've got a problem with the way the tribe is headed. I hear that."

The kobold narrows his eyes at you, jabbing his knife in Moots's direction. "This is our tribe. We killed his tribe for the right to exist."

You take a step toward, Higen tensely rising. "If you feel that strongly, why don't you do something about it?"

Higen shifts his grip on his knife. "I'm thinking about it."

He really does hate you, doesn't he. "Can I suggest a way of doing it that doesn't get both of us killed?"

The kobold holds your gaze for a long moment, a little hiss of breath escaping from his apparently clenched teeth. At length, he speaks again. "...Go on."

You turn and point towards the end of your zone, doing your best to ignore the itchy feeling that Higen's eyes are boring in the small of your back. "You want our tribe to be for our people. Well, there are more of our people out there."

"There are more kobolds?"

"More mongrels. Mongrels who are in the same situation we were. Mongrels who could have a future, if someone was able to bring them from their zones to our village." You pause, but it doesn't seem like Higen is going to respond so you continue. "I'm guessing you have a suite of wilderness skills, right? Survival, Woodscraft...I know you've at least got Stealth. Of all of us, you're the only one who has the abilities to even have a chance. It would be dangerous, but with every group you managed to bring home you would be helping our tribe and our people."

A long bout of silence is your response. You're trying to think of something else to say when Higen finally speaks up. "...You're just trying to get rid of me."

"We're not children Higen. I don't want to be around you any more than you want to be around me. But I still think we can both do our part to give our people a better future. If we don't have to work together to do it, more the better."

Your rival considers that for a moment, and then to your relief he shoves his knife back into his belt, his aggressive stance easing up. "Always fucking scheming. That's you, Shh; that's you straight down to the ground."

"It's Shin. Don't get it wrong again."

The kobold spits. "Whatever." He hops down off the porch. "I'll do it. Can't guarantee I can get all of them here, even after I find them. Especially since they'll need what, five levels to even be able to leave their zones? Probably no reason to even bother with the runts."

"No Higen. You will do your all to bring them all here. Especially the runts."

Higen stiffens as the musical voice of Momo rings out, standing in sullen silence as the little cleric scolds him. If anyone had told you a few weeks ago that you'd be grateful for the authority Momo's presence lends you, you might have laughed. You are deeply grateful that you are a wiser kobold now than you were then.

Momo is the very picture of serene authority as she draws herself up beside you, towering over Higen despite being a full head and a half shorter. "The smallest and weakest belong to our Goddess, Higen. Remember that, and come back to us soon."

Higen's sharp eyes flit towards you for a second, and then he gives the briefest of nods to Momo and darts off towards the edge of the zone. You let out the breath you hadn't known you were holding. That was intense.

Gero seems to agree, the big warrior shaking her head as she joins the two of you. "I was sure that was coming to blood."

Momo shakes her head, hands still folded calmly in her sleeves. "He is certainly lacking in most finer qualities, but his heart is in...something sort of close to the right place." She gives a regal little sniff. "Also, he is quite afraid of me. He won't be a problem."

Gero chuckles. "You're a bad ass Momo, no question."

The girl grins, then gives a squeal of excitement as grabs your and Gero's hands and starts pulling you towards the village. "Oh, oh! You have to come see; it's so great!"

The showdown with Higen had been the thing you were most dreading. With that out of the way? You re down for whatever Momo wants to show you.

You know it wasn't what had gotten Momo so excited, but you can't keep the grin off your face as you approach the village. You'd known the outpost would change, but it seems the whole layout of the surrounding terrain has shifted as well because the stream that cuts through your zone has been relocated to right beside your new home. And in an even bigger surprise, either side of the river is now lined with fields of crops, irrigated to the point of flooding. Oh man, it goes even further than that; there are little trenches cut from the river to bring fresh water into the fields themselves? And they're filled with fish! Why are there fish? Goddammit you have to know, you have to know.

You wave excitedly to the kobold who is merrily moving between the paddies but loudly whine as Momo forcefully keeps dragging you away, her voice taking on a scolding tone. "You can talk to the farmers later; this is important Shin!"

Uggggh you have so many questions about fish. This had better be great.

Still, you aren't so annoyed that the wonder of your new home escapes you. Where there had once been a utilitarian fort a pleasant little village now sits, an absolute picture of homespun serenity. Small, well made huts with sloped thatch roofs circle around a much larger building lined with carefully placed lnterns. This fits with what you'd assumed the village of a level one tribe would look like, mostly housing for your Townspeople and then a sort of multipurpose town center that will serve all the other purposes until the tribe grows. Still, it's one thing to know those facts and an entirely different thing to step into that village and know it's your home. The feeling is indescribable.

Momo leads you to a small building behind the town center, noticeably less simple than the rest of the village. Small wooden carvings and charms of what look like ivory dangle from ropes between the columns that ring the building, the lightly lulling scent of sweet incense wafting out from within its depths. Your companion leads you directly to a statue placed in the building's well-maintained front grounds, grinning expectantly up at you. It's definitely a woman, but damn if you know who she is. "Well Momo, what is it?"

She raises her eyebrows at you, looking surprised. "It's our village shrine! This is our Goddess, Shin!"

Gero lets out a whistle as you furrow your brow. "It is?"

Momo sticks her tongue out at you. "Okay she's a little plain right now, but that's because I haven't made the choices for her yet. I wanted to wait for you two to get here!"

Oh right! In all the excitement you'd almost forgotten about the original conversation that led to this whole plan over Tribal Strength. "Should we get the others?"

Momo shakes her head. "No, I don't think this is something that we should put up for a vote. I sort of feel like I have to make these decisions. Um, is that bad? I feel sort of bad."

Even if you disagreed, which you don't, Gero leans in to ruffle Momo's hair. "Don't. You're the one who'll have to deal with this Goddess all the time anyway. Only fair you should get to make one that you can get along with."

The buxom little cleric grins at that, bringing up what you can only get is a Divinity window. What you wouldn't give to be able to see it. "Okay, um! So! I get to makes some choices from a list, like we did for the Tribe, and they'll give me some powers and give the Tribe some benefits! So first......there! Nurturer!"

She clicks an option, and you suddenly feel a tingle across your whole body. What happened? Gero eats you to the punch. "Hey, my health went up!"

Momo nods happily. "Yeah! And I have the Medic skill now, and it says our Tribe needs less stored food to reach the next level now!"

Whoa. These Divine powers might be more impactful that the Tribal ones, at least at the first level. Practically giddy with how well this is going, Momo starts going over the list again "Now we get one more option...ah, it had better be something in case of fighting, right? Guardian feels right."

She makes the choice, but you don't feel any different this time. "What changed."

Momo makes a thoughtful noise. "It says that the amount of soldiers we have garrisoned here count double towards reaching the next Tribal Level now. And I gained a Crafting Skill? For Charms? I think I'm going to need to study this one more."

Oh man, that is interesting. "So that's that? What's our Goddess's name?"

Momo purses her lips. "The screen said it should tell us when I made the last choice, I wonder...oh! Oh, oh!" The priestess giggling in delight. "It says I get a third choice because we're a Devout Tribe! I know just the one I want! I wanted to take something for combat, you know, for Gero, but if I get another choice this is the one!"

She happily clicks a third option, her tail going crazy. A chime tolls loudly from deep within the shrine, and when you look back up the statue has been replaced by a stylized figure of a woman both young and matronly at the same time, her hands resting protectively over a massively rounded middle. "There! Our Goddess is Tasan Okaa, the Great Mother!"

A sense of rightness settles upon your shoulders as soon as you hear that name. Yes, that is absolutely your Goddess. Still, though. "The Great Mother? What was the third choice you made?"

Momo grins. "Fecund!"

"Uh.......what?"

"Yeah! That means productive, right?"

"Not, uh..." you trail off when Momo stiffens, her eyes going wide. The priestess lifts her hands to her large bosom, gasping as she finds her already overflowing chest beginning to bubble and strain even further against her overtaxed robe. She bites her lip to hold back a squeal as her breasts swell eagerly into her arms, only stopping once the already buxom cleric could only be called utterly stacked. She abruptly releases her chest to clutch at her stomach, newly huge breasts jiggling majestically under their own extraordinary bulk. You can't let that distract you now, though, as much as you want to; the decidedly fertile swelling that bulges from Momo's tummy definitely needs your fully attention. It's all over almost as soon as it started, leaving behind a very startled looking priestess who has transformed before your eyes from a delightfully busty little thing into an absolute vision of divine, womanly fertility.

"Yeah, it...means something else."

Momo blinks, her hands slowly caressing her baby bulge as wet stains begin to make themselves known on the front of her utterly overburdened robe. "Oh. Um...whoops?"