Finnish Pagan Features

The Finnish Pagan update of 1.3.6 focused on adding new features and flavor to the Finnish Pagans, since they didn't get much with TOG like other non-Norse pagans.

Shamans
Shamans are special characters available to both Finnish and Tengri pagans. While they aren't necessary like the West African Griots (i.e. you won't get maluses if you don't have a Shaman at your court), they are required for a number of decisions and other features, not to mention only Shamans can become Finnish and Tengri pagan court chaplains, so it's advisable you get one as soon as possible.

Shaman Characters
Shamans can be distinguished via a special "Shaman" trait. Unlike the "Griot" trait, however, it is not passed down from father to child, and you may thus have to get new Shamans every now and then.

You can get Shamans using a decision called "Invite Shaman to Court." Unlike the "Invite Griot to Court" decision available to West Africans, you can invite as many as you can afford as often as you want. Additionally, there is a 70% chance the Shaman will be male, and 30% the Shaman will be female; otherwise, gender does not matter when it comes to access to special Shaman-related decisions and mechanics.

Ask Ancestors for Advice
This decision is available to both Finnish and Tengri pagans. It triggers a complicated event chain where you basically ask your Shaman to go to the spirit world and ask your ancestors for advice and foresight on the future on various matters.

There are three general categories you can ask about: your family, your realm, and yourself. Within each of those categories, the code will randomly choose an appropriate event concerning your ancestors’ advice and foresight. Ask about your family, and you might get something about your spouse, or lack thereof if you’re unmarried. Ask about yourself, and you might get something about your health, or your current age. The ancestors might have good news and advice on how to continue the good times, or they might see bad things ahead and give you advice on how to prevent disaster or at least reduce the damage.

Either way, you’ll get a special modifier reflecting on what sort of thing the ancestors told you. The chances of getting good news depends on your learning stat. Lastly, you can only ask your ancestors for advice every four years.

Make Offerings to Haltija
If you are a Finnish pagan, you can ask your Shaman to perform a ceremony to gain the goodwill of the Haltija (or guardian spirits) in your realm. If they show appreciation for your gifts (or at least accept them), then they might become friendlier towards you (though if they reject your dishonestly-made offerings, the opposite could happen). The chances of them appreciating, accepting, or rejecting your offerings depends on your learning skill.

Haltija
The Haltija are a class of beings in Finnish mythology. In the real world, there were many types of Haltija - some were guardian spirits of the family or the family’s property; others were more like animistic, nature spirits; yet others were personal protectors. In-game, every Finnish Pagan province (that is, any province in the demesne of a Finnish Pagan lord) will have a modifier representing all the Haltija that reside there. The Haltija can have a good, neutral, or bad opinion of you and the local populace. If the Haltija have a good opinion, that means slightly higher tax income, reduced revolt risk, and a small cut to building time and cost. If they have a bad opinion, the province will get the opposite, and so on.

The Haltijas’ attitudes will change now and then - sometimes it gets worse, sometimes better. There isn't much you can do about this; the Haltija after all aren't under your command, so there will be good times and bad times. Though you can’t directly control how they feel towards you (not to mention different Haltija in different provinces might have different attitudes towards you), you can try to influence them in several ways. For example, certain traits play a role (a zealous ruler, for instance, might increase the chances of having more cooperative Haltija). A good learning stat can also help. On the other hand, other factors might decrease the chances your relationship will improve and even increase the chances that things get worse.

The Haltija modifiers will disappear if the province in question is conquered by a non-Finnish Pagan, or if the Finnish Pagan lord converts to another religion. They will reappear if re-conquered by a Finnish Pagan or if the ruling lord converts to Finnish Paganism, although the Haltija might have a different attitude towards the rulers.

Karsikko Markings
One minor feature for Finnish Pagans are Karsikko markings. When a Finnish Pagan dies, their adult children will have the opportunity to make Karsikko markings on a tree during the funeral. The Karsikko markings are meant to help the “soul” of the deceased travel to Tuonela, the spirit world. However, there’s a small chance the parent’s soul will be unhappy and cause a bit of trouble for a while before they finally go to Tuonela for good. Unsurprisingly, having a good learning stat will reduce the chances that this will happen.

Hunting Bears
Another major decision the Finnish Pagans have is to hold a great Bear hunt and the subsequent Karhunpeijaiset celebration every ten years. This will set off an event chain where you’ll go off with some hunters (and a peasant girl) to hunt a bear and have a big feast during the Karhunpeijaiset. The event chain is extremely linear in contrast to some of the other ones you might’ve come across in VIET but provides a nice piety and prestige boost.

Tips and Strategies

 * Get a Shaman as soon as you can. While they aren't as essential to Finnish or Tengri pagans as Griots are to West Africans, you will miss out on a lot of opportunities to acess special decisions and flavor if you don't have a Shaman. If you don't have enough resources to afford many, just get one for now until you can get better ones.
 * The learning skill - representing a Finnish Pagan’s spirituality and connection with the spirit world - is important for every Finnish Pagan ruler. Having a good learning stat won’t necessarily give you any new bonuses, but ensuring it’s at a decent number will help you indirectly. A low learning stat, while not a huge detriment, will reduce the chances of being able to get special bonuses from various Finnish Pagan decisions and mechanics. For instance, in the “Ask Ancestors for Advice” decision mentioned in the first “dev diary,” you are more likely to get good news if you have a higher learning stat.
 * If you do have a low learning stat, however, consider not using some of the special decisions until you can raise it a bit in order to reduce the chances you might get a malus. Then again, the chances of getting these maluses aren't that high, and the maluses can be balanced out by other modifiers, traits, and so on.
 * Although you can't choose exactly what sort of advice or insight your ancestors will give you in the "Ask Ancestors for Advice" decision/event chain, you can sort of guide them, since you can choose whether you want to ask about family, your realm, or yourself. Consider what your priorities are at the moment before choosing. For instance, if you're having trouble getting heirs, consider asking about your family - there's a chance you'll get an advice modifier that will increase your fertility, and while the chance isn't that great, it's better than choosing something random.