My friend and I founded a city but don’t know who should rule it and give his name to it. So we stood on opposite hills and waited for the gods to give us a sign. And my friend saw 6 vultures first, and then I saw 12 vultures. My friend says he should rule, because he saw them first, but I say I should, because I saw more birds.
What is more important: the time, or the number of birds?
The gods are trying to tell you that you should found your own cities; each on your respective hills. The people of your cities will be rivals and occasionally wage war on one another. Have fun.
The Gods would like for you to get honest. Your intention is not to rule but to pillage the corpse of the Kingdom. Their recommendation is that you shoudl let you friend think he is winning, as he’ll run through willy nilly, grab about a third of the available loot, and take off for foreign lands. This leaves you with time to thoughtfully and systematically gather the remaining two thirds of the available good s and chattels.
Were they circling overhead, or roosting and doing their mighty impressive wing display in the morning? Did y’all watch the vultures and see what their habits were? Where they landed and what they did…
Not numbers, but action and observation of what any signifying symbol does.