Fall From Heaven Leader's Tale - Valledia the Even

Nice map. Character limit.

That was quite good Jopa.

Nomia moved swiftly but effortlessly through the jungle. The sounds of insects and birds increased when she passed as if urging her on. She continued southward passed the cowering orcs and southwest through ancient forests of magic.

She smiled as she approached the river and with a great leap she was underwater and halfway across. Nomia emerged in a jet of water and landed on the riverbank. Looking at the large city of Jubilee she burst into laughter.

It was filled with large buildings with odd slopes and impossible colors that bled into the streets and alleys. And the streets! They twisted and turned sometimes ending abruptly. They ran in no particular direction but they were filled with carts and animals and people. "Yes," she thought with tears streaming down her face, "this is the product of madness and genius, the weaving of intellect and folly." Another wave of laughter overcame her.

She strode into Jubilee unafraid, for there was nothing that could harm her here. She stopped and looked at the palace closely. She did not laugh now. Oh, it was still ridiculous and brilliant. They had managed to build it to a staggering height. There were turrets and balconies and staircases that came from gaping holes in the walls only to turn and enter other gaps. There were flags hanging at bizarre angles, flags with bears and flags with fish and more flags with the great clown's image. But it left her cold.

And the music was loud and constant and not quite awful. It seemed so at first, but there was something else between the erratic rhythm and the irregular melody. If you listened carefully you would hear beauty and death. And Nomia guessed that if you listened long enough you would be forever lost.

She entered the strange palace and found the great fool in his secret room. A room full of wonders and terrors. Even Nomia who had lived through ages of marvel, good and evil, was taken aback. She felt a cold chill as the eyes of the lunatic fell on hers.

Perpentach spoke, his voice soft and melodic, "What are you doing in my kingdom, my empire, my... room?"

Nomia smiled and laughed lightly. The jester of death smiled, too, a cold smile. But she spoke forcefully, "I do not fear you, fool, so put that toy smile away and save it for mortals who cower before nature. I am here to give you information and nothing more."

Perpentach's smile faltered, but only a little. "I have no time for your nonsense, I must eat my breakfast cakes and recapture a lost city, and I think my feet are against me." He looked confused for a moment and said, "3 of 4 now, 3 of 4 in 6 years." And he let out a whooping laugh that abruptly stopped. "So be gone you little tramp..."

"Silence!" roared the tiny nymph. A deck of cards fluttered from one of the clown's many pockets. The smile was gone, but there was still a little tic at the side of his purple mouth. "Shut up and listen you twisted idiot," she continued.

"The filthy humans to your north are building new cities and conquering smaller tribes. They know of you and they have plans for you. I rather doubt you would be amused with their arrangements."

"They are weak in body and weaker in spirit, but do not underestimate them. They are tampering with enchantment and charms and they may yet do a little magic. And you are not very much yourself. You must prepare for the coming battle or you will be destroyed." Nomia stopped here and waited for the Great Folly to respond.

He stepped forward and asked, "Why do you wish for my victory and not theirs?" He smiled and his top hat fell off.

Nomia moved swiftly to the window then turned to Perpentach, "You pompous ass. I do not care who wins between your pathetic tribes. But you are hopelessly outclassed now and I crave some challenge in this venture. Do not disappoint me, clown."

And with that she was out the window and quickly out of the insane city. She could hear his mad laughter as she entered the forest and she smiled to herself.

eewolf said:

"I have no time for your nonsense, I must eat my breakfast cakes and recapture a lost city, and I think my feet are against me."

He smiled and his top hat fell off.

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*sacrifices a goat in eewolf's name*

Great map and great eating of breakfast cakes.

Perpy having OO is not good news. If he creates Saverous and comes against us we might be in trouble. I was originally hoping we would be coastal and could use OO ourselves. Fellowship (we could go well with ancient forests) or Esus would be good I think.

We wouldn't be able to found the FoL, as we knnow the elves are in the game.

I still want Emp or Esus, maybe even both.

Yeah, Emp or Esus would be fine, or maybe even AV if we want to be really evil
Where is Evernoob?

Yeah forgot we saw the elves on the map.

Evernoob has another 24 or so to play.

So what'll it be, Emp, Esus or AV?

I'm leaning toward Esus myself. Valledia seems like a very Esus type of person. Plus we'd get a 2nd archmage hero. Failing that AV could work for her too. AV would be the fastest one to get at this point though.

Esus seems the better fit, I'd be happy with that. I can't see the Amurite as AV followers.

Lurker:

Awesome, eewolf.

So if you guys manage to get Perp to capitulate at any time in the future, does the jester of death become the fool in Valledia's court?

I like esus or emp... i have never played Emp before, so that would be my pick, but esus is lots of fun too.

Ozbenno said:

Esus seems the better fit, I'd be happy with that. I can't see the Amurite as AV followers.

Click to expand...

Yeah, I agree, it is better fit. Empyrean probably also fits better than AV. But why can't you see Amurites as AV followers? Pursuing power and arcane knowledge at all costs... Happily signing demonic pacts for more power and knowledge... Not even realizing where it leads them.

IMO AV would fit them better than Order.

I'll play and post tonight.

"Power is a curious thing. The more one has it, the more one needs to fight in order to keep it. Accumulation of power is often counterproductive, as one ends up using it all just trying to maintain it. Such is the paradox of centralized power.

The solution lies in Deception. Make your enemy believe that he has power while at the same time concealing your own, and he will leave you alone."



What a waste of good talent, Valledia thought. Skilled Mages were rare enough as it is without them 'disappearing'. But this time Mage Markus had crossed the line by openly criticizing her policies and organizing the nobles against her. She really hated assassinating Mages of his ability. Unfortunately only the most powerful Mages dared stand up to her, making it a lose-lose situation. There had to be a better way.

A few years later...

"I formally relinquish governance of all Amurite cities, to be ruled as City Stated by the noble houses. Each noble house shall have full authority over the commerce and defense of each City State. The defense of each City State is the responsibility of each ruling house, therefore each noble house shall be given full discretion as to the recruitment and maintenance of their own armies. However, in the interest of restoring our former glory, I retain full authority over the Mage Guild so that arcane research can continue without outside interference."

The Senators were ecstatic, as she knew they would be. Let the fools celebrate she thought. Let them have their wealth. Let them compete against one another with their insignificant armies of mundanes. The Mages answered only to her.

Summary:

I felt that we should cut off Perpentach's expansion so I expanded our territory southward, acquiring 3 cities in total with a 4th (Kalocly) on the way. I'd suggest we capture the city of Kalocly before Perpentach does. Remus and a couple of Warriors can reach it in a couple of turns. After that we can concentrate our defense at Hyol. Perpentach demanded Crafting as tribute and I gave it to him. I figured it was better to play nice for now since he's got Acrobats and Swordsmen.



For research I switched off from Elementalism toward Deception. We are well on our way to CoE

Nice work. I'll grab it next. The roster has all been out of kilter somewhat, so here's the latest one. Of course, evertyone feel free to chime in at anytime with any sideline stories.

Roster

Ozbenno - UP
Immaculate - On Deck
rex Rgis of Tyr
Imhotep
stuge
The Jopa
EverNoob

I am hollow. I'm not just talking about my fleshless bones. My mind is hollow. It's as if it was gutted leaving only traces of disconnected memories.

I can see a farmhouse in the setting sun. Was that the place of my birth? Or was it my death? It could just be some farm I saw in between. The not knowing is dreadful.

I am not alone though I don't think I've ever know this depth of loneliness. There are others like me, skeletons, skinned and gutted and foul. There are Orc soldiers and goblins, too. The goblins are completely insane. They scream and howl day and night, though I cannot hear it. I can sense it, just like I cannot see but I can sense my surroundings.

Lonely. Yes, I can't speak and nobody speaks to skeletons. I am left here with the shreds of my past life and the horrors of my present... form.

The Orcs have built cities, collections of huts and filth. They train soldiers and collect the detritus of Erebus like me. There is a constant buzzing in my mind. The buzzing is not like my "sense" hearing. It is further away and maybe not of this world. And it is horrible because it commands me. it owns me.

I raise my hands to where my ears used to be as the sound increases. I can feel it, too, like lightning inside and all around me. The other skeletons and the goblins are feeling it, too. The shreds of my mind are leaving now and there is only a feeling of fear and anger. The anger grows and I pick up my sword. There is nothing but white light and rage.

The human soldiers attack and I am killing. My sword enters one and is retrieved only to slice into another. I cannot stop, I am owned. I see the axe rise against me and cannot block it. It severs my spine and I am falling. I am losing my senses but the buzzing continues. Please, let it stop. Please, I beg, no more...

Valledia awoke with a cry on her lips drenched in sweat. She quickly dressed and left the palace walking quickly away from the city center. These dreams were increasing in frequency. And were they dreams? They seemed more like connections. Connections to beasts and ideas she would really not like to ponder.

Were the skeletons and goblins puppets on a string? And were they leftover from previous lives and did they have memories of that, however fleeting? It was terrifying to contemplate. And if they were puppets, who were the puppet masters?

Valledia sometimes thought that she was nothing more than a pawn in some unknown game. It was hard to shake the idea especially after one of her nightmares.

She wandered through the empty streets of Cevedes. She thought of Perpentach, the gibbering fool to the south. But she knew it was not wise to think of him as a fool. He was very dangerous. His insanity was real, but he was clever and brilliant like a savant.

And was he just another puppet? If so, what horror was driving him? And the Amurite empire was very close to the Balseraphs now that many barbarian cities had been cleared or taken to the south. There would be increased tensions.

She looked at the clear night sky and spoke, "If I am but your servant, then may I attend you well."

Standing on her mountain perch, Nomia watched as Vallendia wandered her city streets. "Yes, my dear, you have a slight inkling of what is possible in Erebus. And you now suspect that there is more than just Erebus." She stretched in the early light of dawn and smiled, "You will learn more even as you cry out for respite."

The following fragment, obviously taken from a larger tome was found in ruins in Southern Amuritia. Scholars have argued about the vercity of the information contained as accounts from this time are sketchy at best but, to this date, no other account of the founding of the Council of Esus has been found.

OK, best laid plans and all that.

Can't believe Pepy popped a prophet the turn after founding Esus. In an case, I researched to end of Philosophy. We have a few options open to us. Runes of Kilmorph, Order, AV or Empyrean. I can see good and bad for all. Not sure what is the best fit. RoK is the quickest, as we can research it straight away.

We popped a GS, he can buld alteration, so we can start building nodes. He is sitting around unemployed at the mo.

We also took the barb city of Kalochy and I started up Catacomb Libralis in Udenaart.

Roster

Ozbenno
Immaculate - UP
rex Rgis of Tyr - On Deck
Imhotep
stuge
The Jopa
EverNoob