Divine Intervention III: RagnarReign of Terror

Finished turn. Will do write up, screenshots, and post save later. Joao payed for his treachery and Saladin eeirly didn't attack me, but I was unable to complete several quests due to a crazy offense by Willem

OCC:

On Joao: What? Oh well...

On Saladin: That's a shock...

On Willem: And there I thought his military wasn't going to be adequate...

Ragnar could not believe the news. Joao, revolting? Clearly this was divine muddling, something that Ragnar had just about had enough of.

As he stepped into his War Council, all the previous hour's activity ground to a sudden halt. Everyone stopped yelling, stopped running, stopped commanding, and just turned. The Warrior-King was back - clearly, now, everything would be all right. With a slight nod, the warrior allowed everything to continue, and he took a seat on a throne overseeing the activities.

"Sir!" one noble yelled, turning to face Ragnar, "Portugal has revolted and possesses forces far stronger than our last reports!"

"My Lord!" yelled another. "Two Portuguese Lords are attacking our Western borders!"



Ragnar frowned. "What about Willem?"

"That's even worse, sir. He's allowing Joao's men to use his country to attack ours."

"Are the Dutch joining the fight?"

But before the noble could deny it, a messenger burst into the room, out of breath, and with nary a piece of good news.



Ragnar was indeed troubled. But the bad news kept pouring in.

"My Lord, reports have a massive Arabian army massing at our souther borders. We have fortified the area but we are heavily outnumbered."



Did it never end? Ragnar almost began to speak before....

"My King! A gigantic Dutch army is on the move to assault Liera!"

"SILENCE!" yelled the Viking King, and there was silence. "Do what I say quickly, and waste no time, for we have very little. Send the Plague Lord's Knights to deal with the Lord's forces. With support they should be able to deal with them."

One messenger nodded and began the run to Uppsala Lake.



"Sir..." one last noble started weakly, and Ragnar turned his gaze upon the man with legendary ice.

"Yes?"

"Um..some, ah, land-based whaled have been spotted near one of cities, sir."

"What?"



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Blood...

Joao II ran for his life. He didn't understand. The gods had blessed him so in his defiance. They had ceased his war with the mighty Dutch, they had severed his fealty to the tyrannical Vikings.

And now Ragnar was back. Joao grabbed a musket from above his bed. Quickly, he filled the powder and stuffed the ball in, pulling back the flint.

The door screeched as the Axe cleft it in two. Ragnar roared, and Joao raised the gun, a deafening blast sending a bullet into Ragnar.

Two figures rushed past the wounded Lord, who staggered back.

Blood. DEATH! Plagueee..

The wraiths rushed through Joao, bits of spirit evaporating as Joao dropped to his knees. Ragnar recovered, but Joao had thought ahead. Slamming his hand down on a switch by his bed, the floor gave out, to a ramp which slid Ragnar down and out - out the third story window waiting below.

Ragnar fell - the wind rushed around him, but there was no hesitation. Swinging the axe, he buried it into the side of the castle, and slowly screeched to a halt. Leaping from his halted point to the ground, he huffed and pulled the axe to a standstill, closing his eyes and focusing. The wraiths surged out of the building, and the clouds churned above the castle.

"Ragnar!?" Joao screamed, from a balcony overlooking the Viking King. "Why won't you die!?" and with that, another Musket blast echoed through the air.

But this time, the bullet merely crashed into the ground - the winds were getting strong now. A low growl escaped from Ragnar's lips, but it reverberated through the hills as thunder and lightning crackled above, and the Axe began vibrating.

Taking two steps forward, Ragnar heaved the axe forward, and buried it into the side of the Castle.

"...What?" Joao whispered, but he did not have to wonder long. The very stones beneath him began to quiver.

Ragnar ripped his axe free, stumbled back, and exhaled - and the Castle tore, cracked, and ripped in two. The stones disintegrated, and Joao barely had time to fall to his knees before his Palace imploded, and the last legacy of Portugal was buried underneath hundreds of tons of rock and mortar.

Ragnar shook his head, picked the bullet from his armor, and turned around, trekking back to the war camp

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[Monks picked up - got a 7-move Galleon Spent the whole turn getting attacked on all sides, so the Taoism was not a spread priority]
[Discovered Astronomy - Gifted Maxwell to the Dutch right before they DoW'd me]
[Ship is headed towards Elona's Kingdom now]
[Churchillton waits still ]
[The Soul Takers are leveled up as hell.]
[Raynor the Pink was killed.]
[Lancelot still lives]

((Huh, must have missed the death of Erik the Red somewhere. Oh well. Prophets aren't known for longevity, anyway. By the way, nice job on holding off the horde that the gods threw at you.))

The land-locked leviathans were but the first sign. Whales hurled from their watery abodes practically into a city!

"Eraie is to blame for this," the storm god snarled, though it was only partly true. Though Eraie had indeed contributed much of the ice that was now slowly melting, many of the gods had been abusing their divine power - even he, himself, had bent to the mortal's will, lending him the strength of lightning in order to save Elona's daughter. All of them had upset the balance.

Now, they would all pay the price for their interference. The creature was awakening.

"He is not yet ready to ascend," Eldarion mused. "There must be a way to gain for him more time!" But even as he pondered, he looked on with horror as the sea began to rise. It was slow now - ever so slow, but much of the ice remained unmelted, and the creature had barely begun to stretch against the chains that held it through long torpor. But it would not long be the case.

Once more, the storm god appeared to him in dream, as when first he had made the request that the Viking warlord prove himself. Eldarion was a storm cloud as vast as the sea, but beneath him, the waters churned an unnatural color - a putrid green, almost luminescent despite the darkness of the scene. Rain hissed as it struck the waves, as if the pure water of the sky were screaming in agony from contact with something insidious.

"Ragnar," Eldarion thundered. "You have ever been wise in choosing your allegiance to gods. Through no fault of your own has this danger been wrought upon your world - the creature, the monster sealed far below the seas, is beginning to arise. See, the world is already starting to drown in fear of its coming wrath!"

A vision of the world was visited upon the Viking chief. Everywhere, in every land, the tide marched steadily onward, drowning trees, plains, even northern ice. A look of fear momentarily crossed his craggy countenance.

"What must I do, storm god?"

"As yet, I do not know. Not even the gods are omnipotent." The storm clouds churned in his dream. "It was divine power that chained the beast; now, divine power unmakes its chains, reckless abuse that threatens to loose it anew. For now, I dare not intervene directly... but I make this covenant with you. I will search for a means whereby this monster's seals might not be broken, that it be returned to eternal slumber once more. I will find a way to give you more time. I swear it!"

((Replaced one unimproved coastal tile for every civ with ocean.))

Wow... just... wow.

Amazing.

I shall see what I can do, but you certainly have impressed the God of Entropy...

I will steal this ASAP... there are some presents for you!!

@Eldarion:
Erik's still alive, up in America.

Got it!!

(10 chars)

Ragnar was in the market of his capital. He had slept like a log... which was weird. The prophets predicted that Digit would be re-incarnated, and although the source of whales of the coast of the "other continent" still wasn't claimed... they expected something bad to happen.

But it didn't. And he was happy. Until a whale explodified his guards, and all other witnesses. They exploded in such a brilliant blue blast that his armor rusted almost immediately, but Ragnar was unharmed. Eventually, the mail he wore broke apart, and Ragnar stood there, in just a few cloth rags and undergarments, in front of a whale. The Whale spoke.

"Ragnar, you are the sole person worthy to witness what I am about to do. You have made me happy... this war has spread entropy throughout the land, and this makes me stronger. You have brought whales, and ivory (2 sources of it, in fact!) within your borders. And you have kept Taoism as your religion."

Ragnar shook his head. "Digit... none of these things have been done of my bidding!"

"It is enough that they have been done, regardless of who allowed this to happen. And as it has been done, I will help you. This is what I have already done for you.

Firstly, a God has removed, and destroyed, all the worshippers of the Taoist faith. I fear this may have broken the compact, the sacred rules that even the Gods must follow. But just because they have broken it, doesn't mean that I need to as well.

Since you have been unable to construct Taoist Missionaries, due to an oversight of mine, you would have been gifted 1 Taoist Missionary in all cities with Taoism. However, as that number has been reduced drastically, you now possess 9 new Taoist Missionaries, 3 for each city immune from the powers of that God. However, doing this has it's cost: The weakest defender has been destroyed in all cities.

I have also improved the defences against the Arabian menace, so that you will not be destroyed in one single turn. I have forced the Arabians to attack your defences from across the river, by upheaving giant mountains. However, in doing so, I have accidentally changed the environment in such a way that another plot of grassland can now support pigs, and breed them. But the important thing is this: You can now defend much better.

There is one last thing to say: You MUST spread Taoism. You have lost the Taoist Holy city (and shrine), and the only way to gain them back will be to spread Taoism to 3 other civilisations, as well as forcing a civilisation to convert to Taoism. And you must do this in no more than 100 turns.

To do this, I can do no more. I am storing my power in the power of this quest. You must NOT adopt another religion, nor adopt a free religious empire. Nor can you have a single Viking City without Taoism. If you do this, even by accident, the power that would otherwise be used for your construction, will be the seed of your destruction.

However, I may give a few last tips. If you aren't already in it, Organised Religion is the way to go. If it is at all possible, researching Flight, and air-lifting missionaries into America will get you a civilisation converted very easily. And finally, try and get Arabia into a war. If you do this, I will not personally reward you, but Arabia will be vastly weakened.

@digit:
Eldarion was the Taoist Holy City. I forsee divine conflict over this one

Got it...and Divine Conflict? You have no idea mortal

Save up.

While there's a lovely story well worth waiting for tomorrow by mid-afternoon at the latest, the basic summary is that the Ice God respects piety...even if not to me. In honor of your victory, I have offered a serious tribute to Elona (and you).

...and oh, Joao II survived the rockfall...I know, it was quite the miracle...in any case, as you have displaced him and profited from his lands, you will now see to it that the chosen few still under his command, and Joao II himself will come to no further harm for the rest of time.

OCC: I don't think Joao will move even if you accept open borders btw.

To GODS: PLEASE READ - ONLY GODS!

I still have to give him his small reward for Maxwell. >> Got it.

A ship, good enough to carry three troops, seemingly appears out of no where. "Here you go, a fast ship. Should help you get to my island. Should."

Got it!

Update in several hours.

@Forest - Ah, thank you. Good to know he's still alive.

@other gods:

'Good evening, Ragnar'. Raynor spoke.
'Raynor???? But you are dead! You fell in battle!'

The earth rumbled and Pavlos appeared before Ragnar. 'One perk of being on good terms with Death, Ragnar - those exceptional champions fighting in your name might go on to live a little longer and recover from their deaths.'

'Listen now, Ragnar. In the wars against the Dutch and the Portuguese you have done well. Thanatos has brought a lot of dead before me, and I am pleased for that. I have granted you several extra troops, as well as struck the Dutch with a plague that has killed civilians and soldiers alike and will assure they will not rise to attack you again.

Yet, while you have indeed brought soldiers to my realm, you have once again spared the civilians, since all the cities you have conquered are still standing. I now ask for civilian death rather than military. Reach out across the ocean, and kill the people that are backwards and not important on the stage. You need not have their blood on your hands: Thanatos and Raynor command my troops and will do the job if necessary. Goodbye, Ragnar.'

(TFA: you are free to upgrade the cataphracts, by the way)

@ other gods:

@Paulus:
I razed two cities, one Portuguese and one Dutch. :] But I will attempt to do as you ask!

PaulusIII said:

.

Yet, while you have indeed brought soldiers to my realm, you have once again spared the civilians, since all the cities you have conquered are still standing. I now ask for civilian death rather than military. Reach out across the ocean, and kill the people that are backwards and not important on the stage. You need not have their blood on your hands: Thanatos and Raynor command my troops and will do the job if necessary. Goodbye, Ragnar.

Click to expand...

The sky rumbles, and a cold wind blows....

Fight the Dutch, Persians or the Barbarians across the sea at your peril Ragnar...my powers are weakening, but I WILL defend those who have been loyal to me!

A group of Viking fisherman, still ripe with the stench of today's catch, were brought into Ragnar's court. Between them they carried a bier, upon which lay the body of a beautiful woman, covered from the waist down by a rough cloth. Her naked torso bore the marks of a brutal violence, and her eyes were fixed open with a look of abject horror.

"What is this?!" cried the King to his courtiers. "What body do these common folk bring before me?"

"We found this... creature lying dead on the rocks where we go crabbing" said the elder fisherman, his voice trembling.

As the old man pulled away the cloth, a gasp ran around the court.

Being a proud seafaring people, all had heard the stories... but none of them had ever seen such a thing with their own eyes. For all the fear they felt at such a terrible omen, however, none but Ragnar had the slightest inclination of its true significance.

"They are his children..." the King whispered to himself, a bead of cold sweat running down his back.

@Other Gods (not for Forest):