Note: Players will be receiving detailed stats by e-mail, probably monday.
Next orders expected for next Saturday.
UPDATE ELEVEN
Wars!
In the Desert of a Hundred Tombs,
Mictlan priests looking for sacrifical victims serendipitously found a criminal organisation. They rounded them and turned them into slaves, greatly increasing order in the province.
In Machaka, wizards found magic gems in the crater of a volcano and used them to produce extra mana.
A series of bad omens has been seen by the priests of the Mantis. They decided to perform many rituals, but the bad omens remained. Harvests provided less than usual, and trade faltered a bit. Still, the priests sensed something even worse was going to happen, but they didn't know what.
Pythium:
A fort has been completed in Colchis.
Arcoscephalese have trained a militia to defend their land.
The Sorceress in Amazonia has given her old lore books to Pythian wiards, hoping it would help further their magic research.
Abysia:
In Nubia, many independentist bandits have been arrested by Abysian authorities.
Witches of Avallon in Man have unearthed an old magic ring which they believe will help
Marignon wizards in their spell casting.
In T'ien Ch'i, the immigrants who fled Pangaea are put to work, the
Arshnoc government sponsorizes the building of housings, roads and aqueducts to accomodate the population growth. Integration of immigrants is going better.
In Seul, a genius prospector has found new lodes, boosting the income of the province for a short while.
In Arshnoc proper, the brothers Kathnesjac and Kyzarc come back to their homeland, accompanied by the sorceress Aara. When they arrive in the city and see the dead body of their brother, a miracle happens.
As the brothers examine Stheran's body, Kathnesjac sees the mortal wound seal itself and Arshnoc pretender starts breathing anew: Stheran has been called back to life.
In Baikal, inhabitants say his resurrection is the proof Stheran is destined to be the new Pantocrator, and more and more people worship him as a god.
Shinuyaman navy on the coasts of Bandar Log moved northwards to
Lanka where it started embarking troops. However, a large fleet of Lanka triremes arrived from the west, outnumbering
Shinuyama lone navy.
A fully loaded navy had little hope of outrunning the incoming fleet, so Shinuyamans decided to uload and keep their troops in Lanka. While they did that, the incoming (Lanka) fleet deployed and struck.
Shinuyama could save their soldiers but its small fleet was sunk as eight corsair navies under the flag of Lanka moved to take control of the waters around the island. Lanka is now totally cut off from the rest of Shinuyama empire, and a vast fleet of corsairs sails around it. They can't create a total blocus of the island, but they tale a toll on any ship they catch, and generally hinder commerce in Lanka. Pearl fishing in Lanka is therefore impossible for the moment.
Lanka hadn't sent all of its navy to Lanka however. Two other fleets moved northwards and started raiding the coasts of T'ien Ch'i and
Arshnoc. These pirates met Arshnoc's fleet there and sunk it. They then proceeded on raiding the coasts and plundering.
Shinuyama attacked
Lanka provinces of Patala and Gath.
In Patala, Shinuyama armies easily got rid of the local defenders.
In Gath however, they were first met by a terrible heatwave. This wasn't really an issue, but the army which came from Ashdod was a big one: small monkeys, big apes and elephants.
Shinuyama troops hardly slowed Lanka armies as they moved east and then south to free the newly invaded Patala:
Shinuyama armies on the south continent have been totally destroyed, except for the wizardss who managed to flee into Bandar Log.
Ermor:
The Ermor governor looked at the ship with an intrigued grimace. He had allowed the single vessel into the harbor despite it's high weight. It could be stuffed with soldiers for what he knew, for the Ermor soldiers were surrounding the dock. They, like he, watched as the first person left the ship, clearly a messenger. After him, the ship's crew walked down the planks in pairs, each pair holding between them a chest. The governor moved in closer to inspect the load.
The messenger met him, one of the chests between them. The governor understood. Diplomacy first, business later. As always.
The messenger threw the lid off the chest with a forceful movement. The gold inside almost blinded the governor. The messenger spoke:
"One hundred chests of gold, governor. They are all yours. We can't have your proud legions fighting for no wage at all, when we have common enemies."
The face of the governor cracked into a grin. He took a handful of the coins and held them in the air so that all the soldiers around him could see it, and dropped them back into the chest one by one. Loud cheers were heard from all sides. The governor thanked the messenger in overflow. The messenger nodded in approval,
"Thank not me, thank my Master. He hopes that this can prove a start to a friendship despite our earlier... Disagreements. Just, you know, keep shut about who sent you this."
The governor nodded, understanding, and watched as the trireme glided back into the dark water towards its home on a far away coast...
Ulm:
Dacians have witnessed the birth of a two-headed cow. They said this was a good omen, and sure enough, people seemed to be luckier around the animal. It seems to have brought good fortune in the region.
However, in Bavaria, Ermor legionaires invaded. Ulm knights fought a little but they soon turned back and fled as the legionaires outnumbered them. No undead, priest or wizard was seen.
Unrest increased in
Jotunheim territories of Polgard and Agartha. Some evidence in Agartha indicates that Ulm spies might be the cause of the problem. Jotunheim authorities are publicly asking their neighbour to explain their behaviour and stop their destabilization attempts immediately.
Jotunheim troops marched from Ural into Bogarus, where they were met by recently levied Shinuyama armies.
Bogarus inhabitants had decided to raise some militia in case the giants would become aggressive. This proved to be a wise, but maybe unsufficient, decision.
Much to Magni's anger, the giant mercenaries who accompanied him turned against him, joining Shinuyama troops and weakening his own army:
Eventually, Shinuyama troops retreated northwards where they expected reinforcements to land.
This led to a second battle, as forces from Shinuyama regrouped with reinforcements coming from far-away Eriu while the giants received bad news of Ural:
The strength and magic weapons of the giants proved too much for Shinuyama samurais however. They were entangled when they wanted to strike, and even though the giants had many losses, Shinuyama infantry wouldn't stand against them and had to retreat.
As a result, Jotunheim controls Bogarus, but their giant infantry is severely reduced, having lost its mercenaries and half of the standing army infantry.
The remains of Shinuyama army retreated into Manchuria.
Meanwhile, Arshnoc armies invaded Ural to reclaim the territory. Their wizards scouted the province and realised the main army had left north-east to strike Shinuyama, and there was no way Arshnoc army could intercept them. There was, however, an army in Ural. Mostly giant militia but also some wolf riders.
Arshnoc cavalry tried to harass the enemy scouts but the wolf riders were too stealthy and too many and they managed to ambush Arshnoc cavalry as the cavalry wasn't accompanied by a wizard who could have warned them of the ambush. Arshoc horsemen had to retreat after suffering heavy casualties.
Eventually, the armies met, the giants intent on blocking Arshnoc progression northwards.
Wolf-rdiers fought wolves, bears and lions, while giant militia attacked Arshnoc infantry, supported by giants hurling boulders. Meanwhile, Arshnoc archers shot arrow after arrow at the giants.
The boulders were deadly, but few. Where the wolf-riders could support the giants, those managed to hold the line, but on their left wing, giants were swarmed by men, and the charge of the remaining horsemen further depleted Jotunheim's wing.
Most wolf riders got killed, and when the boulder hurlers had no rocks left to throw, Jotunheim armies fled.
Overall, Ural was reclaimed with minimal losses.
Marignon army boarded a big fleet and set sail southwards. As they neared
Mictlan shores, Marignon triremes met big Mictlan quinquiremes. Although frailer, Marignon ships were twice as numerous as Mictlan, and they attacked.
Mictlanese didn't manage to ram any of the triremes before the crews started boarding. The battle was fierce, but Mictlan ships were taken. Marignon had lost many sailors and couldn't use Mictlan ships, so they sunk them anf moved on, landing on Mictlan shores a big army:
Infantry, knights and mages landed and marched towards Mictlan city. Mictlanese authorities were caught totally unaware, and Marignon army had enough time to land and organise itself before marching on.
However, Marignon hadn't attacked just any province, but Mictlan proper, with its many wizards who had been busy conjuring all kinds of creatures to help them, and outfitting them with arms and weapons most Marignon soldiers caould hardly dream of.
The armies met in a plain at two days march of the gates of Mictlan capital in a huge clash of steel, obsidian and magic.
The Grand Inquisitor messed, his voice rising in volume, making the nearby trees and plants rustle and shake, flames burning divinely in his eyes as he lifted his hands to the skies.
A giant pillar of flames struck down from the skies in the middle of Mictlan armies, burning many of the men caught within it to cinders instantly, and making it obviously clear to the rest of them who had been the puppeteer behind the attack on the temple of the Obsidian Mantis earlier. Panic and awe flickered through the minds of the Mictlan soldiers as they spread to avoid the divine flames and the terrible heat from the pillar.
The battle was quite short and one-sided. Mictlan slaves and soldiers, backed by priests and toads, were killed after inflicting minimal damage to Marignon armies.
The inquisitors rejoiced. In two days, they would enter Mictlan victorious after their victory over Mictlan army.
Two days later, in front of the gates of Mictlan, they were not so happy. They hadn't beaten Mictlan's army, but a small vanguard, led by old priests and wizards in disgrace.
Now, they faced the true might of Mictlan, and it was anothr sight. Not quickly levied militia and slaves, but elite jaguar warriors. Not a few jaguar toads, but tons of the monsters. Not a few wizard priests, but many, many priests. Maybe three or four times the numbers Marignon had brought.
And that was not all. In the middle of the army were four fearsome big blue devils
Marignon wizards and crossbowmen were decimated by cold, fire bolts and hellish flames called forth by Mictlanese wizards before their troops clashed. Imps met Marignon infantry, falling upon them from the sky as priests sliced the throats of slaves in order to summon the small devils.
Imps surrounded the sacred Marignon cavalry and infantry while jaguar warriors closed in, but the Great Inquisitor imprisoned some of them in shackles of fire. Still, Marignon was vastly outnumbered. Even though they had a reserve of cavalry, the jaguar toads hadn't engaged combat yet on the other side.
Marignon reserve cavalry charged to help their comrades but it was too late. Marignon shock troops were burnt by hellish flames which didn't scorch the imps, and jaguar toads started spitting poison while two flying scorpion men fell upon the front tanks of crossbowmen. Imps also flew up to the crossbowmen and wizards.
The great Inquisitor, seeing imps striking at his mages, his last knights cut to pieces by jaguar warriors, fled, ordering that all who could try to save their lives.
After the battle, Mictlan armies decided to pursue the invaders. They caught many, but the Great Inquisitor and a few wizard priests, using horses to escape Mictlan wrath, managed to reach their fleet and board the ships. Most of the few other survivors were captured and enslaved.
Marignon's invasion of Mictlan proved to be a disaster.
New map:
