Tarquelne
Follower of Tytalus
- Joined
- Dec 8, 2001
- Messages
- 3,718
Fiction: In a Bright Land - link to Lore forum.
Gaining Population
The greatest difference between the Scions and the other civs is how the Scions use population, and how they gain it.
As a Fallow civilization the Scions don't need to allocate any of a city's population to gathering food. This means that, given the same population as another civ, Scion cities are far more productive. However, as a Fallow civilization the Scions cannot gain population via food and normal growth. Instead they must lure Awakened from the Bottomless Tomb, create Reborn, or capture cities.
Awakened:
Citizens of long-departed Patria, the Age of Magic's greatest empire, are the the core population of the Scions of Patria. They have been given the Gift, but they still must be brought out of the Bottomless Tomb. Awakened may be "built" in the capital. Structures much like bridges are extended into the Tomb and used to find and ferry the honored dead back into the world. But they are very expensive and inevitably temporary. After a short time they become animate and unalive, like everything in the Tomb, and may no longer be used. Awakened gained this way are expensive. But they honored dead are hard to predict - you'll often be forced to go in after them.
The easiest way for the Scions to get population is for an Awakened just walk out of the capital's Bottomless Tomb of it's own free will. But while the Tomb is bottomless an endless army of Awakened won't be coming: They have their own alien amusements there. The longer they stay the less willing they are to leave.
The frequency with which Awakened emerge is displayed near the mana bar and can be increased by the player's actions. Building Shrines to Kylorin, Imperial Cenotaphs or Temples of the Gift, Halls of the Covenant, or the Flesh Studio all attract Awakened. Most luxuries will help lure Awakened. Of special note is the "Patrian Artifacts" resource. Only the Scions player can see these resources, and unlike the other luxuries each resource owned increases the odds. The larger, more bustling the Capital the more will Awakened are to emerge. And when society is explicitly run for the benefit of the Awakened, "Aristocracy", Awakened are more likely to come forth.
Reborn:
Reborn are formerly living inhabitants of Erebus granted the Gift and transformed into undead Scions. There are four ways to gain Reborn. First, Reborn can be created from combat with a priest of the Gift - A Legate, a Doomsayer, or a Doomgiver. The enemy unit is persuaded that unlife among the Scions is preferable to their present meager existence. Second, Reborn can be "built" in a city containing a Cathedral of Rebirth. Third, Pelemoc Goldtongue may persaude the citizens of other civilzations to join Patria Reborn. Fourth, once the Scions have Sorcery and Priesthood a razed city will yield a few Reborn.
Finally, the Dark Council generates three Reborn the turn it is established.
Capturing cities:
Of course anyone can do this. All you need is a bunch of guys with swords. However, the lifestyles of other civs isn't very compatible with the unlifestyle of the Scions. When a city changes hands to or from the Scions most of the population is lost. This reduction isn't as great if the Scions are using the "God King" civic.
Details on Awakened Spawning:
The formula determining the odds an Awakened appear each turn isn't complicated, but it is rather long.
The base chance for a Standard-sized world is:
Quick: ~9%
Normal: ~6%
Epic: ~3.5%
Marathon: ~3%
World Size adjustment:
"Population limit" / 40
That limit is 20 for a Duel sized world and goes up to 70 for a Huge world.
The world size also sets a cap on Awakened generation: It ranges from 20 for a Duel world to 70 for a Huge one.
Additive factors:
Capital population / 4
Total buildings:
Gift Temples or Cenotaphs * 1
Halls of the Covenant * 2
Shrines to Kylorin / 2
Resources:
The number of Patrian Artifacts available * 0.75
Then +1 each for having any:
Silk, Gold, Gems, Ivory, Dye, Cotton.
Multipliers:
Civic: Aristocracy? Then * 1.4
Game speed - the numbers are linked to game-speed production adjustments. Divide by...
Quick: 0.5
Normal: 0.75
Epic: 1.125
Marathon: 1.5
Game turn. Every turn it's a little harder by...
Quick: 0.5%
Normal: 0.25%
Epic: 0.165%
Marathon: 0.125%
Ai mod:
The AI gets a 20% bonus.
Difficulty:
At Settler there's a 50% bonus. That scales down to a 30% penalty at Deity. These figures are reversed for the AI - if YOU are at Deity an AI Scion will get a 50% bonus.
The Haunted Lands
[size=+1]The Haunted Lands[/size]
It is the nature of the world that everything is itself. This may seem a truism, but it does not hold in the Haunted Lands. The Haunted Lands join everything together, in the Haunted Lands things *blur*. Notably the line between death and life. There life, of a sort, is found in death and death, of a sort, is found in life.
Eating anything grown within the Haunted Lands is very difficult. The grain may scream when harvested and make bread that crumbles into something like bone meal when baked. Its beer could taste and smell of nightmares. Cattle tend to be stillborn, which makes it all the more disturbing as the herds continue to grow.
Nevertheless there is much wealth to be found in the Haunted Lands for the brave of heart and strong of stomach. Examples: A tree with branches that when aged and dried taste of nectar and honey, after being killed and cooked, of course. A stream lined with trainable, watchful stones. A pit full of knowledgeable darkness.
Use Haunted Lands to defend Patria Reborn or spoil the territories of your enemies. The Haunted Lands are not well suited to the living. The eldritch powers of the Haunted Lands often frighten, attack, or drive the living to various forms of insanity.
The Undead have a natural affinity to the Haunted Lands. Their senses are sharpened, their arms strong. The Haunted Lands are also a source of many wonders... often grotesque or terrible. The useful ones can be kept or traded so others may appreciate the Gift. The useless ones - and there are many - can be a burden to any nearby living land. The Haunted Lands will foster Unhealth in nearby cities.
Perhaps most disturbing, at least to those who haven't accepted the Emperor's Gift, is that those bearing wounds in the Haunted Lands do not always heal true. The substance of the Haunted Lands, or the lack thereof, enters their flesh. They become undead. Some carry on afterward, cleaving to their old gods and loyalties. Some go strange, eventually raising their hand - or whatever's left - against all others.
Ghostwalkers can undergo a different transformation with the Haunted Lands. They share out part of their own substance and humanity to the surrounding terrain, drinking from even more of the territory's inhuman nature. They become Haunts. Insubstantial, but hardly less terrible for that. Whip-fast, hard to see until it's right on top of you, a Haunt's airy frame can't take your head off, but this is hardly a comfort when it roars through your army and sinks it's claws into your skull.
[size=+1]Mending Nature[/size]
Three Scion units create Haunted Lands.
Ghostwalkers - With "Necromancy" a Ghostwalker may spend six turns creating a Haunted Lands tile.
Reaching Creepers - Young, Mature or Blooming Creepers may, after surviving a combat and fed on living blood, create a Haunted Lands tile.
Redactors - As soon as they're available Redactors can create Haunted Lands. They transform not only their own tile, but those around them as well. The life within a forest or jungle may hold out for a time, but will succumb eventually. Redactors may give the Gift to any living units you possess, except for the Red Lady. However, the Scion's cavalry mounts may be made Undead. Such mounts are terrible to face in battle.
Finally, the mere existence of Ghostwalkers, Haunts, Redactors and the Black Lady allow Haunted Lands to spontaneously wrest themselves from non-existence. The more life, the more likely the transformation: Wooded areas are the most likely to change, Deserts the least. Haunts exert more influence than Ghostwalkers, and Redactors more than Haunts. The Black Lady doubles the odds of Haunted Lands appearing in this manner.
The Dark Council
[size=+1]The High Councilors[/size]
Patria was blessed with many men and women of enormous accomplishment. Patria Rebon shares in that blessing and the Age of Magic's greatest Princes and Poets, Warriors and Merchants, daily walk its streets. The Emperor has appointed four such persons special roles in the Age of Rebirth. Not just undead but unconquerable, if destroyed they always pay heed to the Emperor's call and re-emerge from the great Tomb. Each has his or her special role, and together they lead the Scions Dark Council.
Alcinus - The Mad Thaumaturge: Emerges from the Tomb with Knowledge of the Ether. He founds the essential Thaumaturge's Keep in any city outside the capital (the Apparat refuses to allow it near the Palace) and plays an important part in the Empire's Rituals. Subject to periodic bouts of violent madness, the great mage occasionally turns against his own people. At that point there is nothing that may be done but running him down. A new death returns him to the Emperor. Though even that's not certain. Should he go rogue and join a rival civilization the Scions specially trained wizard-hunters - the Emperor's Daggers - will seek him out.
Themoch, the Silent Watcher - Unseen but far from sightless, as patient as the grave, at "Tracking" Themoch rides forth, the perfect sentry and spy.
Pelemoc Goldtongue - He appears most often as a well-off merchant, but will appear in other guises if they serve his need. Pelemoc is no mage, but he bends minds and scatters armies with his mastery of money, with his silver-tongue.
Melante, the Artful Governor - Head of the Dark Council, Melante is knows as much of the ways of men as Pelemoc, and is just as deft with words. But where he persuades, she rules. Any city with Melante as it's governor will be markedly more productive.
[size=+1]The Dark Council[/size]
Once all four leading Councilors are together in a city outside the capital Melante may found the Dark Council, casting the Scions of Patria World Spell. The Dark Council world-wonder is created. The Dark Council grants three Reborn, and it's ongoing activities foster both trade in Scions cities and discontent among their enemies.
More on the Thaumaturge's Keep
You always get the main Keep building, and it's always the same.
Random Building 1: Always a mana building. They'll have slightly different stats. It'll be Force, Entropy, Shadow, Chaos, Body, Mind, Enchantment, Metamagic, or one of the elements.
Random Building 2: As above, but 3 more possibilities: Alcinus' Trove (2 PA resources) or the Schola Furo (extra xps for Adepts).
Random Building 3: 50% nothing, 25% Alchemist's tower, 25% Military Abattoir.
Random Building 4: 50% nothing, 25% Noxious Smell, 25% Corrosive Spills
Leaders, Units, Buildings, Heroes:
Leaders
Units
Buildings
Heroes
[size=+1]Buildings:[/size]
Buildings the Scions don't build:
Grove
Tower of Complacency
Tower of Necromancy: Only effects Bone Horde, Skeletons, and Diseased Corpses.
Scions-only buildings:
Cathedral of Rebirth
The Cathedral of Rebirth celebrates the glory of both the Emperor and the people. The Cathedrals tie the empire together with self-veneration. It is in the Cathedrals that the chosen of the new age's people are ceremoniously made into true Scions of Patria.
Requires Religious Law and four Halls of the Covenant. Allows creation of Reborn in city. -20% war weariness. +5 culture, +1 TR, +10% defense, +3 happiness with Life mana, +2 xp for Disciple units built in city. Units built in city get Homeland promotion.
Dark Council
The Parliament of Merchants and Citizens, aka “The Dark Council,” is primarily an instrument for maintaining the wealth and power of Patria Reborn's merchant princes. An advisory council and financial clearing house, it's also a clearing house for information about powerful individuals, both Scions and those from outside the Empire. The Imperial Cult makes good use of this information.
+2 Culture, +10% gold, 1 free Merchant. +1 trade route per city, +10% to trade routes. -10% Scions war weariness. +15% to enemy war weariness.
Emperor's Mark - Free in all cities founded by the Risen Emperor. +2 culture
Exchange
An Exchange allows the Scions of Patria to sell their land's unused foodstuffs to the world.
Allows the Scions to sell off the unused foodstuffs of their territory. Requires Mercantilism and 4 Markets. +2 gold, +1 trade route in every city, +30% to trade routes in this city.
Flesh Studio
At the capital's Flesh Studio adepts mold flesh like clay, or work it like metal, or weave it like silk. Most citizens apply to the Flesh Studio for an improved appearance, but soldiers quickly and easily become terrifying. Vanity and health combine to make the Flesh Studio a powerful lure for the Awakened.
Each Body Mana increases the chance an Awakened will appear. Requires Body Mana and Alteration. May only be built in the capital. +2 Happiness, +50% heal rate, +10% military production, +4 Culture.
Hall of the Covenant
Various entertainments celebrating the Emperor and the Gift, including plays, are performed here. Where the Temple of the Gift is often the main link to the capital, a Hall of the Covenant is often the center of a city's secular life.
Awakened are part of the Covenant. A Hall increases the likelihood that an Awakened will emerge from the Bottomless Tomb.
Replaces Theatre. Somewhat more expensive, allows for 2 Bards rather than 1. Increases Awakened spawn rate. Required for Martyrs of Patria.
Imperial Cenotaph
Containing a relic of the Sleeping Emperor, all Patrians can feel the movements of his thought here. It is said no true Patrian may lie or think a disloyal thought near the Cenotaph.
The Awakened honor the Sleeping Emperor. A Cenotaph increases the likelihood that an Awakened will leave the Bottomless Tomb.
Requires Code of Laws. Increases Awakened spawn rate. +2 culture, +10% culture, -10% maintenance, -15 crime.
Kylorin Cult
A center for the worship of Kylorin as the supreme Archmage and savior of human kind. Frowned on by the Emperor's Cult because it shifts veneration away from the Risen Emperor. Frowned on by the Church of the Gift for undermining the Doomsayer's authority. Frowned on by the local authorities because mage-wannabees tend toward spontaneously bursting into unquenchable flame.
Replaces Pagan Temple. +5 Crime, happiness from Reagents rather than Incense.
Necropolis
All citizens of Patria Reborn possess the Gift of Life-in-Death, but each city has populations of living people as well. These immigrants labor for the good of the Scions. The most worthy never truly die, but will instead receive the flesh imperishable.
With Sorcery the Scions have regained sufficient knowledge to give the Gift to others. And not just a chosen few, but on a massive scale. All long-term citizens will now gradually join the ranks of the undead. Whether they want to or not. Energy from all living things in the region is funneled into the city's Mages Guilds and workshops and put to good use.
-10 crime, -25% GP rate, No unhealth from Pop, +10 Health, +3 culture, +3 hammers per Death Mana (won't show up in description, the hammers do show up in the que), +3 xps for Adept units. Cancels out the happiness from wine.
Patrian Bazaar
Collected here are the various fantastic artifacts produced or found on Patrian digs... or in the haunted lands.
Replaces Moneychanger. +15% gold, +1 TR, +100% foreign TR. +3 Culture.
Shrine to Kylorin
Shrine honoring the great god-crossed and god-slaying hero of Patria.
Replaces Obelisk, slightly cheaper. +3 Culture.
Spirit Mill
While they take no food or drink the Scions do have one vice of consumption. Those with the Gift may enjoy a pseudo-substance wrung from the life-essences found in certain tissues, then distilled and stored in well-cooled jars.
Replaces Brewery, more expensive. +1 happiness from Cow, Pig, Sheep, Deer.
Temple of the Gift
The Gift is the gift of unlife that Scions receive from their Emperor. The Scions do not worship death. Rather the Temples host a fiercely nationalistic faith worshiping the Emperor and the proud history of Patria. The Legates tell and re-tell the story of their history: Glory, then betrayal by the gods and their thuggish angels. The long cold, the long fitful sleep... and now the Gift and rebirth.
A Temple of the Gift increases the likelihood that an Awakened will leave the Bottomless Tomb.
Requires Code of Laws. +2 culture, +20 % culture. 5% defense. +1 happiness from Incense, Silk. Required for all the Scion religious units. May only be built by the Risen Emperor.
Vacant Mausoleum
"The Emperor's will is manifest, but let him Rise!"
"Unmake the wards, crack the seals and let him Rise!"
"His people beseech, faithful Alexi calls, and Erebus awaits!"
"Let the Sleeping Emperor rise!"
Requires Arcane Lore. Can only be built by Alexi, and only in the Scion's capital. +5 culture, -20% war weariness in all cities, +1 population in all cities. Required for the Risen Emperor.
[size=+1]Units:[/size]
Units the Scions don't build:
Cannon
Settler (they still have the initial settler)
Magic:
Scions units cannot cast Haste, Regeneration or Flesh Golem. However, the Scions have access to Draw Strength, Death Geas and Grand Ward.
Scions-only units:
Abomination
"What you see is the essence of divinity unmasked. We will make use of the gods power, but do not be fooled by it for an instant." - Redactor Caestate
Replaces Immortal. Lacks the Immortal ability, but starts with Fear, Cannibalize, Implacable and Magic Immune.
Awakened
Former inhabitants of the Bottomless Tomb, the Awakened issue forth at their own pleasure.
Use to found new cities, or add to an existing city's population.
The Gift is eternal as the Emperor's glory, but even the pull of his call when the Tomb opened cannot reverberate forever in the Tomb's infinite darkness. The passing of each day means that more of the Awakened dead of Patria fall back into slumber. However, increased industry and devotion in Patria Reborn can coax the honored dead from their rest. As can the availability of favored luxuries in the cities. Furthermore God King, a populous capital, and every Shrine to Kylorin, Temple of the Gift, Imperial Cenotaph, Hall of the Covenant, or source of Patrian artifacts serves to strengthen the Emperor's Will and call more of our people back to the world.
Alternatively a series of bridges into the Tomb may be used to retrive some of the Awakened. Such structures are expensive, however, and the inevitable animation of each as it accepts the Gift means each can be used only for a short time.
Adds population to a city, or founds a new city.
Bone Horde
"Take that cart of powder and open the western catacombs to the sky. The mages will do the rest."
Replaces Arquebus. Cheaper, but much weaker when attacking.
Cetratus
The Scions prefer skirmishers to hunters.
Replaces Hunter. Only move 1, cannot carry birds, but has first strikes and Skirmisher.
Doomgiver
The most obvious symbol of his power, a Doomgiver's Seeing Sword has grown. Its eye fully open, it blade well fanged.
A Doomgiver manipulates fate almost contemptuously. Their most vulnerable foes will find themselves seeking shelter where the Doomgiver already waits. A Doomgiver can shatter the destiny of an entire city, or make it a place that angel's envy.
A high priest of the Scions. Reduces city population when attacking, starts with Sentry II and Marksman Can create Reborn in combat.
Doomsayer
Priests of either the Emperor's Cult or Patria's Destiny. Doomsayers feed their Seeing Swords with lives. With the army, spreading word of the Emperor's Promise to outlanders. Or with reverence, in the Scion's cities.
The Scion's worship revolves around reverence for the Patrian culture, Patrian history, and the Scions' divine destiny. Doomsayers hold that this destiny is immutable and borrow its power to alter the lines of fate. They possess few obvious magics, but to oppose a Doomsayer is to find the very weft and warp of the world turn against you.
A priest of the Scions. Has the spell "Weird Wrack," Sentry. Can create Reborn in combat. Doomsayers use great quantities of Incense and are more expensive to build without it.
Ghostwalker
Sometimes a Cetratus or Velite will abandon his unit, and sometimes a Ghostwalker returns.
Replaces Ranger. Lower combat strength but several first strikes, -1 to terrain move costs. Can create “Haunted Lands” and temporarily transform into a Haunt. Haunted Lands lower health but increase commerce. Wounded living units risk becoming undead when in the Haunted Lands. Ghostwalkers create a Reaching Creeper when they create Haunted Lands, or when they die. With Feral Bond they can feed Reaching Creepers some of their blood. This allows the Creeper to quickly establish a Haunted Land – even within enemy territory.
Horned Dread.
An incarnation of the Haunted Lands, the Horned Dread is a powerful fighter so strange and terrifying that Courage is forgotten.
Replaces Beastmaster. Once present the Horned Dread manifest through any Ghostwalker, anywhere on the map, but only one at a time. And only a Ghostwalker of the 6th level or above may first manifest the Horned Dread. If all Ghostwalkers are destroyed another high-level Ghostwalker must again "first" manifest the Horned Dread. About as powerful as a Beastmaster, but its spell "Terrify" can make temporarily make most units incapable of attack.
Honored Band
"Your captain holds your eyes, you just hold your line!"
The Awakened are still vulnerable to blows to the head, and to a certain extent damage to the vitals. Members of the Honored Band have submitted to the removal of these things for the greater glory of Patria Reborn. The Honored Band will be glad to sacrifice everything remaining at the Emperor's command.
After the body has been destroyed by the enemy a Band member's head and viscera are sealed into a jar of Emperor's Blessing from the Imperial Spirit Mill. Inside the jar an eternity of drugged rapture may be enjoyed.
Recruits to the Band expect a sizable enlistment bonus - a gold ingot "receipt" for their removed head and organs.
Replaces Axeman. Lower attack but higher defense, at its best in open terrain. Has “Headless” and the "Emperor and Honor!" ability. Require +1 gold/turn maintenance. More expensive without Gold.
Legate
"Kill them all, we will take our own."
A disciple of the Scions. Can recruit Reborn in combat.
Martyrs of Patria
Fanatics who worship the Risen Emperor as their personal god. They exist only to carry their own deaths to the Emperor's enemies.
Replaces Assassin. Requires God King civic. Limit of 6, they're cheap but are often destroyed in combat even after winning. Suicide troops. With “Poisons” the Martyrs are built with the promotion “Poison Drenched.” A level 6 Martyr may be upgraded to an "Emperor's Dagger." Daggers are specially trained in killing mages, tracking Alcinus, and sworn to put off destruction in battle until the Emperor gives explicit permission.
Necromancer
Necromancers have learned the trick of drawing on the death of their foes for strength. So, armed with swords rather than wands, they seek strength.
Replaces Mage. Does extra death damage in combat. After making a kill may cast "Balefire."
Principes
A wall of iron and death standing between Patria Reborn and the barbarian peoples.
Principes require the best of everything - prizing especially fine clothes and bejeweled weapons, armor, and other accouterments.
Replaces Champion. At its best in open terrain. Costs +1 gold/turn maintenance. More expensive without Gems, Dye.
Reborn
Priests not of the Patrian church but of the Gift itself. The Redactors do not worship death. They worship the sublime merger of being and void that animates the Scions. They whisper this secret to the winds, and the winds bow. Where the winds bow the land changes. Animals become scarce and strange, the trees lay down their arms. In the earth a thousand eyes open wide, and from the sky a thousand mouths open and whisper back the secret.
Like Awakened, but created in Cathedrals of Rebirth or recruited by Legates or priests. Luxuries will reduce the cost to create Reborn at Cathedrals of Rebirth, especially under "God King."
Redactor
Replaces Druid. Death rather than Nature magic. Quickly spreads the Haunted Lands, and may grant the Gift to many Scions units – not just the living - that aren't undead.
Revenant
Bone and magic woven together with the most powerful weirds laid by priests of the national cult. Those killed near them are doomed to rise again and fight for the Scions of Patria.
Scion crusader unit.
Praetorian
Warrior-Priests of the Emperor's Cult. They guard the most important cities or Scion leaders.
Replaces Royal Guard. Requires God King civic. Best in open terrain. Costs +1 gold/turn maintenance. They cost more without ready access to the silk and ivory enchanted to create their armor.
Velite
Heavily armed compared to most scouts, Velites are slower but have more bite.
Replaces Scout. Only 1 move, but has a first strike and Skirmisher.
Wraith Lord
Even more enigmatic behind their bronze masks, the Wraith Lords can each produce a vortex of necromantic force that continues to drain surviving victims long after they've run away.
Replaces Archmage. As the Necromancer is to the Mage, so is the Wraith Lord to the Archmage. Can cast "Hand of the Reaper" after combat.
[size=+1]Leaders:[/size]
The Risen Emperor
The lord of the Scions claims to be one of Kylorin's original students, now returned from the Underworld. He says he will reclaim Erebus for the glory of Patria. The first claim is almost certainly false. As to the second, only time will tell.
Charismatic, Arcane, Agnostic, Fallow
Alignment: Neutral, -100
Korrina the Protector
Living yet immortal guardian of the Sleeping Emperor, and by extension all the Scions.
Aggressive, Organized, Fallow
Alignment: Neutral, 100
[size=+1]Heroes:[/size]
Korrina:
Available as soon as the capital is founded, Korrina is bound to the Palace. She is a very strong early-game unit... though capable only of defending the capital. With Knowledge of the Ether the spells keeping her in place may be lifted. Korrina Unshackled is an Adept, especially potent on the defense.
With Hunting and Bronze Working Korrina must make a choice: At Hunting she may be given the Gift and made undead like citizenry of the Scions, becoming their Black Lady. At Bronze Working she may instead follow the way of the warrior, becoming the Red Lady and using her blades to defend Patria Reborn.
Only the Risen Emperor may have Korrina as a hero.
The Risen Emperor:
If Korrina rules it must be because the Sleeping Emperor remains locked in a separate and well-warded vault of the Bottomless Tomb. With Arcane Lore the wards may be broken and the Sleeping Emperor can Rise. The Risen Emperor has a Death mana Affinity, Implacable, and many defeated foes become Revenants under his command.
Only Korrina the Protector may have the Risen Emperor as a hero.
The Dark Council
Formerly powerful Patrians, each immortal Councilor fulfills a special purpose for the Patria Reborn.
Alcinus, the Mad Thaumaturge: Founder of the Thaumatruge's Keep, prone to crazed violence - may become a Barbarin. May join another civ when killed. (Try killing him again to get him back.)
Themoch, the Silent Watcher: Invisible, can enter rival territory, Sentry
Pelemoc Goldtongue: Can enter rival territory. A variety of city-centric spells.
Melante, the Artful Governor: Can give production, culture, and gold boosts to 1 non-capital Scion city.
Alcinus requires Knowledge of the Ether, Themoch requires Tracking, Pelemoc Currency, and Melante requires Feudalism.
Reaching Creepers
Creepers: Wounded or destroyed Ghostwalkers can create Creepers, as can Korrina the Black. Creepers are also generated within the Haunted Lands. The breeding season depends on several arcane factors and isn't entirely predictable - but it is regular and is adjusted by Game Speed.
Creeper life-cycle:
Creepers are Free units, can move in Rival territory without Open Borders, are Defensive Only, 15% withdraw, 2 strength - Poison.
Stages - Creepers vary in appearance and abilities.
Young - lasts 20 turns - No change from stats above.
Mature - 25 turns - Can cast "Arawn's Dust" spell.
Blooming - 15 turns - Defensive Strikes, can cast "Burrowing Thorns"
Rooted - 20+ turns - Can't move, Defensive Strikes more powerful, +4 strength
Dying - Rooted Creeper dies and spawns 2, sometimes 3, Young Creepers.
Any Young, Mature or Blooming Creeper that survives a combat remains sated with blood for 30 turns and may transform itself into a Haunted Lands Feature within that time.
Gaining Population
Spoiler :
The greatest difference between the Scions and the other civs is how the Scions use population, and how they gain it.
As a Fallow civilization the Scions don't need to allocate any of a city's population to gathering food. This means that, given the same population as another civ, Scion cities are far more productive. However, as a Fallow civilization the Scions cannot gain population via food and normal growth. Instead they must lure Awakened from the Bottomless Tomb, create Reborn, or capture cities.
Awakened:
Citizens of long-departed Patria, the Age of Magic's greatest empire, are the the core population of the Scions of Patria. They have been given the Gift, but they still must be brought out of the Bottomless Tomb. Awakened may be "built" in the capital. Structures much like bridges are extended into the Tomb and used to find and ferry the honored dead back into the world. But they are very expensive and inevitably temporary. After a short time they become animate and unalive, like everything in the Tomb, and may no longer be used. Awakened gained this way are expensive. But they honored dead are hard to predict - you'll often be forced to go in after them.
The easiest way for the Scions to get population is for an Awakened just walk out of the capital's Bottomless Tomb of it's own free will. But while the Tomb is bottomless an endless army of Awakened won't be coming: They have their own alien amusements there. The longer they stay the less willing they are to leave.
The frequency with which Awakened emerge is displayed near the mana bar and can be increased by the player's actions. Building Shrines to Kylorin, Imperial Cenotaphs or Temples of the Gift, Halls of the Covenant, or the Flesh Studio all attract Awakened. Most luxuries will help lure Awakened. Of special note is the "Patrian Artifacts" resource. Only the Scions player can see these resources, and unlike the other luxuries each resource owned increases the odds. The larger, more bustling the Capital the more will Awakened are to emerge. And when society is explicitly run for the benefit of the Awakened, "Aristocracy", Awakened are more likely to come forth.
Reborn:
Reborn are formerly living inhabitants of Erebus granted the Gift and transformed into undead Scions. There are four ways to gain Reborn. First, Reborn can be created from combat with a priest of the Gift - A Legate, a Doomsayer, or a Doomgiver. The enemy unit is persuaded that unlife among the Scions is preferable to their present meager existence. Second, Reborn can be "built" in a city containing a Cathedral of Rebirth. Third, Pelemoc Goldtongue may persaude the citizens of other civilzations to join Patria Reborn. Fourth, once the Scions have Sorcery and Priesthood a razed city will yield a few Reborn.
Finally, the Dark Council generates three Reborn the turn it is established.
Capturing cities:
Of course anyone can do this. All you need is a bunch of guys with swords. However, the lifestyles of other civs isn't very compatible with the unlifestyle of the Scions. When a city changes hands to or from the Scions most of the population is lost. This reduction isn't as great if the Scions are using the "God King" civic.
Details on Awakened Spawning:
The formula determining the odds an Awakened appear each turn isn't complicated, but it is rather long.
The base chance for a Standard-sized world is:
Quick: ~9%
Normal: ~6%
Epic: ~3.5%
Marathon: ~3%
World Size adjustment:
"Population limit" / 40
That limit is 20 for a Duel sized world and goes up to 70 for a Huge world.
The world size also sets a cap on Awakened generation: It ranges from 20 for a Duel world to 70 for a Huge one.
Additive factors:
Capital population / 4
Total buildings:
Gift Temples or Cenotaphs * 1
Halls of the Covenant * 2
Shrines to Kylorin / 2
Resources:
The number of Patrian Artifacts available * 0.75
Then +1 each for having any:
Silk, Gold, Gems, Ivory, Dye, Cotton.
Multipliers:
Civic: Aristocracy? Then * 1.4
Game speed - the numbers are linked to game-speed production adjustments. Divide by...
Quick: 0.5
Normal: 0.75
Epic: 1.125
Marathon: 1.5
Game turn. Every turn it's a little harder by...
Quick: 0.5%
Normal: 0.25%
Epic: 0.165%
Marathon: 0.125%
Ai mod:
The AI gets a 20% bonus.
Difficulty:
At Settler there's a 50% bonus. That scales down to a 30% penalty at Deity. These figures are reversed for the AI - if YOU are at Deity an AI Scion will get a 50% bonus.
The Haunted Lands
Spoiler :
[size=+1]The Haunted Lands[/size]
It is the nature of the world that everything is itself. This may seem a truism, but it does not hold in the Haunted Lands. The Haunted Lands join everything together, in the Haunted Lands things *blur*. Notably the line between death and life. There life, of a sort, is found in death and death, of a sort, is found in life.
Eating anything grown within the Haunted Lands is very difficult. The grain may scream when harvested and make bread that crumbles into something like bone meal when baked. Its beer could taste and smell of nightmares. Cattle tend to be stillborn, which makes it all the more disturbing as the herds continue to grow.
Nevertheless there is much wealth to be found in the Haunted Lands for the brave of heart and strong of stomach. Examples: A tree with branches that when aged and dried taste of nectar and honey, after being killed and cooked, of course. A stream lined with trainable, watchful stones. A pit full of knowledgeable darkness.
Use Haunted Lands to defend Patria Reborn or spoil the territories of your enemies. The Haunted Lands are not well suited to the living. The eldritch powers of the Haunted Lands often frighten, attack, or drive the living to various forms of insanity.
The Undead have a natural affinity to the Haunted Lands. Their senses are sharpened, their arms strong. The Haunted Lands are also a source of many wonders... often grotesque or terrible. The useful ones can be kept or traded so others may appreciate the Gift. The useless ones - and there are many - can be a burden to any nearby living land. The Haunted Lands will foster Unhealth in nearby cities.
Perhaps most disturbing, at least to those who haven't accepted the Emperor's Gift, is that those bearing wounds in the Haunted Lands do not always heal true. The substance of the Haunted Lands, or the lack thereof, enters their flesh. They become undead. Some carry on afterward, cleaving to their old gods and loyalties. Some go strange, eventually raising their hand - or whatever's left - against all others.
Ghostwalkers can undergo a different transformation with the Haunted Lands. They share out part of their own substance and humanity to the surrounding terrain, drinking from even more of the territory's inhuman nature. They become Haunts. Insubstantial, but hardly less terrible for that. Whip-fast, hard to see until it's right on top of you, a Haunt's airy frame can't take your head off, but this is hardly a comfort when it roars through your army and sinks it's claws into your skull.
[size=+1]Mending Nature[/size]
Three Scion units create Haunted Lands.
Ghostwalkers - With "Necromancy" a Ghostwalker may spend six turns creating a Haunted Lands tile.
Reaching Creepers - Young, Mature or Blooming Creepers may, after surviving a combat and fed on living blood, create a Haunted Lands tile.
Redactors - As soon as they're available Redactors can create Haunted Lands. They transform not only their own tile, but those around them as well. The life within a forest or jungle may hold out for a time, but will succumb eventually. Redactors may give the Gift to any living units you possess, except for the Red Lady. However, the Scion's cavalry mounts may be made Undead. Such mounts are terrible to face in battle.
Finally, the mere existence of Ghostwalkers, Haunts, Redactors and the Black Lady allow Haunted Lands to spontaneously wrest themselves from non-existence. The more life, the more likely the transformation: Wooded areas are the most likely to change, Deserts the least. Haunts exert more influence than Ghostwalkers, and Redactors more than Haunts. The Black Lady doubles the odds of Haunted Lands appearing in this manner.
The Dark Council
Spoiler :
[size=+1]The High Councilors[/size]
Patria was blessed with many men and women of enormous accomplishment. Patria Rebon shares in that blessing and the Age of Magic's greatest Princes and Poets, Warriors and Merchants, daily walk its streets. The Emperor has appointed four such persons special roles in the Age of Rebirth. Not just undead but unconquerable, if destroyed they always pay heed to the Emperor's call and re-emerge from the great Tomb. Each has his or her special role, and together they lead the Scions Dark Council.
Alcinus - The Mad Thaumaturge: Emerges from the Tomb with Knowledge of the Ether. He founds the essential Thaumaturge's Keep in any city outside the capital (the Apparat refuses to allow it near the Palace) and plays an important part in the Empire's Rituals. Subject to periodic bouts of violent madness, the great mage occasionally turns against his own people. At that point there is nothing that may be done but running him down. A new death returns him to the Emperor. Though even that's not certain. Should he go rogue and join a rival civilization the Scions specially trained wizard-hunters - the Emperor's Daggers - will seek him out.
Themoch, the Silent Watcher - Unseen but far from sightless, as patient as the grave, at "Tracking" Themoch rides forth, the perfect sentry and spy.
Pelemoc Goldtongue - He appears most often as a well-off merchant, but will appear in other guises if they serve his need. Pelemoc is no mage, but he bends minds and scatters armies with his mastery of money, with his silver-tongue.
Melante, the Artful Governor - Head of the Dark Council, Melante is knows as much of the ways of men as Pelemoc, and is just as deft with words. But where he persuades, she rules. Any city with Melante as it's governor will be markedly more productive.
[size=+1]The Dark Council[/size]
Once all four leading Councilors are together in a city outside the capital Melante may found the Dark Council, casting the Scions of Patria World Spell. The Dark Council world-wonder is created. The Dark Council grants three Reborn, and it's ongoing activities foster both trade in Scions cities and discontent among their enemies.
More on the Thaumaturge's Keep
Spoiler :
You always get the main Keep building, and it's always the same.
Random Building 1: Always a mana building. They'll have slightly different stats. It'll be Force, Entropy, Shadow, Chaos, Body, Mind, Enchantment, Metamagic, or one of the elements.
Random Building 2: As above, but 3 more possibilities: Alcinus' Trove (2 PA resources) or the Schola Furo (extra xps for Adepts).
Random Building 3: 50% nothing, 25% Alchemist's tower, 25% Military Abattoir.
Random Building 4: 50% nothing, 25% Noxious Smell, 25% Corrosive Spills
Leaders, Units, Buildings, Heroes:
Spoiler :
Leaders
Units
Buildings
Heroes
[size=+1]Buildings:[/size]
Buildings the Scions don't build:
Grove
Tower of Complacency
Tower of Necromancy: Only effects Bone Horde, Skeletons, and Diseased Corpses.
Scions-only buildings:
Cathedral of Rebirth
The Cathedral of Rebirth celebrates the glory of both the Emperor and the people. The Cathedrals tie the empire together with self-veneration. It is in the Cathedrals that the chosen of the new age's people are ceremoniously made into true Scions of Patria.
Requires Religious Law and four Halls of the Covenant. Allows creation of Reborn in city. -20% war weariness. +5 culture, +1 TR, +10% defense, +3 happiness with Life mana, +2 xp for Disciple units built in city. Units built in city get Homeland promotion.
Dark Council
The Parliament of Merchants and Citizens, aka “The Dark Council,” is primarily an instrument for maintaining the wealth and power of Patria Reborn's merchant princes. An advisory council and financial clearing house, it's also a clearing house for information about powerful individuals, both Scions and those from outside the Empire. The Imperial Cult makes good use of this information.
+2 Culture, +10% gold, 1 free Merchant. +1 trade route per city, +10% to trade routes. -10% Scions war weariness. +15% to enemy war weariness.
Emperor's Mark - Free in all cities founded by the Risen Emperor. +2 culture
Exchange
An Exchange allows the Scions of Patria to sell their land's unused foodstuffs to the world.
Allows the Scions to sell off the unused foodstuffs of their territory. Requires Mercantilism and 4 Markets. +2 gold, +1 trade route in every city, +30% to trade routes in this city.
Flesh Studio
At the capital's Flesh Studio adepts mold flesh like clay, or work it like metal, or weave it like silk. Most citizens apply to the Flesh Studio for an improved appearance, but soldiers quickly and easily become terrifying. Vanity and health combine to make the Flesh Studio a powerful lure for the Awakened.
Each Body Mana increases the chance an Awakened will appear. Requires Body Mana and Alteration. May only be built in the capital. +2 Happiness, +50% heal rate, +10% military production, +4 Culture.
Hall of the Covenant
Various entertainments celebrating the Emperor and the Gift, including plays, are performed here. Where the Temple of the Gift is often the main link to the capital, a Hall of the Covenant is often the center of a city's secular life.
Awakened are part of the Covenant. A Hall increases the likelihood that an Awakened will emerge from the Bottomless Tomb.
Replaces Theatre. Somewhat more expensive, allows for 2 Bards rather than 1. Increases Awakened spawn rate. Required for Martyrs of Patria.
Imperial Cenotaph
Containing a relic of the Sleeping Emperor, all Patrians can feel the movements of his thought here. It is said no true Patrian may lie or think a disloyal thought near the Cenotaph.
The Awakened honor the Sleeping Emperor. A Cenotaph increases the likelihood that an Awakened will leave the Bottomless Tomb.
Requires Code of Laws. Increases Awakened spawn rate. +2 culture, +10% culture, -10% maintenance, -15 crime.
Kylorin Cult
A center for the worship of Kylorin as the supreme Archmage and savior of human kind. Frowned on by the Emperor's Cult because it shifts veneration away from the Risen Emperor. Frowned on by the Church of the Gift for undermining the Doomsayer's authority. Frowned on by the local authorities because mage-wannabees tend toward spontaneously bursting into unquenchable flame.
Replaces Pagan Temple. +5 Crime, happiness from Reagents rather than Incense.
Necropolis
All citizens of Patria Reborn possess the Gift of Life-in-Death, but each city has populations of living people as well. These immigrants labor for the good of the Scions. The most worthy never truly die, but will instead receive the flesh imperishable.
With Sorcery the Scions have regained sufficient knowledge to give the Gift to others. And not just a chosen few, but on a massive scale. All long-term citizens will now gradually join the ranks of the undead. Whether they want to or not. Energy from all living things in the region is funneled into the city's Mages Guilds and workshops and put to good use.
-10 crime, -25% GP rate, No unhealth from Pop, +10 Health, +3 culture, +3 hammers per Death Mana (won't show up in description, the hammers do show up in the que), +3 xps for Adept units. Cancels out the happiness from wine.
Patrian Bazaar
Collected here are the various fantastic artifacts produced or found on Patrian digs... or in the haunted lands.
Replaces Moneychanger. +15% gold, +1 TR, +100% foreign TR. +3 Culture.
Shrine to Kylorin
Shrine honoring the great god-crossed and god-slaying hero of Patria.
Replaces Obelisk, slightly cheaper. +3 Culture.
Spirit Mill
While they take no food or drink the Scions do have one vice of consumption. Those with the Gift may enjoy a pseudo-substance wrung from the life-essences found in certain tissues, then distilled and stored in well-cooled jars.
Replaces Brewery, more expensive. +1 happiness from Cow, Pig, Sheep, Deer.
Temple of the Gift
The Gift is the gift of unlife that Scions receive from their Emperor. The Scions do not worship death. Rather the Temples host a fiercely nationalistic faith worshiping the Emperor and the proud history of Patria. The Legates tell and re-tell the story of their history: Glory, then betrayal by the gods and their thuggish angels. The long cold, the long fitful sleep... and now the Gift and rebirth.
A Temple of the Gift increases the likelihood that an Awakened will leave the Bottomless Tomb.
Requires Code of Laws. +2 culture, +20 % culture. 5% defense. +1 happiness from Incense, Silk. Required for all the Scion religious units. May only be built by the Risen Emperor.
Vacant Mausoleum
"The Emperor's will is manifest, but let him Rise!"
"Unmake the wards, crack the seals and let him Rise!"
"His people beseech, faithful Alexi calls, and Erebus awaits!"
"Let the Sleeping Emperor rise!"
Requires Arcane Lore. Can only be built by Alexi, and only in the Scion's capital. +5 culture, -20% war weariness in all cities, +1 population in all cities. Required for the Risen Emperor.
[size=+1]Units:[/size]
Units the Scions don't build:
Cannon
Settler (they still have the initial settler)
Magic:
Scions units cannot cast Haste, Regeneration or Flesh Golem. However, the Scions have access to Draw Strength, Death Geas and Grand Ward.
Scions-only units:
Abomination
"What you see is the essence of divinity unmasked. We will make use of the gods power, but do not be fooled by it for an instant." - Redactor Caestate
Replaces Immortal. Lacks the Immortal ability, but starts with Fear, Cannibalize, Implacable and Magic Immune.
Awakened
Former inhabitants of the Bottomless Tomb, the Awakened issue forth at their own pleasure.
Use to found new cities, or add to an existing city's population.
The Gift is eternal as the Emperor's glory, but even the pull of his call when the Tomb opened cannot reverberate forever in the Tomb's infinite darkness. The passing of each day means that more of the Awakened dead of Patria fall back into slumber. However, increased industry and devotion in Patria Reborn can coax the honored dead from their rest. As can the availability of favored luxuries in the cities. Furthermore God King, a populous capital, and every Shrine to Kylorin, Temple of the Gift, Imperial Cenotaph, Hall of the Covenant, or source of Patrian artifacts serves to strengthen the Emperor's Will and call more of our people back to the world.
Alternatively a series of bridges into the Tomb may be used to retrive some of the Awakened. Such structures are expensive, however, and the inevitable animation of each as it accepts the Gift means each can be used only for a short time.
Adds population to a city, or founds a new city.
Bone Horde
"Take that cart of powder and open the western catacombs to the sky. The mages will do the rest."
Replaces Arquebus. Cheaper, but much weaker when attacking.
Cetratus
The Scions prefer skirmishers to hunters.
Replaces Hunter. Only move 1, cannot carry birds, but has first strikes and Skirmisher.
Doomgiver
The most obvious symbol of his power, a Doomgiver's Seeing Sword has grown. Its eye fully open, it blade well fanged.
A Doomgiver manipulates fate almost contemptuously. Their most vulnerable foes will find themselves seeking shelter where the Doomgiver already waits. A Doomgiver can shatter the destiny of an entire city, or make it a place that angel's envy.
A high priest of the Scions. Reduces city population when attacking, starts with Sentry II and Marksman Can create Reborn in combat.
Doomsayer
Priests of either the Emperor's Cult or Patria's Destiny. Doomsayers feed their Seeing Swords with lives. With the army, spreading word of the Emperor's Promise to outlanders. Or with reverence, in the Scion's cities.
The Scion's worship revolves around reverence for the Patrian culture, Patrian history, and the Scions' divine destiny. Doomsayers hold that this destiny is immutable and borrow its power to alter the lines of fate. They possess few obvious magics, but to oppose a Doomsayer is to find the very weft and warp of the world turn against you.
A priest of the Scions. Has the spell "Weird Wrack," Sentry. Can create Reborn in combat. Doomsayers use great quantities of Incense and are more expensive to build without it.
Ghostwalker
Sometimes a Cetratus or Velite will abandon his unit, and sometimes a Ghostwalker returns.
Replaces Ranger. Lower combat strength but several first strikes, -1 to terrain move costs. Can create “Haunted Lands” and temporarily transform into a Haunt. Haunted Lands lower health but increase commerce. Wounded living units risk becoming undead when in the Haunted Lands. Ghostwalkers create a Reaching Creeper when they create Haunted Lands, or when they die. With Feral Bond they can feed Reaching Creepers some of their blood. This allows the Creeper to quickly establish a Haunted Land – even within enemy territory.
Horned Dread.
An incarnation of the Haunted Lands, the Horned Dread is a powerful fighter so strange and terrifying that Courage is forgotten.
Replaces Beastmaster. Once present the Horned Dread manifest through any Ghostwalker, anywhere on the map, but only one at a time. And only a Ghostwalker of the 6th level or above may first manifest the Horned Dread. If all Ghostwalkers are destroyed another high-level Ghostwalker must again "first" manifest the Horned Dread. About as powerful as a Beastmaster, but its spell "Terrify" can make temporarily make most units incapable of attack.
Honored Band
"Your captain holds your eyes, you just hold your line!"
The Awakened are still vulnerable to blows to the head, and to a certain extent damage to the vitals. Members of the Honored Band have submitted to the removal of these things for the greater glory of Patria Reborn. The Honored Band will be glad to sacrifice everything remaining at the Emperor's command.
After the body has been destroyed by the enemy a Band member's head and viscera are sealed into a jar of Emperor's Blessing from the Imperial Spirit Mill. Inside the jar an eternity of drugged rapture may be enjoyed.
Recruits to the Band expect a sizable enlistment bonus - a gold ingot "receipt" for their removed head and organs.
Replaces Axeman. Lower attack but higher defense, at its best in open terrain. Has “Headless” and the "Emperor and Honor!" ability. Require +1 gold/turn maintenance. More expensive without Gold.
Legate
"Kill them all, we will take our own."
A disciple of the Scions. Can recruit Reborn in combat.
Martyrs of Patria
Fanatics who worship the Risen Emperor as their personal god. They exist only to carry their own deaths to the Emperor's enemies.
Replaces Assassin. Requires God King civic. Limit of 6, they're cheap but are often destroyed in combat even after winning. Suicide troops. With “Poisons” the Martyrs are built with the promotion “Poison Drenched.” A level 6 Martyr may be upgraded to an "Emperor's Dagger." Daggers are specially trained in killing mages, tracking Alcinus, and sworn to put off destruction in battle until the Emperor gives explicit permission.
Necromancer
Necromancers have learned the trick of drawing on the death of their foes for strength. So, armed with swords rather than wands, they seek strength.
Replaces Mage. Does extra death damage in combat. After making a kill may cast "Balefire."
Principes
A wall of iron and death standing between Patria Reborn and the barbarian peoples.
Principes require the best of everything - prizing especially fine clothes and bejeweled weapons, armor, and other accouterments.
Replaces Champion. At its best in open terrain. Costs +1 gold/turn maintenance. More expensive without Gems, Dye.
Reborn
Priests not of the Patrian church but of the Gift itself. The Redactors do not worship death. They worship the sublime merger of being and void that animates the Scions. They whisper this secret to the winds, and the winds bow. Where the winds bow the land changes. Animals become scarce and strange, the trees lay down their arms. In the earth a thousand eyes open wide, and from the sky a thousand mouths open and whisper back the secret.
Like Awakened, but created in Cathedrals of Rebirth or recruited by Legates or priests. Luxuries will reduce the cost to create Reborn at Cathedrals of Rebirth, especially under "God King."
Redactor
Replaces Druid. Death rather than Nature magic. Quickly spreads the Haunted Lands, and may grant the Gift to many Scions units – not just the living - that aren't undead.
Revenant
Bone and magic woven together with the most powerful weirds laid by priests of the national cult. Those killed near them are doomed to rise again and fight for the Scions of Patria.
Scion crusader unit.
Praetorian
Warrior-Priests of the Emperor's Cult. They guard the most important cities or Scion leaders.
Replaces Royal Guard. Requires God King civic. Best in open terrain. Costs +1 gold/turn maintenance. They cost more without ready access to the silk and ivory enchanted to create their armor.
Velite
Heavily armed compared to most scouts, Velites are slower but have more bite.
Replaces Scout. Only 1 move, but has a first strike and Skirmisher.
Wraith Lord
Even more enigmatic behind their bronze masks, the Wraith Lords can each produce a vortex of necromantic force that continues to drain surviving victims long after they've run away.
Replaces Archmage. As the Necromancer is to the Mage, so is the Wraith Lord to the Archmage. Can cast "Hand of the Reaper" after combat.
[size=+1]Leaders:[/size]
The Risen Emperor
The lord of the Scions claims to be one of Kylorin's original students, now returned from the Underworld. He says he will reclaim Erebus for the glory of Patria. The first claim is almost certainly false. As to the second, only time will tell.
Charismatic, Arcane, Agnostic, Fallow
Alignment: Neutral, -100
Korrina the Protector
Living yet immortal guardian of the Sleeping Emperor, and by extension all the Scions.
Aggressive, Organized, Fallow
Alignment: Neutral, 100
[size=+1]Heroes:[/size]
Korrina:
Available as soon as the capital is founded, Korrina is bound to the Palace. She is a very strong early-game unit... though capable only of defending the capital. With Knowledge of the Ether the spells keeping her in place may be lifted. Korrina Unshackled is an Adept, especially potent on the defense.
With Hunting and Bronze Working Korrina must make a choice: At Hunting she may be given the Gift and made undead like citizenry of the Scions, becoming their Black Lady. At Bronze Working she may instead follow the way of the warrior, becoming the Red Lady and using her blades to defend Patria Reborn.
Only the Risen Emperor may have Korrina as a hero.
The Risen Emperor:
If Korrina rules it must be because the Sleeping Emperor remains locked in a separate and well-warded vault of the Bottomless Tomb. With Arcane Lore the wards may be broken and the Sleeping Emperor can Rise. The Risen Emperor has a Death mana Affinity, Implacable, and many defeated foes become Revenants under his command.
Only Korrina the Protector may have the Risen Emperor as a hero.
The Dark Council
Formerly powerful Patrians, each immortal Councilor fulfills a special purpose for the Patria Reborn.
Alcinus, the Mad Thaumaturge: Founder of the Thaumatruge's Keep, prone to crazed violence - may become a Barbarin. May join another civ when killed. (Try killing him again to get him back.)
Themoch, the Silent Watcher: Invisible, can enter rival territory, Sentry
Pelemoc Goldtongue: Can enter rival territory. A variety of city-centric spells.
Melante, the Artful Governor: Can give production, culture, and gold boosts to 1 non-capital Scion city.
Alcinus requires Knowledge of the Ether, Themoch requires Tracking, Pelemoc Currency, and Melante requires Feudalism.
Reaching Creepers
Spoiler :
Creepers: Wounded or destroyed Ghostwalkers can create Creepers, as can Korrina the Black. Creepers are also generated within the Haunted Lands. The breeding season depends on several arcane factors and isn't entirely predictable - but it is regular and is adjusted by Game Speed.
Creeper life-cycle:
Creepers are Free units, can move in Rival territory without Open Borders, are Defensive Only, 15% withdraw, 2 strength - Poison.
Stages - Creepers vary in appearance and abilities.
Young - lasts 20 turns - No change from stats above.
Mature - 25 turns - Can cast "Arawn's Dust" spell.
Blooming - 15 turns - Defensive Strikes, can cast "Burrowing Thorns"
Rooted - 20+ turns - Can't move, Defensive Strikes more powerful, +4 strength
Dying - Rooted Creeper dies and spawns 2, sometimes 3, Young Creepers.
Any Young, Mature or Blooming Creeper that survives a combat remains sated with blood for 30 turns and may transform itself into a Haunted Lands Feature within that time.
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