PreSLNES I: Masters of Ethereal

[thomas.berubeg]

as long as you don't plan on coming back to this, reveals are nice.

 

[Terrance888]

Here's my plan eventual plan for development: I would eventually turn my kingdom into Vong/Zerg/Tyranids/Orks where everyone is bioplant/animal united by a hivemind. Lead by me. This of course will go through extreme but slow characterization, slowly increasing 1984 style control over current lands and paranoia to make this totally IC, along with his low for planting and growing: what luck is it to actually grow more citizens?

 

[thomas.berubeg]

oh yeah? I was going for Mindcontrolled Orwellian Kingdom as well...

The first phases were already in effect in the city walls, and the underground roads.

 

[Northen Wolf]

Thank you for running this, was fun!

Congratulations on your engagement, I'm jealous at you. Seriously, I am.

 

[Immaculate]

One more point: prettiest map ever seen was yours.

 

[Starlife]

The center of the map is a giant desert. There are several ruins there, which all point to a long-dead civilization. There players were to find amazingly powerful items which would assist in establishing their kingdoms even further from their initial starting point. There is a ring of coastline around the desert with mountains, grasslands, and forests. So naturally, players on the sides of the map would have that advantage. There was a sizable and wealthy series of islands southwest of the main continent that no one found (no one attempted to explore that region by sea).

There is a massive mountain range north of the large desert, and then icelands at the very north of the map. There is also a very large forest. I was planning on having players trapped by the fierce desert find underground tunnels to emerge at the other end of the desert, sort of forming another cradle and eventually merging with the borders from their first cradle or starting point.

As for plot, well it was developing with whatever you guys were developing. But like I said, there was an ancient, dead civilization and I planned to basically have their demons rise up from the desert, making that region extremely hostile.

To Immaculate: Thanks man! I put a lot of work into that thing. I want to perfect my graphics and make a portfolio and perhaps try to become a "real" fantasy mapper.

As for the war between LDi and vruchten. When we left off there was quite a stalemate, and the balance could have been turned by one of the other players around that region. It was beneficial for vruchten to form some kind of agreement with the Thuggee (agreement not to attack, basically), but what vruchten had against him were LDi and the doppelgangers of Massive Attack. Together they were causing some problems for vruchten, some he did not even realize. Despite this, vruchten's sheer ferocity in his battle tactics could have kept him going for a while. I envisioned a potential large war, basically MA and LDi versus vruchten and Immaculate, but once the Thuggee and the Dark Elves made arrangements as to who gets what, that seemed pretty much out of the picture.

 

[LDiCesare]

Thanks for the NES Starlife.
Since this is over, I'm posting all my rhymed diplo here for those who are interested. (And yes, the last one is not rhymed, but alliterative for a change).

Spoiler :

-To Omega124:
On the top of Burning Tower rooftops, a shiny bird can be seen. It sings a song in a hoarse voice. Probably it caught a cold flying among the wintry peaks to reach the orcish citadel.
It sings to whoever hears it, and flies away at the first sign of hostility, yet comes back, trying to talk to the master of the tower, Ismordar.


Greetings from Gwydion of Gwynedd the fair
To Ismordar of the Burning Tower
Your magic we sensed, a burst of power
Sending strong vibes through both aether and air.
We seek to reach an agreement of sorts,
Terms that would suit us both in this rich land
Which remains unclaimed between our two forts.
In plains and coasts do we plan to expand,
But we want no war with Isabella
We propose a border so we don't clash
As our minions conquer all in their path:
The river flowing north of Asketra

-To Immaculate:
O goblins of Thugee, gremlins of great mountains,
Gwydion of Gwynedd sends you this glorious bird.
We are living men and women, not the remains
Of longdead wights. Against undead, our mighty fyrd
Will be raised should they spread like the plague that they are.
We revere not undeath, yet we do not seek war.
For now we will expand peacefully to the north
Not letting Haru Gom ruin land of any worth.
If we meet the dark elf, we will claim all the south
From Ruria to Senda, but we are far away
From the core of magic which is on your true way,
By the castle in the hills to the wicked keep
Of dark Juukkeshi, south of your slopes steep.

-To the elves of Lydiai
Gwydion the fair sends you this many colour'd bird
Overhearing your eagle, we have decided
To send you a message, you who have not sided
With the dark one in the white tower, who would gird
Your people and strangle them too with death magic
That stinks as far as Stryddinas on the south coast.
Know that Gwydion's ready, it's not an empty boast,
To help you if needs be, in circumstance tragic.
To this bird you can speak, and its master will hear
Any pleas that you have, and any help we can
We will muster for you, for the safety of man
From the creepy magic of which we have no fear.

-To vruchten:
To the gnolls in the north from Gwydion by the sea
You claim lands far from yours but I would like to see
What you claim exactly, so I drew for your eyes
A small map of the lands between us which comprise
The steppes. See what is near your lands, what is near mine.
You would be the invaders should you cross the line.

-To vruchten:
Dear gnolls, we feel you're quite hungry
Claiming so much territory
We can accept this border
But you should go west no further
In particular Ruria leave
Alone: They're our friends we believe.
A trading post now is early
Too much I'm afraid for really
With coastal men my ships must trade
And to stretch too thin I'm afraid.

-to andis-1:
Gwydion greets thee, mighty Tarnum of Tarunia
From the other side of the Gulf of Olivia.
We plan to spread our influence to the Gulf shores
Down Asketra's river upon our galley oars.
Should'st thou ever build a harbour on the blue sea,
We would be happy to send ships to trade with thee.

-to Aiolos:
A small, many coloured, bird with a crooked beak flies to the citadel of Aiolia, singing to whoever would listen to him, fleeing when children pick up stones to throw at him, and ever moving and singing until he can get his message delivered.

Greetings from Gwydion of Gwynedd the fair
To Aeolus Hippotades, trader
Among the halflings, master of power.
Wizard, we send you this bird on the air.
We sought to reach an agreement of sorts,
Terms that would suit us both in this rich land
Which remains unclaimed between our two forts.
To the orcs, to know where we could expand.
To our bird messenger, they answered not,
And now 'tis a halfling who owns their spot.
To you therefore our feathered friend we send,
We propose a frontier so we don't fight
As we settle coasts and as you extend
North of Asketra, the blue river might
Be a good border between you and us.
Please answer and say if you would it thus.

-to nutranurse:
Greetings from Gwydion to the queen of minotaurs,
Merogia Soter. We send you this bird envoy
To talk about Ruria, city of the centaurs.
With them we want to trade, and them we could employ
To bring riches from our coasts up to your mountains
If we both built a road from our realms to the plains
Connecting the city, then we could seal a pact
Of friendship. Would you accept this kind of compact?

-to Senda:
Greetings from Gwydion, o dear knight.
The gnolls are barking at your door
Without their chief's magic, your might
Would repel them, but nevermore
Are they mere raiders. Their wizard
Empowers them. This gnollish king
Is far too serious a hazard
To defeat. If surrendering
Appeals your people, gnolls may win
Over some of them who would slip
Past your grip and let the gnolls in.
Should it happen, come to our ship
Those who wouldn't stay in a city
Controlled by hyenas will shelter
Find in Palinan the pretty
Should the will of your fyrds falter

-to Immaculate:
Greetings to the wizard of Thuggee society.
The gnolls of Akhoowoo to your south are barking
They are upset that I send ships to the city
Of Senda, despite it being peaceful trading.
Their demands have long been really exorbitant,
Claiming lands as far west as south of Haru Gom.
We ask you, dear trading partners, to what extant
You trust the gnolls, and whether you might descend from
Your hills to help Gwynedd teach these beasts their proper
Place, so they don't hinder their neighbours to prosper?

-to Massive Attack:
O dark elf of the north, Gwydion sends you greetings
We wish to talk about Ng'graa Akh'rrr, the gnollish lord.
You proved you respect those who survived your beatings,
As Lydai respects you, does not just fear your sword
While the gnolls enslave and slaughter, bark and threaten
Not only the people of the steppes but even
My people. They claim lands to the south of your wood
We don't like their demands and are not in the mood
To obey these barkers who have naught to offer
And whose parleys always look like empty proffer.
What think you of the gnolls? And would you welcome us
Should we extend our trade? Maybe we should discuss.

-to vruchten:
We have heard enough of your barking.
Senda is not yet part of your realm.
Leave them alone. You can overwhelm
Them but all I have done is trading.
You however raided west and stole
Past my lands. Yet you keep demanding.
You slaughter and enslave countries whole
While we are allying and trading.
You raid, give no excuse and demand.
Such outrage we will not long withstand.

-to Castle Mirdelak:
Greetings from wizard Gwydion the fair
To the Council of Mir the lofty.
You have been training trolls for warfare
For generations. Mercenary
Fighters they are, and renowned so much
That we would like to ask for which sum
You would be willing to lend us such
Trolls, that we might need against some scum.

-to Ruria:
Good Ulydia, Gwydion of Gwynedd greets you with glee.
Times are terrible indeed. Terror is the name of the gnolls
Who son against father pit, and sorely seed sorrow
In the south, who burnt Senda, enslaved men and orcs also.
We build forts to defend Palinan, field armies to fend off
Invaders. In verity, we expect an attack very shortly.
We will hold the walls and ride widely past the troops
To flank them. Our magic will flow to turn flowers into charms.
Which may turn some gnolls away from their monstrous master.
We expect a hard fight, harsh battle against their host.
Our infantry will hold them on foot, and horsemen fight with bow and lance.
We would crush them under the walls but we will probably
Only repel them so strong they are. We must send troops
To the east to stop them, to stunt their growth and starve their wolves.
With the boon of your help we will bring our byrnies and bows
Farther, to entrap the enemy, for our forts will be safe.
We thank you a thousand times, for we think with your aid
We will prevail against evil, and prevent its spread.

To begin with, I wanted to play it peaceful, extend seawards and gain control of as much coastline as possible. Immaculate approached me regarding the dark elves initially, but I didn't feel like fighting them, unless I somehow got blocked by them by the time I wanted to go north, which wasn't antytime soon.
Then came the gnolls, and vruchten's first diplomacy was a bit demanding in my opinion. He basically asserted that I shouldn't expand in his direction any more than what I had done so far, when I didn't know he would be there. While this was actually a reasonable request, it was only backed by threats, so I didn't like it, and despite all the poetry, I was still playing Barbarians, not halfling or peace-loving elves. I traded with Senda the way I traded with all cities in my reach. I refused to consider a country superior to another, or having rights over an independent country, just because it was ruled by a wizard. This, of course, and somewhat exxpectedly, infuriated the gnolls, the result being a war. I wanted it to be an attrition war, as I could and did nicely expand both in gold and mana income while he didn't. Immac said he'd be neutral, and with the dark elves on my side, I felt it could be safe. If Immac had joined, I'd have had to stop doing anything else, and concentrate wholly on the gnolls, instead of trying to get around his forces and skirmishing.
It made for interesting updates

 

[Starlife]

Indeed it did! Vruchten's scary poorly-spoken gnollish diplo with your poetry was extremely entertaining.

I'm pondering what to do for my next NES. I want it to be story-based this time, which means I know I'll lose some of you. But I am thinking of doing steampunk again. Something lighter, and that would take up less time. *thinking*

 

[Seon]

Ooh, ooh, maybe you could help me with my own NES , which I am currently trying to find the will and time to restart.

 

[Massive Attack]

To be fair, it was also my doppleganger that met the Prince and gave him the gnolls' message.

 

[Starlife]

Seon: Tell me your idea.

My next NES will definitely be "steampunk", but I want to focus on a certain area of steampunk. The world will be fictional, gritty, dark, and grim. The world would be in a sort of "Great Depression", with a lot of dust storms and other anomaly. Humans only, though there will be mythical/fantastic creatures. The specifics of gameplay are hazy, but I know it will be story-based. Players can only do things if they specify them in a story. The story can be a single line, vague and brief, or it can be lengthy and detailed. I am not picky. I just want what players write to be their actions. No orders and maybe a fixed timeline.

As for my focus, I have a few ideas:
1. Each player is an inventor and basically runs an inventor's guild, specializing in a certain area of pseudo-science.
2. Each player is a steampunk "flyer" (just as in Tales from the Ether), but the world will be considerably smaller and there would be clearer directives.
3. More nation-based gameplay, but I feel it is harder to do this with such a lax ruleset.

This whole thing is for the future. Just putting my ideas out there.

 

[Terrance888]

Is anyone else reminded of Lord Iggy's Steampunk nes with suggestion 1?

 

[LDiCesare]

To be fair, it was also my doppleganger that met the Prince and gave him the gnolls' message.

I strongly suspected that, but in the end decided to somewhat trust you, or behave as if I did. I wouldn't have entrusted you with too much detail on my attacks or other allied, however.

 

[Starlife]

That was a fun update, by the way.

Is anyone else reminded of Lord Iggy's Steampunk nes with suggestion 1?

I think I remember browsing it. I'm also thinking of making it rather free-form. So players could have a choice of playing an individual or a state or something. I don't know. I'm still up in the air. I just know I'd like something steamy. I could always make a world and allow all of you to play within it as essentially whatever you want to play as.

 

[vruchten]

I strongly suspected that, but in the end decided to somewhat trust you, or behave as if I did. I wouldn't have entrusted you with too much detail on my attacks or other allied, however.

yes, i think politics in this war where not that clear, and i doubt that MA or Immac would have joined the fighting if it wouldn`t be for their own fortune..
none the less, i loved playing paranoid-evil-warmongering for a while.. and i was really interested in the possible outcome of this.