A thread with a lot of questions for a lot of things

[cypher132]

Dear Santa,


I have been a good boy this year. I was told to write a letter to get what I always wanted. So here goes.

What are all the civilization's takes in this game?
What is each civ trying to accomplish?
Do their people know about it?
Why is the sky blue?
How do they attract people to their empires?
What are the relationships between all the civs?
What is mana and how do mages use it?

Those are a just a few questions I'd like asked. Merry Christmas!

Love,

cypher132 - FFH Player

 

[KillerClowns]

Dear Santa,


I have been a good boy this year. I was told to write a letter to get what I always wanted. So here goes.

What are all the civilization's takes in this game?
What is each civ trying to accomplish?
Do their people know about it?
Why is the sky blue?
How do they attract people to their empires?
What are the relationships between all the civs?
What is mana and how do mages use it?

Those are a just a few questions I'd like asked. Merry Christmas!

Love,

cypher132 - FFH Player

*Hides beam katana.*

Well... Santa's, um... busy right now. So uh, guess I'll have to do the best I can, for some of the smaller questions. I might return later, for the ones that involve each individual civ's takes and what-not, if MC doesn't outdo me on an epic scale first.

Why is the sky blue?

Because that's where all the Ice Mana went when Auric was killed.

What is mana and how do mages use it?

Fire Mana and what I think is Mind Mana are described in Belenus's pedia in AoI and Garrim Gyr's 'pedia in FfH, respectively.

Spoiler Belenus :

. .. .. .. .. .He would have been killed, but he already looked dead. He was obviously Doviello, covered in the hides of various animals and stood nearly a foot taller than any of the Amurites. He lumbered through the fortifications, ignored warnings and would have been shot down there had Kylorin not raised a hand to stop the archers.

He had been attacked by something in the wild, but those weren't the wounds that were killing him. Far more fierce is the cold and even his thick furs couldn't protect him from it. He moved as one whose extremities were eaten by frostbite.

He fell before Kylorin. Looking up he seemed at once relieved to have made it and distraught that this was so much less than he imagined.

"I am Seterim, once a clan lord and champion among the Doviello. But I have abandoned them, come to offer my strength to you, to rage against the White Hand instead of merely living off of their scraps. I have seen enough of winter and death, and heard the stories you tell of a time before the storms. I wish to fight for a return to that time."

At this Seterim sobbed openly.

"But I have nothing to give, I have already failed. The blizzards set upon me, stole the strength that I meant to give to you. Mulcarn punishes those that betray him and in my hubris I somehow believed I was different."

Kylorin listened to the man's tale. He was a good father to the Amurites, but more calculating than compassionate at moments like these. He didn't offer the broken man comfort or empty consolation, only a question.

"How did you survive the blizzards at all?"

Seterim thought. The past few days had become clouded in his memory, the desire to reach Kylorin was his only consistent thought. Then he held out his hand and opened it to reveal fingers that were untouched by frostbite and a glowing red crystal inside.

"I found this in the wastes, it is warm and held the chill away enough to keep me alive. Will it help you? I gladly offer it to you if it would help."

Seterim was excited by the thought of his trip, his sacrifice, somehow being of use. That he hadn't forfeited his life for nothing.

Kylorin took the crystal and turned it over in his hand.

"It's a mana crystal. Long ago thick veins of these were changed by mages into various forms. This used to be a part of a fire node, probably shattered by the fall of the Queen of Fire. Yes, this will be very useful. But useful to you and not me."

At that Kylorin chanted, it was obvious to everyone that he was not of this age. He was tall and regal among men who were little more than savages, sharp of mind and body where humanity had fallen lax. The Amurites would have worshipped him as a god had he allowed it. He seemed capable of things they didn't even understand.

At his words the crystal floated and burst into flames. The crystal darkened until it seemed the dark center of the fire writhed within it. Long asleep the crystal looked like a beast once beautiful, now fallen to ruin. The beast twitched and screamed, sending the crystal shooting out of Kylorin's control and into the snow.

No one was more terrified by the sight than Seterim. Kylorin went over and picked up crystal, it had reverted to its red form but the fire remained around it. He then walked back to Seterim.

"Give me your sword."

Seterim did so without question. Kylorin spoke a prayer to Nantosuelta and the crystal melted into the hilt of Seterim's sword. For a second the sword itself seemed to burn, and then it cooled back to it original form.

"Keep this crystal with you and it will give you strength in battle and empower you against the enemies arrayed against us. The life that you knew is over. Seterim died on those frozen wastes. You are Belenus now. Rest here and you will grow strong. Your strength will be need soon."

With that Kylorin gave him the imbued sword and Belenus was born.

Spoiler Garrim Gyr :

Garrim looked at the crystal that lay on the table before him. It had been brought in by the miners yesterday; at first mistaking it for silver, they had lost two of their number to its power. It had yet to be explained why. According to the disturbing tales of the other miners, the workers had simply died when they touched the substance, without it inflicting any visible wound on them. They'd merely fallen to the ground without a sound, their lifeforce disappearing completely. Finally, the miners realized the source of the threat, and one of them, unusually courageous, attempted to pick up the crystal with a piece of cloth, and so it was that they had brought it to him.

He was about invoke a basic spell of scrying when his apprentice, Haeris, walked into his study.

"What have I told you about knocking?!" Garrim yelled, with a fury more motivated by his tension than by actual irritation. Haeris seemed quite startled at his master's unusual display of temper.

"Sorry master, but you'd just sent for me, I thought..." he trailed off.

"Hmpf...well, now that you've come, you might as well stay. Who knows, you might even learn something from this. But please be quiet!"

Haeris walked closer to the table in silence, but he appeared a bit sullen.

Garrim ignored him, and returned his attention to the crystal. It was quite beautiful, and he fully understood why the unlucky miners had felt compelled to pick it up. Lights sparkled within its surface, red, purple and blue. Perhaps it would have been wiser to dispose of it, to take it to one of the deep mineshafts that were scheduled for closing soon, but Garrim had always been very curious about magical artifacts, whether they were benevolent or harmful.

He raised his left hand, and started to invoke the spell of scrying. Surprisingly, there was no reaction whatsoever from the substance, he might as well have used the spell on a common rock. Puzzled, he looked closely at the crystal. It still sparkled with light...but it seemed the colors had grown darker while the light grew more intense...a truly unusual phenomenon to behold. As he watched, a dark mist suddenly started to emanate from the crystal, making a hissing sound somewhat akin to that of sulfuric acid liquifying metal. The mist started to approach Garrim, and soon it had surrounded him completely. The hissing sound became louder, and he realized it was actually a chorus of whispers: "You....binder of spells.....we need you...you need us...power...power beyond imagination....follow us...follow us...touch the relic...and you shall be free at last..."

Garrim felt himself drawn towards the crystal, and he was about to reach out and touch it when he suddenly pulled himself back through a sheer effort of will. His ears away from the whispers and his head clear once more, he suddenly realized what he was dealing with here. "Mammon..." he muttered under his breath. He leapt backwards as the mist approached again, made a complicated hand-gesture and invoked the most powerful defensive spell he could remember. A pillar of brilliant light appeared before him, and the mist moved backwards, the whispers now more furious than compelling. Garrim drew a breath of relief. That had been close.

Relief quickly gave way to terror, as Garrim suddenly saw Haeris on the other side of the barrier, and the mist that was rapidly closing in on him. It enveloped Haeris in much the same way as it had enveloped him moments earlier, but Haeris proved less resilient. He leaned forward and touched the crystal while Garrim watched, stunned by the sheer horror of the events taking place behind the wall of light.

Haeris let out a scream of anguish, as a shaft of light from the crystal struck him in the chest. It lingered on as a pulsating beam seemed to be sucking the life away from him. Haeris' face became increasingly distorted, his flesh was slowly drained of all colour, and his eyes gained a bluish hue. But suddenly the shaft of dark-red light subsided, and the mist dispersed with it. Garrim regained his senses, quickly dispelled the wall of light, and rushed to the side of his apprentice, who stood with a blank stare in his eyes.

"Are you all right? Haeris, speak to me!"

At first he merely stared blankly at the crystal in front of him. Then he eyed Garrim, and his pale face was distorted by a sudden sneer.

"I am perfectly fine, master... I can see clearly now..."Garrim was shocked to hear the contempt in the voice of his previously amiable apprentice. What came next would prove even more horrifying, however.

The battle had been rough. Garrim doubled over and coughed up blood, but managed to stay on his feet. Before him lay the burnt and disfigured corpse of his apprentice and friend, burned--and this was what hurt the most--by Garrim's own spells. Yet he had had no choice. The crystal still laid on the table, its surface now deceptively calm. The idea of throwing it into a deep mineshaft seemed much more compelling now. That thing had never been meant for daylight.

Kylorin offers some demonstration of how a mage might use mana, though the method could differ depending on mana type. Presumably, some incantation would be needed to unlock its power, regardless of type, and it would serve as a catalyst for spells; magi can operate fine without it, but it's needed for adepts to learn spell spheres, so I'm assuming it serves as nothing more than a catalyst to teach, and allow lesser magi to work (for instance, ones using enchantment mana to provide happiness or life mana for health).

 

[Rasta69]

I remember reading somewhere that the mana nodes represent gateways to the infinte planes of elements that Agares made when he nicked them off the one so he could continue to create, I assume therefore that mages need to have a shrine of sorts to allow them to take these elements from these planes. The relationships between most of the civs are fairly fluid, but a couple of standouts occur to me. Ljsosofar and the Svaltar are arch enemys (though the possiblity of the two courts recombining has a lot of interesting potential. The Hippus and the Khazad are also not too fond of each other due to their patron gods. (kilmorph godess of hard work and responabilty and Tali goddes of wind travel and trickery) means that they are continually vying for gold(then again the possiblity of the Dwarves simply hiring the hippus has also occured to me) Depending on which leader you choose, the Lucchurip are definetly trying to kill Perpentch (He enslaved Berri Bawl leading to his quite vivid dreams of a clockwork golem smashing him to pieces) Mmm the clan and the Bannor have had a lot of wars between these two nations(the clan inhabiting the areas that the Original Bannor lived in so theres certainly some bad blood between them) but again theres the possiblity of the "Redeemed clan" joining with the bannor. Basically if you can justify it then any relationship between the nations of Erebus is correct, one of the Seven wonders of the Fall from Heaven universe.

 

[far_wanderer]

I can attempt to offer brief answers to your questions, although I'm sure more knowledgeable people can provide more information on specifics and correct me if I get something wrong. These will be extremely brief and simplistic answers.

Spoiler :

1 - what is their take on the game/what are they trying to accomplish
2 - do their people know about it
3 - how do they attract people to their empire
4 - any strong connections to other civs.

Amurites
1 - Discover arcane secrets and begin a new glorious age, fulfilling their legacy as children of Kylorin.
2 - Yes
3 - Unclear, they probably don't very much
4 - Valledia did some really evil things to Einon Logos to manipulate him, it is unclear if he is aware of this.

Balseraphs
1 - Being crazy is awesome! Chaos rules! They are everything sinister and creepy about the circus, with added depravity and insanity.
2 - Polka-dot clouds!
3 - Insanity and/or slavery
4 - Beeri was once a prisoner of Perpentach, Keelyn has a decent working relationship with Falamar.

Bannor
1 - Survived hell for a long time, made it back with the help of an angel, discovered that the real world sucked and now they want to make it better. Making it better involves lots of killing evil things.
2 - Most definitely.
3 - Shared goals and desires. Despite their rather aggressive stance, the Bannor are one of the more diverse civilizations.
4 - When the Bannor got sucked into hell, the people who stayed behind turned evil and became orcs. The Bannor don't like them at all.

Calabim
1 - Elite vampire aristocracy that terrorizes the populace into submission.
2 - Unfortunately for them, yes.
3 - Even life under a tyrant can be better than the savages in the wilderness.
4 - Descended from Os-Gabella

Clan of Embers
1 - Like the barbarians, except slightly more civilized and intelligent.
2 - Yes
3 - Orcs who think there might be slightly more to life than "eat, kill, sex, sleep".
4 - The aforementioned standoff with the Bannor

Doviello
1 - Animalistic humans that survived the Age of Ice the hard way. Charadon has the motivations of an alpha wolf, Mahala actually wants to improve them a bit.
2 - Yes
3 - People who survive long enough to impress them.
4 - They used to work for the Illians.

Elohim
1 - Semi-pacifists entrusted with the sanctity and protection of holy sites and caring for the weak and helpless.
2 - Yes
3 - All are welcome
4 - The thing with Einon and Valladia that he might or might not know about.

Grigori
1 - Gods will only get you into trouble. Throw off their machinations and trust in the human spirit alone.
2 - Yes
3 - Anyone discouraged with the collateral damage of the gods and their religions.
4 - None

Hippus
1 - Nomadic raiders who have recently begun to be more organized and work as mercenaries.
2 - Yes
3 - They don't, really.
4 - Rhoanna has had several previous run-ins with Falamar.

Illians
1 - Bring back the god of winter in the form of the ascension of their leader, Auric.
2 - Yes
3 - All who are willing to swear allegiance to Auric.
4 - The Doveillo used to work for them, and the Amurites helped kill the old god of winter.

Khazad
1 - Cautiously return to the newly thawed surface world to see if any money can be made.
2 - Yes
3 - Surface dwellers are not to be trusted.
4 - None

Kuriotates
1 - A conglomeration of varied races allied under a god-king who is secretly a dragon trying to regain physical form.
2 - It's unclear how aware they are, but the ones who do know seem okay with it.
3 - Anyone who wants a piece of metropolitan progress and safety.
4 - None

Lanun
1 - Pirates of the high seas. Falamar is the typical roguish gentleman pirate, Hannah is a vindictive destroyer of cities blessed by the Octopus Overlords.
2 - Yes
3 - The same way as any other pirate civilization, I guess.
4 - Falamar is a charmer who seems to have relations of some sort with nearly every female leader in the game.

Ljosalfar
1 - Elves. They like trees and arrows.
2 - Yes
3 - They don't
4 - See the Svartalfar

Luchuirp
1 - Dwarves who didn't go underground and become distrustful like the Khazad, and instead build golems.
2 - Yes
3 - They don't
4 - Beeri and Perpentach, as mentioned.

Malakim
1 - Desert nomads recently organized under a religious prophet who wishes to spread enlightenment to the world.
2 - Yes
3 - I don't know
4 - None

Sheaim
1 - Demon worshipers with a personal investment in bringing about the end of the world.
2 - Yes
3 - Recruitment of like-minded occultists
4 - None

Sidar
1 - Mystical people with a strong connection to the spirit world and something resembling the secret of eternal life. They have far more patience than they do concrete goals, and are content to wait things out.
2 - Yes
3 - It's not really covered, but presumably people who can find them and share their ideals would be welcome.
4 - They don't like undead.

Svartalfar
1 - The elves of the winter court, split from the Ljosalfar when Faeryl didn't want to give up power after the age of ice ended. They backstab and deceive a lot, and don't really have clear goals
2 - Maybe
3 - They don't
4 - Faeryl doesn't like the Ljosalfar.

 

[Lone Wolf]

What are all the civilization's takes in this game?
What is each civ trying to accomplish?

Read the civilopedia...

 

[Darksaber1]

I don't think most of the Sheim population knows about their rulers plans, their just in it for the 2 rules of the Sheim, 1: Bother you neighouhs, you're a Pyre Zombie, 2: Beyond that, anything goes.