Tracnar began to take form again, it was only a matter of time before he noticed The god of Aether lurking about. Surprise is once again not on Tracnar's side.
The dim haze took shape, a human shape. And a man stepped out from the mist. He was a squat lanky haired man, dressed in merchants clothing.
"Evening the odds." The God of Aether's human eyes glowed with a golden light before returning to a dull grey. " I am here to help my ....master, Ashus. Dare attacking him and you will face the both of us."
Tracnar looked into the eyes of the lord of shadows, he knew ver was thinking of some plan to get rid of the god of Aether and have the god of terror the the whim of ver magic.
Tracnar was ready, he would use any powers he had to protect Ashus, Tracnar needed him.
"You detained another god without his permission. That was not wise."
"Oh, he gave me something great in return, and the best is still yet to come. It is more of an alliance, with him as the leader. He may have been the one that disrupted my power and caused me to descend into this world, and now i am unable to return to where my main power was, the nether regions where Aether comes from. Once I am ready, he will help me return to there, it is most urgent that i return. Ultimately, He did not need me, he could have escaped soon enough, but it would have taken years. When i went into your realm, I provided a conduit out of your realm. He took it. And in Exchange, i get new powers to help me prepare for my eventual ascending back to where i am strong enough to do what i need to do."
"of coarse i do, he may betray me, unlikely as it is. Even if he does, i swore an oath to him, and he accepted it. Our fates are intertwined together,if one of us fails in our promises, we both fall."
The tendrils recoiled for one second, but Ashus only glanced back with a growl and proceeded to continue with his aggression, the tendrils moving to wrap about Lancelot and lift her into the air (barring any resistance on her part), a good five feet from Ashus.
Watch closely Pericles. You cannot please everyone. I learned this long ago. Better you choose your own path than let the gods choose it for you.
Into the clearing walked the God of Luck, clad in his most common form. A tall thin man, with pitch black hair to the contrast of his pale, gaunt face. Yet anyone who looked at him always noticed his eyes, as dark as the deepest caverns in the bowels of the earth but those who let their gaze linger would swear that they could see the flickering of the stars inside.
As he walked in, he spoke so all could hear. "I wish no harm to each and every person here whilst I am here and I swear this on the powers of my office. I offer advice to the mortal, which I will give and I will not interfere in your battle. Any fight of yours, Ashus, or yours, Lord of the Shadows, is no fight of mine."
Walking to Pericles, he leaned over to him and whispered in his ear. "Ashus is right, you can not and will not be able to please everyone. Choose carefully. Eons ago, I was in a position like yours, and luckily, I made the right choice. Today, it is your choice. I can look at the probabilities of the future, yet the dice will never roll exactly as I predict. At this time, at this place, the fate of the planet turns upon you. Make a choice, and hope you make the right one."
In a lower voice still, so no one but Pericles could hear, he whispered again. "Call on the God of Luck and a question may receive an answer but the answer you gain may not be to your liking"
When he finished, he straightened himself back to his full hight and walked back to the forest's edge before Pericles could reply. At the edge, he turned, watching.
Watching and waiting...
SpoilerOOC :
Don't take the last line as a pointed barb to prod people to hurry up, I want to drag this epic fight out to even more epic proportions
Leonidas walked in, expecting Pericles' next set of orders to lead the Greeks. But Pericles wasn't able to order anyone around... he was still in bed. Leonidas went to see him...
"Ugggh... the wine, the ouzo... it's all too much for me." Pericles groaned. "Let me take a day off and I will give you orders next day. Be patient, I'll do Greece no good if trying to lead Greece in this state."
Leonidas walked out again. Evidently Pericles had given in to another temptation... the temptation of Dionysos, God of Alcohol.
OOC:
Spoiler:
Well, I expected to be able to play Thursday night... but you get can from the story what happened. Friday!
Okay, the next set has been played. Report will be up soon.
Highlights:
-Rome declared war on me! After a thorough bashing and capture of three Roman cities, I got the 'Roman mercy for Greek wounded' event, and Pericles was merciful as well and granted Augustus peace. Praetorians are good but unfortunately for Augustus, I was already fielding xbows and maces (and soon knights as well)
-Killed a lot of barbarians and captured one of their cities.
-Mantis is now insanely powerful.
-Pericles is (finally) Judaic. From a captured Roman city.
-Stalin is preparing war... I suppose against Liz. She's weakest and not exactly liked.
And on the "I cannot keep every God happy": yes, I know. Yet the one time I had really trouble with gods (the 1500 BC save) Greece lost half its cities and went hungry for years to come. Pericles has a long memory, though.
The damage done to Greece by the rampaging barbarians turned out to be merely superficial. A few roads had been cut, a few mines destroyed, but except for the Spartan odeon no lasting damage. Besides, just as barbarians came the perfect weapon against them was developed: a new type of bow, the so-called 'crossbow' became the Greek standard overnight. And it proved to be effective against barbarians... and later on, Praetorians. For trouble was brewing in Rome.
After several isolated 'incidents', such as a group of barbarians taking refuge in Roman lands...
...free from the Greeks who wished their destruction, the backgammon incident, and other grievances, one of them had been the last straw for Augustus. Around 600 AD, the bad news was delivered to Pericles - by Augustus in person.
Augustus cast only a foul look at Pericles. "You will now pay for what you have done, Pericles. Unless you wish to surrender at once and pay tribute for all the grievances you have caused us, Rome will declare war upon Greece and wipe your pathetic excuse for a nation off the earth."
Pericles did not even deem the Caesar worthy of another glance. "It is war, then. May the gods bring you to justice for your hubris."
Augustus seethed: "How dare you think the gods are on your side! You do not even know of the One True God? We - Rome, Spain, Russia - are the chosen. You and heathen England are just obstacles."
Pericles now flew into a rage as he heard the insolent words of the Caesar. "You deem yourself a chosen of the Gods? Has the thought not once occurred to you that we might simply be soldiers in a war between gods? Have you not thought that gods are behind the souring of our diplomatic relations? We are but pawns, Caesar. If you still wish to wage war on Greece, then leave now before I call my guards and have you decapitated on the spot!"
And Augustus left for Rome once again. Praetorians entered the border and marched on New Corinth.
While the Jewish bloc did not like Pericles enough to trade with him, the same could not be said for Queen Elizabeth. Trading the secrets of Greek philosophy for the English theories on civil service, both got a good bargain out of the deal. And with that came the Praetorian's true downfall - the Maceman.
The first group of Praetorians at Corinth met the Mantis in battle and was disposed of. The Mantis and his troops would become immensely proficient over the course of the war, as Mantis personally led the charges ahead of the regular troops. The Mantis and his Keshiks were a force to be reckoned with.
As the battle went on, the Roman shouts went from overconfidence to doubt to terror. They could only scream and swear as every last one of them was killed or taken captive, all the way cursing Queen Elizabeth for her willingness to still trade with the Greeks, and the devilish Greek machinery. Barbarian archers and axemen were one thing: Greek macemen and crossbowmen another thing entirely.
Roman advances went to holding their ground to retreating as the new Greek army pushed forward. That cost the Romans several of their cities, and led to the fortune of the war dramatically turning against Augustus, if it was not doomed to fail from the start.
The word of the Creator finally had spread to Greece, from occupied Roman territory. The message would soon enough be spread around Greece. That would maybe also represent a positive turning point in their relations with Queen Isabella, who kept on making demands of Greece. Leonidas had nearly ran to the splendorous mansion of Lord Ashus to pray for his help against her insolence, but Pericles wanted to keep the bloodshed to a minimum. In the end, Greece paid tribute for a small time, then revoked it and renegotiated it into a better deal.
Roman soldiers, in true spirit, had tended to the wounded after a battle - Roman and Greek wounded alike. Moved by this display of true heroism, Pericles decided the punishment for Augustus had been harsh enough and sent out envoys to discuss peace with the Romans. Augustus immediately jumped at the prospect of a white peace, though he had lost cities to Greece. Before that, Greece would likely have imposed an enormous tribute upon the Romans for their insolence, maybe even forced vassalage to Greece. His closest advisors decided not to try such a thing again - ever. The heroic Roman soldiers who tended to the Greek wounded were hailed as peacebringers in Rome, and Augustus once more thought about whether he had maybe been a little rash with declaring the war.
Greece had in time become stronger as well - the Greek capacity for warfare had been enlarged by the invention of feudalism and guilds. Greece had gained wisdom as well. But Pericles still lacked that one knowledge about that secret the frog had taunted him with. What was it?
He would hold a debate on it soon.
OCC - concerning my style of play in DivInt IV:
Spoiler:
The one different style that I've adopted in this game is a genuine 'nice guy' type of play - as is evident from the report. The regular PaulusIII has Domination/Conquest as favored victory, is as likely to plan/declare war as Shaka or Genghis Khan, and his idea of diplomacy consists of beating people with a stick. Repeatedly.
I tried to change that to prevent this game from becoming Divine Intervention III.2. to try and keep more in line with the gods rather than just go my own way and smack people around - to try for a different game.
Pericles found himself walking the streets of a strange city. The buildings, with their graceful curves and spirals, were of a style unknown to the learned Greek. Every corner seemed to hold a small shrine, each with a golden statue depicting some weird creature or other.
The people were stranger still. Slender and dark-skinned, with brightly-coloured clothing, they chattered to one another in a lyrical tongue. Bizarre music poured forth from many doorways, drums whooping and clicking whilst wailing voices struck alien harmonies.
More than anything, though, Pericles was overwhelmed by the smell of the place. The air itself had a sickly-sweet tang to it, which mixed with the dark, pungent fragrances that drifted from cooking pots and market stalls to form an intoxicating aroma.
Feeling light-headed, he wandered out into a great square, surrounded by huge temples of gold and marble. Pounding rhythms and chanting voices combined all around him, and the air grew thick with scent.
Pericles began to feel nauseous. The thrill of the exotic faded, and was replaced by a profound sense of unease. As much as he craved to discover more about this place, the more potent desire was to escape from it. Almost in a panic now, he stumbled down stone steps to a dark archway, hidden from the street above.
Struggling to stay upright, Pericles moved into the cool darkness and away from the sensory assault of the city outside. Catching his breath, he looked around to see plain walls. The air smelled more normal here, and the relentless music had faded to a distant murmur. His composure returning, Pericles went deeper into this subterranian refuge.
After a short distance the corridor opened out into a candlelit room with a single curved wall running all the way around. At its centre was an altar made of rough stone, upon which sat a large wooden cross.
Surrounding the altar there were five men, each of them wearing a long, hooded robe. Their heads bowed, the men spoke softly in an unfamiliar language. But, amongst the many repeated incantations, there was one word that the Greek King recognised, and it sent a chill down his spine.
Although Pericles never again dreamed about the strange city, the things he had seen there stayed with him. So when reports came from the north about a new religion spreading from the barbarian tribes into Greek and Roman cities, he took an immediate interest.
The secretive nature of this cult meant that, despite the best efforts of Pericles' agents, few concrete details were uncovered. Its followers apparently believed that a divine being would come to them in human form, and that this being alone would be able to save them from eternal damnation. They also seemed to have a peculiar fascination with the shape of the crucifix (a method of execution favoured by the Romans, Pericles noted).
(NFPE):
Spoiler:
Don't worry, Winston isn't Christ.
Although, for the time being, I'm quite happy for Paulus to think that's what I'm up to.
Indeed, it was real - the tentacles wrapped around Lancelot and constricted her, and his natural armor hardened to thick crystals as Ashus stepped forward and his blade tore into Lancelot - slicing the armor like paper - and gashing the woman badly across her torso. The Tentacles in the way wisped to nothing as the sword came and rematerialized as it passed, blood dripping from beneath their grip.
As Ashus slammed her up against the wall, small shadow wisps tore into being, forming into nightmarish demons, each with demonic hammers big enough to flatten a normal human with little effort - five, no, ten of the things in mere seconds, growling as they scanned the room. It seemed as if these were extensions of Ashus' power.
As those that would intervene began, it was clear something was amiss. The demons began rampaging, knocking things over and attacking civilians. A power spike surged through the room as a golden light began eminating within Ashus, the tentacles turning from a dark black to shining golden beams of light.
There will be no escape for you this time, Lancelot.
And with a brillaint flash and an explosion of energy, the two were gone
-----------------------------
A Realm popped into existence, in the multiverse, as the divine energy of the God of Gold and Transportation (Runner) channeled itself into its creation, robbing Ashus of that ability forever. But the sacrifice was needed - For now he had complete control of the situation as the tentacles held the struggling Lancelot to the ground, pure gold highway paved with golden sidewalks - a neverending highway.
Lancelot, only Eldarion has the power to weild that sword against me without failing. He is my undoing and I know this - but you are not him! And so the tales will say that you failed, that you died in combat with Ashus, God of Terror, Lord of Gold.
The Lord of Gold
------------------------------
All across the world, coffers were filled and treasuries were overflowing. New paths, roads anew had sprung up, unbuilt, and it was said that the great God Ashus, Lord of Gold, has brought a golden age upon all.
SpoilerNFPE :
No access to BTS, can someone add 1000 gold to everyone's treasury.
As well, make sure there is at least one continuous route that touches one city from every single civilization on the continent of the Greeks
The God of Aether reached out, and tried to find his master, truly he saw was Ashus develop a realm. The realm was unreachable to Tracnar, no celebrations yet, cautiously Tracnar felt around, no presence besides the stunned mortals, Pericles had already reached for the nearest liquor source, he would have a bad headache in the morning.
The god of Aether realized that this was no longer the battle field, the next fight, if any, would be fought within Ashus's new realm, or some place else?
Either way, Tracnar left a bit of Aether here for a monitor in case anything returned, and then he left on a gust of wind to the docks of Rome, sailors were leaving across the bridge, it is finally time to make the necessary preparations for his journey.
Going to the crater first, he left open a Aether node, if Tracnar needed to return, he now could retreat to there. At the docks a unusually strong breeze propelled the roman trireme out to sea. A squat merchant sat at the stern of the boat and drifted into what seemed like sleep, a eerie aura surrounded him.
Tracnar was going find his other half on the other side of the world, and merge with him, even if it means by force.
The god of aether in human form on the ship, sat and waited, monitoring wherever he had access to, looking for tidings of Ashus and the Lord of Shadows.
SpoilerNFPE :
can you make a golden age in world builder?
i would but i am not sure, will wait for response before i make my changes, also do not have access at the moment
I belive it was Ashus who used Runner's powers that he has within him to create a realm, he would still have his other powers, but no longer runner's powers
This site uses cookies to help personalise content, tailor your experience and to keep you logged in if you register.
By continuing to use this site, you are consenting to our use of cookies.
