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UPDATE FOUR
Of Giants and Cats
Faith in the new gods is growing in the world. Slowly at first, but steadily, more and more people realise that the One is gone forever and turn towards other deities. And these deities have their own plans for spreading their faith, plans which usually require armies to do most of the job.
The northern hemisphere:
Marignon:
Marignon has conquered the lands of Kymriu with their army, using their magic skills and mundane troops to crush the local resistance.
The extension of Marignon looks great on a map, but the young empire faces internal problems:
In the capital, priests of Hocus started bickering on a point of faith: Was Hocus a god before the One died, or did he become a god as the One disappeared?
At first, Hocus didn't care about this theological argument. All that mattered was that he was god now. But his priests wouldn't agree and fought each other behind their deity's back.
Soon, the feud had attained terrible proportions, with proponents of each camp openly insulting the others and calling them heretics. Hocus told the leader of each school to calm down, but their followers went out of control and physically attacked each other.
As a result, Hocus had to declare he had always been a god, and had all the dissenters burnt.
Shinuyama:
In Tir na n'Og, a man riding a white stallion came to meet the new bakemono leaders. This man called himself Bres, and wanted to thank Shizen's people for vanquishing king Cumhal.
Bres explained he was a Tuatha, one of the first inhabitants of the island, whose people had fought the Fir Bolg so long ago.
Centuries ago, before the One brang peace to this part of the world, giants called the Fomorians had invaded Tir na n'Og. Bres tried to make peace with them, and as a result, Cumhal and his partisans had called him a traitor and imprisoned him.
Bres had stood imprisoned under a cairn until the day of Cumhal's death. He slowly awoke, and went out of his prison-cairn to find out Shizen's troops claimed the bakemono kunshu was a god.
Bres was happy to welcome the bakemono. They had beaten the Fir Bolg and the few faeries who were still living in the island, and Bres always wanted to be on the side of winners.
Bres is a mighty warrior and wizard, and he also holds priestly powers, and swears to serve Shizen and become his right arm in his quest for ultimate godhood.
Shinuyama armies landed in Manchuria and soon engaged the local armies in order to seize the land.
The bakemonos were stronger in melee, and supported by mages who cast fire bolts and clouds of rusty vapors making the opponents'armor brittle.
Manchurian infantry was quickly defeated, and the bakemonos charged the enemy archers, supported by lightning bolts shot by their god Shizen.
Manchurians were overwhelmed and surrendered, accepting the rule of the bakemono after a clear victory in which Shinuyama forces had suffered very few losses.
Pythium:
In Pythium, the boy who had found the magic book has grown up. He's now a young man extraordinarily gifted for magic research.
Arcoscephale citizens appreciate Pythium's gladiator fights a lot and have started creating their own arenas and training their own gladiators (1 gladiator unit spawned in Arcoscephale).
Jotunheim:
In the north a new power has been sighted. Giants of Niefelheim and Jotunheim are now united under the banner of one of their kind, and he, like so many others, claims godhood over the world.
This new god is rumoured to be a giant of tremendous stature, a son of Niefel whose kin ruled over all the northern lands long before the One claimed sovereignty over the world.
Arshnoc:
A great festival has been held in Seul. As a priest came from Arshnoc, the population decided to setup celebrations and hold festivals.
Religious fervor attracted many people and pilgrims, and a huge fair was soon organised. People from all Arshnoc came to visit the country, and the locals built roads to make it easier for pilgrims.
The population in Baikal has decided to setup a conscription program in order to better defend their country (+1 static defense due to good stability).
Battle of Caelum
Arshnoc forces have invaded the mountains of Caelum. These mountains are inhabited by flying men enjoying their cold climate.
Knowing the enemy they'd be facing thanks to their intelligence work, the Arshnoc army had prepared accordingly.
Arshnoc had moved ostensibly in order to force the Caelians to pick a fight in a precise location. The night before the battle, their scouts had laid out caltrops and prepared snares to try to catch, maim or slow the enemy mammoths.
Arshnocian armies managed to disrupt the mammoths charge so the mammoths weren't synchronised with their infantry attack.
Caelian infantry landed all around the main Arshnoc army, and Arshnoc footmen managed to kill those at the rear of the army and allowed their archers to freely shoot arrows at the enemy archers.
Meanwhile, the Arshnoc celestial hounds caught the mammoths and prevented them from joining the Caelian infantry.
The fight was effectively two-part: Winged and non winged men on one end of the battlefield, and mammoths and flying dogs on the other.
In both places, the Arshnocian troops prevailed, and the Caelian soon fled. All the mammoths were killed in the battle, and the race seems doomed as all of the adult animals had been used in the battle. Only a few youngs remain in the country, but without thir mothers, they are likely to die soon.
Arshnocians now have taken control of the mountains and are trying to impose their laws upon the winged men.
Following this conquest, nobles of T'ien Ch'i have sent emissaries to the province of Man Ch'i, afraid that Arshnoc may have expansionist intent against both provinces. Man Ch'i answer isn't known, but officials say they are confident that Arshnoc wouldn't attack their trade partners. Still, Man Cb'i and T'ien Ch'i are now almost entirely surrounded by the Arshnoc empire, and many doubt they'll remain independant for very long.
Ulm:
Ulm armies move to Dacia and slaughter the local army without problem thanks to their superior armament.
However, once in Dacia, many of them die of mysterious death. Veterans say there is something in the country which causes illnesses.
The southern hemisphere:
C'tis:
Things are pretty quiet in the lizardmen realm...
Lanka:
Mad elephants are still destroying the monkey's attempts at building a decent infrastructure in Bandar Log. Monkeys are starting to wonder how to control them.
They did understand that elephants had tremendous destructive potential, however, and some of the beasts have been captured and used for war, with devastating success in the neighboring Gath province. However, wild elephants remain a problem.
In Gath, the army of Lanka took over the local defense with little or no difficulty, their elephants trampling all in their path, with monkey archers support. Most of the monkey infantry were just cheering behind their elephant friends during the whole battle, giving coups-de-grace to dying trampled defenders.
Mictlan:
A terrible disease spread out in Jaguars Jungle, killing many inhabitants.
In Machaka, Mictlanese held tournaments that celebrate Machaka culture, including spider-riding jousts where the winners are given bird-feather headdresses.
The winners were also given cermonial titles and positions, and some of them are offered fabulous talking cats imported from the neighbor desert province of C'tis.
These cats are mischievous creatures, and sometimes known to cause trouble.
One day, the cat of a winner known for his mistrust of Mictlanese adminsitration, strolled in the streets and went to a Mictlanese jaguar warrior.
"Hello dude, said the cat. What's up?
-I'm on sacred duty, beast. Move along.
-Don't call me beast, dude. I've seen the kind of yours turn into big cats when wounded. You're a cat like me. You have no right to call me beast.
-Move along, I said.
-I don't like the way you talk to me, beast-man. Since you're not being polite, I won't tell you what my master's plotting."
With these words, the cat turned and moved away. The jaguar warrior stared for a second and called him back.
"Hey, cat, what do you mean?
-I mean I won't talk to impolite people. I'm going back to Ukurugenzi's house now. He may be a traitor, but at least he's polite."
The cat ran away, leaving the jaguar warrior puzzled. The man soon reported to his officers, and the Mictlanese sent a small patrol investigate Ukurgenzi's house.
There, they found a cache of weapons and manifest signs that the man was trying to promote a revolt. Thanks to the cat's indiscretion, Mictlanese authorities seized the man and confiscated the weapons.
Ukurugenzi was questioned by Mictlanese priests, but he refused to talk and died without telling all his secrets. Several things were clear however:
- He had been plotting an attack on the authorities, and this was thwarted. Without the weapons, this group of Machakan rebels wasn't going to be dangerous anymore.
- Ukurugenzi had managed to buy more weapons than his wealth could allow. He had obviously received funding from somewhere else. Authorities believe that all this support couldn't possibly have been local, but have't been able to prove anything.
The Mictlanese knew an attack had been averted, but there were still many Machakans who were ready to take arms and rebel. Some of them caught a jaguar warriors patrol unaware and killed the priest that led them. Without the priest's blessing, the jaguar warriors retreated, but they were caught by the spider riders.
They fought valiantly but all of them succumbed in the ambush.
This victory boosted the rebels' morale, who setup another ambush, which wasn't so successful, and the leader of that second ambush group was killed by jaguar warriors.
Eventually, Mictlanese located the rebels and a new battle took place in the jungle, as spider riders were cornered by Mictlan troops. Blessed eagle warriors pinned the spider riders, giving time to the slave and jaguar warriors to reach the rebels and cut them to pieces.
Overall, Mictlanese suffered new losses, and Machakans aren't yet pacified, but the situation is becoming much more stable as the most vocal rebels died in the skirmishes and the second battle.
Abysia:
In Ashdod, the giant priest-king was assaulted by foreign assassins.
They managed to enter his palace unnoticed, despite the guards who normally keep it. The Ashdodi palace security officer says they were so small they were probably mistaken for slaves.
It remains to be seen whether such a cheap excuse will let him keep his head, but some say there were accomplices inside Ashdod proper.
Whatever the means the assassins used to enter the palace, they managed to reach the king's personal apartments unnoticed, and dispatched the slumbering guards at the doors.
Inside the room, things didn't go as easily however. The Ashdodi king, Daniel the Great, always kept his sword and shield nearby.
Although he was busy with some human slave women, Daniel immediately noticed the intrusion of three strangers. He flung one of his slave partners at the assassins, throwing her all through the big room as a lesser man would throw a pebble, and rushed for his shield and sword.
When the assassins had managed to reach him, the king was armed, and charged them without fear. With a stroke of his sword, he cut an assassin in two. As the second assassin tried to hit him with his poisoned dagger, Daniel lowered his head and impaled the stranger on his golden horns.
Seeing this, the third killer was afraid. He realised his firy aura had no effect upon the giant, and he couldn't find a way to hit him past his golden shield. His hesitation proved fatal, and soon king Daniel took off his head with a mighty sword swipe.
Ashdodi giants took the corpses out of the palace. These corpses were obviously abysian, and Daniel has sent an open letter to the Abysian government:
"To the Abysian Sultanate from your neighbours of Ashdod.
I, Daniel the Great, king of the twin cities, ruler of Ashdod, worshipper of the ancestors, ask you to pay a compensation for the evil and unprovoked attack of some of your people upon my person.
If, within a year, you do not pay me my weight in gold (12 gold), Ashdod will have to consider that you are our enemies and will take arms and conquer your puny land of lava dwarves."
New map:
