Darksaber1
Secret Emperor
Likely Abysia, but Ermor, Ulm or Marignon are also possible epi-centres.
That Said, please not me; please not me; please not me.
That Said, please not me; please not me; please not me.
-
Civilization 7 has been announced. For more info please check the forum here .
Dominion NES
- Thread starter LDiCesare
- Start date
Note: Players will be receiving detailed stats by e-mail.
Faith in a god can be such a strong motivation... Men and women will happily make great sacrifices in the name of their god.
For instance in Vanheim, inhabitants of Midgard have dug up old tombs in which their ancestors had been buried with their treasures and donated gold to the new god's church, hoping Lord Thordai would guard the ancestors'spirits in the afterlife, since it was obvious the One no longer would.
Vanheim inhabitants felt ashamed not to have displayed such faith in Thordai and therefore some of them organised quests to find money to donate to the church. This resulted in a nice gold boost for Vanheom coffers.
In Jotunheim, it is said that the giants built a new temple to their god Magni, but apart from that very few news came from this country.
Arsnoc
In Baikal, priests of Stheran received a letter from the capital. A mage form Arshnoc informed them that an old abbey was rumoured to have been built on the shores of a lake in the north of the province.
The priests immediately set up for a fuest, moved to the lake and soon found the old abbey. It had apparently been a center of magic study in times past, and although it wasn't big enough and was too isolated to act as a real temple, priests turned it into a place of pilgrimage and used it to enhance the faith in their god in the province.
At the same time, Arshnoc armies entered the valleys of Ural, where they were met by deer tribesmen who couldn't resist the might of their veteran infantry, archers and flying hounds.
Marignon
The main troublemakers in Marverni have finally been arrested by the authorities. Priests caught them and judged them firmly (Burn!Burn!). As a result, the province is now much more orderly than before.
However, in Kymriu there is a new cause of concern for Marignon authorities. Fishermen have reported that they have found strange fish in their nets, and there has been an inordinate number of wrecked sailors in recent years.
Since most of north Kymriu population relies a lot on the sea for its food, this has caused dearth in the province and people fear that famine may strike if this bad luck continues.
Lanka
In Patala, the monkeys have trained a milita in case rogue elephants from the neighbouring Bandar Log province would invade their lands.
Meanwhile, the main force of Lanka army invaded Ashdod. They were met by armies of giants, but even the giants of Ashdod could be trampled by the monkeys' elephants.
Elephants disrupted Ashdod ranks, and monkey infantry followed to harass them and prevent them from regrouping, while arrows from their long bows picked the giants and routed the human slingers of Ashdod.
Seeing this, the Adon king of Ashdod fled the battlefield, and is rumoured to have fled to the southern mountains.
However, many of Lanka elephants died in the battle or shortly afterwards, as it appears many giants had used poison-tipped spears.
The giants are hiding or ran away into the mountains, and humans welcome the monkeys as liberators. Some humans however doubt the monkeys will prove better masters than the giants, and say they should ask for the protection of Abysia instead.
Pythium
Pythian priests have been preaching in Colchis for a long time. Now, some Colchis leaders have been callig themselves kings, and fights have started between followers of Celes and heathens. The Pythian army intervened, summoned to help by some Colchidian chiefs.
It was not difficult for the legionaires to help their friends assert their power, and soon Colchis turned into a mix of puppet kingdoms and provinces annexed outright. As they expanded northwards, Pythians got less support from the population, but as Celes himself flew over their lands, most Colchidians surrendered without a fight.
Overall, the province has been annexed without any major battle having to be fought, as most of the Colchidians voluntarily abandoned their freedom for the faith in Celes.
Shinuyama
Shinuyaman armies moved from the island of Eriu northwestward to the large northwestern island. Here is how Bres the beautiful lived this journey:
Abysia
In the province of Nubia, many people are dying sur to the fetid miasma that comes from the marshes near the river. Many abysians say these are coming from downriver from C'tis. The local garrison is weakened by the many diseases that keep spreading.
Mictlan
In Mictlan, a small, ugly man came from the marshlands surrounding the capital to the big city.
He had a bluish or greenish skin but kept his face hidden under a hood, and asked to meet the High Priests immediately.
As jaguar warriors wanted to push him away, he shouted a spell and rain started falling immediately. The warriors who got nearer him suddenly panicked as they realised toads were falling from the sky when they neared the small man.
They called the priests of the rain, and the eldest rain priest came to meet the small man.
The head priest agreed to bring him to the most sacred place, and under a heavy guard of elite warriors, Tonitzli was brought to the Chrysalis. He touched it, and immediately, the Chrysalis started throbbing.
Celebrations were given in the city, as it was now clear that soon, the Chrysalis would awaken.
Tonitzli was appointed priest of the rain, and many of his kind came out of the marshes they were hiding in to join the people of Mictlan.
C'tis
Mictlan invades C'tis desert province known as the desert of a hundred tombs.
Mictlanese army faced only a weak army, mostly militia which were brought quickly together to try to fight off the invaders.
Mictlan army was composed of the giant sacred jaguar toads of Mictlan and a lot of slaves, backed up by elite eagle warriors and wizard-priests.
The sacred toads spit poison upon the lizardmen and charged them, trampling them and biting them to death on the left wing.
On the right wing, slaves fought the most experienced C'tis militia, and although they outnumbered them, their morale broke and they routed. Thhe enemy's right wing was destroyed however, and what remained was weakend and couldn't withstand the eagle warriors' intervention.
Although only a few slaves died during the battle, almost all of those who had been wounded contracted diseases, and even some of the unwounded ones. A priest died of a fever, cursing the horrid miasmas that surrounded the few water spots in the desert.
The toads seemed to ignore these miasmas, but they suffer a lot in the desert, which lacks the moisture they love and need. The way it is now, it looks like the army currently occupying the desert is likely going to die of disease because the waters don't suit the men, and the desert sun cooks the toads. Unless it moves to a moister, safer place of course.
In C'tis proper, Arshnoc merchants report that, with the loss of this province, the lizardmen economy is on the verge of collapse, and C'tis rulers have sent letters to all the other nations, requesting open borders agreements that would help their economy.
Ermor and Ulm
In the Ermor province of Slavia, all heathens have been looked for and arrested, to be cermonially killed by Ermor wizard-priests in the name of their divine emperor. As a consequence, there's no follower of Celes left in the province. Ermor priests were extremely brutal and indiscriminate in their search for heathens, and any doubt about someone led to execution. Late conversions weren't accepted and thousands died.
Many refugees flee to Arcoscephale, hoping Celes will protect them from further harm.
In Bavaria, more people rallied to the faith of the Ermorian emperor. People who admire the utter ruthlessness of the emperor and his fabled magic powers. As a huge Ulmish army prepared itself to cross the mountains southwards, a few bavarians went south ahead of the Ulmish army, and warned their brothers in faith of the incoming attack.
The emperor reacted promptly this time, not letting hiself be surprised as he had been by Marignon's naval invasion.
He sent priests and messengers in all the villages of the province, carrying a sealed letter:
The Ulmish army regrouped north of the province, with troops coming from Bavaria (51) and others from Sauromatia (24).
As Ulm armies invaded their lands, some of the most faithful Ermor peasants decided to take up weapons and help their emperor's army, bringing some slingers and velites reinforcements to what was otherwise mostly an army of skeleton horsemen and wizard-priests.
The armies met on a clear, cold morning in early spring. The battle was held on a frozen field in the north of Ermor. There was a slight slope in favor of Ulm, who came down from the mountains.
Ermor army was led by the emperor himself, who stood with some of his mages at the rear of the army, but was ready to flee to Slavia in case of a defeat.
As the armies readied for fight, Ermor wizard-priests chanted unholy verses, and one after the other, the Ulmish priests were hit with an apostacy spell, suddenly turning against their own troops.
Ermor Thaumaturgs raised skeletons and their slingers threw their stones and bullets as Ulmish sappers readied their crossbows and Ulm pikes and halberds readied themselves.
The Ermorian spells had a terrible effect upon Ulm's army. As priests behind them started cursing them, the center fo Ulm infantry, commanded by lord Joern, soon-to-be-nicknamed "Joern the stupid", "Joern the fool", "Joern the scourge of his friends" and other such displeasant names, turned upon the apostate priests. By doing this, they left their comrades to the left and right alone, leaving a gaping hole in the center of the army.
Some longdead horsement entered the hole while others engaged Ulm's right wing. Ulm's left wing battled slingers, undead and gladiators, and more undead horsemen moved past Ulm's left to seek combat with Ulm's left-wing cavalry.
The gaping hole in the middle of Ulm's army let the longdead reach sappers. Ulm commanders decided to react before it was too late. On the left wing, the cavalry was already engaged with longdead horsmen, and the commander of the central squd of infantry led his men there to help the cavalry who, maybe, needed less help than the sappers.
Right wing cavalry charged the horsemen to help the sappers.
As a result, Ulm infantry suffered greatly: On the left, they were ensnared by gladiator nets. On the left, they were smitten by magic and faced skeletons, velites and slingers.
It was too much for even the bravest of Ulm, and they fled. Fortunately for Ulm, the cavalry managed to reach the opponents before the day was lost, and their charge all but annihilated the longdead horsemen.
However, Ermor still had lots of wizards reanimating skeletons and burning the minds of Ulmish soldiers in magic attacks that ignored Ulm's mighty armors. Velites, slingers, a few gladiators and a small group of triarii wlaked forward to fight Ulm's knights.
Joern the stupied rallied his men at last and sent them forward, as he should have since the start of the battle.
The only remaining Ulmish priest, a man called Folke, started banishing enemy undead despite the wounds he had received when his fellows had turned against him, and despite an ear torn by a sling bullet.
Ulm knights cut through their opponents, and Folke banished the skeletons. Ermor velites fled, leaving the fight to the triarii while emperor Tiberius Drusius Nero Claudius kept casting spells from the far end of the battlefield, surrounded by his praetorian guards.
Finally, the triarii were slain, and the thaumaturgs couldn't raise enough skeletons to hold Ulm soldiers at bay. The emperor fled, followed by his greater wizards, while Ulm knights picked the remaining sorcerers.
At the end of the battle, Joern picked an Ermorian gladius and threw himself upon it. Ulm had almost lost the battle because of his silliness...
Brave Folke died of his wounds.
The lords leading the cavalry had been killed in the battle, along with most of the commanders.
Lord Tulka was the last high ranking officer alive, and he limped badly. He reorganised the troops and counted the dead and the living:
He saw the fortune tellers were still alive and well, but doubted they had brough them luck. In his opinions, these mages had been mostly useless on the battlefield, knowing hardly any spell but a few to protect their own selves, so he dismissed them quickly.
He then looked at the sappers. Despite the undead charge, they had suffered few losses and remained as effective as ever. He told them their crossbows had helped immensely, killing more slingers than any pike or lance did, and the men shouted "Hurrah!" and cheered.
The infantry was in bad shape. About one third of them had died as they had had to fight alone against greater numbers for most of the fight. All of them were ashamed. Some of them had fled, and some, following Joern's orders, had almost caused the army's defeat. Still, Tulka tried to raise their spirits:
Ulm had been victorious because the infantry wings had held, and Joern's men ahd redeemed themselves by charging the center of the enemy at the end of the battle (although a bit too late to be really useful, but Tulka kept this for himself).
Tulka finally went to meet the knights. They had been the heroes of the day. Without them, Ulm armies would only be dim memories, and they had suffered the most losses: Almost half were dead or sorely wounded.
However, at the end of the day, Tulka was still leading a most important army, and Ermor had nothing left to face him. He started moving southwards, thinking the worst of the campaign was over.
He was wrong.
There was no more battle. A few skirmishes, but very isolated. No. In fact there was very little resistance. Most villages Ulm met were strangely desert, but Tulka didn't spend time investigating where the peasants had hidden as he marched forwards to Ermor city.
There, the city walls stood high and strong, but the doors were all open and the skies were black with ravens. More ravens than Tulka had ever witnessed in one place.
As the army cautiously entered the city, they beheld horror beyond any seen on the battlefields:
In the streets, massed by thousands, were corpses. Not just men, young or old. But also women, children, babies. The occasional slain animal was there too, and the ravens feasted. All these people had died a violent death. Some seemed to have fought, but others looked peaceful in their death, some even seemed to smile...
Looking for survivors, Ulm soldiers found a young woman, hidden in a cellar. She was brought in front of Tulka, and explained:
Tulka's army continued southward, and discovered that the same thing happened in many villages: The seals on the scrolls sent by the emperor to the village chiefs had melted, and the scrolls told the same message: Kill yourselves. Die, and you will be reborn when Tiberius Drusus Nero Claudius calls you back.
Nowhere was the slaughter as huge or as complete as in Ermor city, but almost everywhere most of the population had died. Priests had turned their servants into undead and launched them upon the living, so many of those unwilling to obey had died too.
Ermor was taken, and free of its mad emperor, but most of its population was dead, and it seemed that their ghosts lurked around every corner.
New map:
UPDATE SIX
What won't you do in the name of faith?
What won't you do in the name of faith?
Faith in a god can be such a strong motivation... Men and women will happily make great sacrifices in the name of their god.
For instance in Vanheim, inhabitants of Midgard have dug up old tombs in which their ancestors had been buried with their treasures and donated gold to the new god's church, hoping Lord Thordai would guard the ancestors'spirits in the afterlife, since it was obvious the One no longer would.
Vanheim inhabitants felt ashamed not to have displayed such faith in Thordai and therefore some of them organised quests to find money to donate to the church. This resulted in a nice gold boost for Vanheom coffers.
In Jotunheim, it is said that the giants built a new temple to their god Magni, but apart from that very few news came from this country.
Arsnoc
In Baikal, priests of Stheran received a letter from the capital. A mage form Arshnoc informed them that an old abbey was rumoured to have been built on the shores of a lake in the north of the province.
The priests immediately set up for a fuest, moved to the lake and soon found the old abbey. It had apparently been a center of magic study in times past, and although it wasn't big enough and was too isolated to act as a real temple, priests turned it into a place of pilgrimage and used it to enhance the faith in their god in the province.
At the same time, Arshnoc armies entered the valleys of Ural, where they were met by deer tribesmen who couldn't resist the might of their veteran infantry, archers and flying hounds.
Spoiler :
Marignon
The main troublemakers in Marverni have finally been arrested by the authorities. Priests caught them and judged them firmly (Burn!Burn!). As a result, the province is now much more orderly than before.
However, in Kymriu there is a new cause of concern for Marignon authorities. Fishermen have reported that they have found strange fish in their nets, and there has been an inordinate number of wrecked sailors in recent years.
Since most of north Kymriu population relies a lot on the sea for its food, this has caused dearth in the province and people fear that famine may strike if this bad luck continues.
Lanka
In Patala, the monkeys have trained a milita in case rogue elephants from the neighbouring Bandar Log province would invade their lands.
Meanwhile, the main force of Lanka army invaded Ashdod. They were met by armies of giants, but even the giants of Ashdod could be trampled by the monkeys' elephants.
Elephants disrupted Ashdod ranks, and monkey infantry followed to harass them and prevent them from regrouping, while arrows from their long bows picked the giants and routed the human slingers of Ashdod.
Seeing this, the Adon king of Ashdod fled the battlefield, and is rumoured to have fled to the southern mountains.
However, many of Lanka elephants died in the battle or shortly afterwards, as it appears many giants had used poison-tipped spears.
The giants are hiding or ran away into the mountains, and humans welcome the monkeys as liberators. Some humans however doubt the monkeys will prove better masters than the giants, and say they should ask for the protection of Abysia instead.
Pythium
Pythian priests have been preaching in Colchis for a long time. Now, some Colchis leaders have been callig themselves kings, and fights have started between followers of Celes and heathens. The Pythian army intervened, summoned to help by some Colchidian chiefs.
It was not difficult for the legionaires to help their friends assert their power, and soon Colchis turned into a mix of puppet kingdoms and provinces annexed outright. As they expanded northwards, Pythians got less support from the population, but as Celes himself flew over their lands, most Colchidians surrendered without a fight.
Overall, the province has been annexed without any major battle having to be fought, as most of the Colchidians voluntarily abandoned their freedom for the faith in Celes.
Shinuyama
Shinuyaman armies moved from the island of Eriu northwestward to the large northwestern island. Here is how Bres the beautiful lived this journey:
On-board the ships, a crow flew down and hit the captain before leaving.
Bres muttered that this was a bad omen. As he neared the island, he feared that this may be the ill-famed island of the Fomoire. Those giants had tried to invade Eriu back when he was a young man.
He, alone among the Tuatha, had befriended them, and he had paid sorely for that friendship. Would the Fomorians let him and his new friends accept them as rulers? The crow wasn't a good omen...
As they looked for a safe harbour, Shinuyama ships spent a lot of time in sight of the coasts, and Bres was sure they had been seen by the inhabitants. Damn those great cliffs! If only there had been nice beaches on the south coast...
If these were the cursed Fomorians, they would know where the ships would land, and they'd wait for them there. So Bres urged the captain to land not on the first good spot, but the second one he'd find.
The man swore and cursed, but he obeyed.
Therefore, Shinuyama troops landed on a beach one day walk away from the first landing point, and Bres ordered a camp to be built ashore. The following day, the army marched, and it was not long before the bakemono and human scouts sent ahead came back warning a big host of giants and humans was marching towards them.
The giants were strange, fearsome and ugly. They had goat heads and most of them limped or had a single leg, or only one arm. Their leader was even taller than the rest, looking like a huge one-eyed human.
Bres cursed. His fears were right. If only he had known. If scouts had been sent ahead of the invasion, he could have told Shizen he needed more men. He could have devised a battle plan.
Now it was too late, all he could do was order his soldiers to prepare for battle. The huge O bakemonos looked like dwarves in front of the Fomorians, they wore no armor and used clubs, while the Fomorians had heavy bronze armor, shields, spears and javelins. Bres dispaired. Fomorians had proved foes worthy of the Tuatha. How could so few bakemono and humans dream of beating them?
His bandits and small bakemono had spears, clubs and bows, but they didn't outnumber their opponents, because the Fomorians were helped by human warriors, the same fierce Fir Bolg they had met in Eriu.
The battle started, and fomorian javelins answered bakemono arrows. Bres's uba sorceresses shot vine arrows which hardly hurt the Fomorians when they hit them but held them entangled in vegetation... for a short time.
Spoiler :
This wasn't sufficient to break the giants' formation, and their superior strength and weapons proved deadly in battle. The human bandits fled, and despite Bres' help, the O bakemono were butchered.
Spoiler :
When Bres's shield was pierced by a bronze-tipped spear and that spear bit deeply inot his shoulder, he understood that the battle was lost.
Ordering retreat, he spurred his horse and managed to get the remnants of his army aboard the ships. The last O bakemono fought to gain the rest some time, but ultimately at least half of the army was lost and the fleet had to sail back to Eriu.
Abysia
In the province of Nubia, many people are dying sur to the fetid miasma that comes from the marshes near the river. Many abysians say these are coming from downriver from C'tis. The local garrison is weakened by the many diseases that keep spreading.
Mictlan
In Mictlan, a small, ugly man came from the marshlands surrounding the capital to the big city.
He had a bluish or greenish skin but kept his face hidden under a hood, and asked to meet the High Priests immediately.
As jaguar warriors wanted to push him away, he shouted a spell and rain started falling immediately. The warriors who got nearer him suddenly panicked as they realised toads were falling from the sky when they neared the small man.
They called the priests of the rain, and the eldest rain priest came to meet the small man.
The priests were reluctant at first, but Tornkili, or Tonitzli as they called him, raised his staff and broke it, causing a huge shower of rain to fall upon the pyramid.
The head priest agreed to bring him to the most sacred place, and under a heavy guard of elite warriors, Tonitzli was brought to the Chrysalis. He touched it, and immediately, the Chrysalis started throbbing.
Celebrations were given in the city, as it was now clear that soon, the Chrysalis would awaken.
Tonitzli was appointed priest of the rain, and many of his kind came out of the marshes they were hiding in to join the people of Mictlan.
C'tis
Mictlan invades C'tis desert province known as the desert of a hundred tombs.
Mictlanese army faced only a weak army, mostly militia which were brought quickly together to try to fight off the invaders.
Mictlan army was composed of the giant sacred jaguar toads of Mictlan and a lot of slaves, backed up by elite eagle warriors and wizard-priests.
The sacred toads spit poison upon the lizardmen and charged them, trampling them and biting them to death on the left wing.
Spoiler :
On the right wing, slaves fought the most experienced C'tis militia, and although they outnumbered them, their morale broke and they routed. Thhe enemy's right wing was destroyed however, and what remained was weakend and couldn't withstand the eagle warriors' intervention.
Spoiler :
Although only a few slaves died during the battle, almost all of those who had been wounded contracted diseases, and even some of the unwounded ones. A priest died of a fever, cursing the horrid miasmas that surrounded the few water spots in the desert.
The toads seemed to ignore these miasmas, but they suffer a lot in the desert, which lacks the moisture they love and need. The way it is now, it looks like the army currently occupying the desert is likely going to die of disease because the waters don't suit the men, and the desert sun cooks the toads. Unless it moves to a moister, safer place of course.
In C'tis proper, Arshnoc merchants report that, with the loss of this province, the lizardmen economy is on the verge of collapse, and C'tis rulers have sent letters to all the other nations, requesting open borders agreements that would help their economy.
Ermor and Ulm
In the Ermor province of Slavia, all heathens have been looked for and arrested, to be cermonially killed by Ermor wizard-priests in the name of their divine emperor. As a consequence, there's no follower of Celes left in the province. Ermor priests were extremely brutal and indiscriminate in their search for heathens, and any doubt about someone led to execution. Late conversions weren't accepted and thousands died.
Many refugees flee to Arcoscephale, hoping Celes will protect them from further harm.
In Bavaria, more people rallied to the faith of the Ermorian emperor. People who admire the utter ruthlessness of the emperor and his fabled magic powers. As a huge Ulmish army prepared itself to cross the mountains southwards, a few bavarians went south ahead of the Ulmish army, and warned their brothers in faith of the incoming attack.
The emperor reacted promptly this time, not letting hiself be surprised as he had been by Marignon's naval invasion.
He sent priests and messengers in all the villages of the province, carrying a sealed letter:
The Ulmish army regrouped north of the province, with troops coming from Bavaria (51) and others from Sauromatia (24).
As Ulm armies invaded their lands, some of the most faithful Ermor peasants decided to take up weapons and help their emperor's army, bringing some slingers and velites reinforcements to what was otherwise mostly an army of skeleton horsemen and wizard-priests.
The armies met on a clear, cold morning in early spring. The battle was held on a frozen field in the north of Ermor. There was a slight slope in favor of Ulm, who came down from the mountains.
Ermor army was led by the emperor himself, who stood with some of his mages at the rear of the army, but was ready to flee to Slavia in case of a defeat.
As the armies readied for fight, Ermor wizard-priests chanted unholy verses, and one after the other, the Ulmish priests were hit with an apostacy spell, suddenly turning against their own troops.
Ermor Thaumaturgs raised skeletons and their slingers threw their stones and bullets as Ulmish sappers readied their crossbows and Ulm pikes and halberds readied themselves.
Spoiler :
The Ermorian spells had a terrible effect upon Ulm's army. As priests behind them started cursing them, the center fo Ulm infantry, commanded by lord Joern, soon-to-be-nicknamed "Joern the stupid", "Joern the fool", "Joern the scourge of his friends" and other such displeasant names, turned upon the apostate priests. By doing this, they left their comrades to the left and right alone, leaving a gaping hole in the center of the army.
Spoiler :
Some longdead horsement entered the hole while others engaged Ulm's right wing. Ulm's left wing battled slingers, undead and gladiators, and more undead horsemen moved past Ulm's left to seek combat with Ulm's left-wing cavalry.
The gaping hole in the middle of Ulm's army let the longdead reach sappers. Ulm commanders decided to react before it was too late. On the left wing, the cavalry was already engaged with longdead horsmen, and the commander of the central squd of infantry led his men there to help the cavalry who, maybe, needed less help than the sappers.
Right wing cavalry charged the horsemen to help the sappers.
As a result, Ulm infantry suffered greatly: On the left, they were ensnared by gladiator nets. On the left, they were smitten by magic and faced skeletons, velites and slingers.
It was too much for even the bravest of Ulm, and they fled. Fortunately for Ulm, the cavalry managed to reach the opponents before the day was lost, and their charge all but annihilated the longdead horsemen.
Spoiler :
However, Ermor still had lots of wizards reanimating skeletons and burning the minds of Ulmish soldiers in magic attacks that ignored Ulm's mighty armors. Velites, slingers, a few gladiators and a small group of triarii wlaked forward to fight Ulm's knights.
Joern the stupied rallied his men at last and sent them forward, as he should have since the start of the battle.
The only remaining Ulmish priest, a man called Folke, started banishing enemy undead despite the wounds he had received when his fellows had turned against him, and despite an ear torn by a sling bullet.
Ulm knights cut through their opponents, and Folke banished the skeletons. Ermor velites fled, leaving the fight to the triarii while emperor Tiberius Drusius Nero Claudius kept casting spells from the far end of the battlefield, surrounded by his praetorian guards.
Spoiler :
Finally, the triarii were slain, and the thaumaturgs couldn't raise enough skeletons to hold Ulm soldiers at bay. The emperor fled, followed by his greater wizards, while Ulm knights picked the remaining sorcerers.
Spoiler :
At the end of the battle, Joern picked an Ermorian gladius and threw himself upon it. Ulm had almost lost the battle because of his silliness...
Brave Folke died of his wounds.
The lords leading the cavalry had been killed in the battle, along with most of the commanders.
Lord Tulka was the last high ranking officer alive, and he limped badly. He reorganised the troops and counted the dead and the living:
He saw the fortune tellers were still alive and well, but doubted they had brough them luck. In his opinions, these mages had been mostly useless on the battlefield, knowing hardly any spell but a few to protect their own selves, so he dismissed them quickly.
He then looked at the sappers. Despite the undead charge, they had suffered few losses and remained as effective as ever. He told them their crossbows had helped immensely, killing more slingers than any pike or lance did, and the men shouted "Hurrah!" and cheered.
The infantry was in bad shape. About one third of them had died as they had had to fight alone against greater numbers for most of the fight. All of them were ashamed. Some of them had fled, and some, following Joern's orders, had almost caused the army's defeat. Still, Tulka tried to raise their spirits:
Ulm had been victorious because the infantry wings had held, and Joern's men ahd redeemed themselves by charging the center of the enemy at the end of the battle (although a bit too late to be really useful, but Tulka kept this for himself).
Tulka finally went to meet the knights. They had been the heroes of the day. Without them, Ulm armies would only be dim memories, and they had suffered the most losses: Almost half were dead or sorely wounded.
However, at the end of the day, Tulka was still leading a most important army, and Ermor had nothing left to face him. He started moving southwards, thinking the worst of the campaign was over.
He was wrong.
There was no more battle. A few skirmishes, but very isolated. No. In fact there was very little resistance. Most villages Ulm met were strangely desert, but Tulka didn't spend time investigating where the peasants had hidden as he marched forwards to Ermor city.
There, the city walls stood high and strong, but the doors were all open and the skies were black with ravens. More ravens than Tulka had ever witnessed in one place.
As the army cautiously entered the city, they beheld horror beyond any seen on the battlefields:
In the streets, massed by thousands, were corpses. Not just men, young or old. But also women, children, babies. The occasional slain animal was there too, and the ravens feasted. All these people had died a violent death. Some seemed to have fought, but others looked peaceful in their death, some even seemed to smile...
Looking for survivors, Ulm soldiers found a young woman, hidden in a cellar. She was brought in front of Tulka, and explained:
Tulka didn't find many survivors, but all of them confirmed the girl's story. One of them said that the priests were chanting while all Ermor men died, and that he saw the souls leave their bodies and fly to the priests and the emperor.
Tulka's army continued southward, and discovered that the same thing happened in many villages: The seals on the scrolls sent by the emperor to the village chiefs had melted, and the scrolls told the same message: Kill yourselves. Die, and you will be reborn when Tiberius Drusus Nero Claudius calls you back.
Nowhere was the slaughter as huge or as complete as in Ermor city, but almost everywhere most of the population had died. Priests had turned their servants into undead and launched them upon the living, so many of those unwilling to obey had died too.
Ermor was taken, and free of its mad emperor, but most of its population was dead, and it seemed that their ghosts lurked around every corner.
New map:
Spoiler :
I'll be sending stats tomorrow, it's being late here.
I must say I was quite surprised by that last battle. I really didn't expect the spells to have such a consequence.
I'd also like to wait for T_F for the next update because he's got a lot to do/spend and I have no clear ideas what he'd like to do.
I must say I was quite surprised by that last battle. I really didn't expect the spells to have such a consequence.
I'd also like to wait for T_F for the next update because he's got a lot to do/spend and I have no clear ideas what he'd like to do.
Darksaber1
Secret Emperor
Sh**. Ermor's respones was...sh**.
orangelex44
Partisan
I won?!? Maybe those fortune tellers did grant some luck...
Out of curiosity, LDi, what were the actual army numbers? How many on their side, compared to mine? If you can't tell me, that's OK, but I am a little curious - I'd thought I would have a little better advantage in peons, to offset their overwhelming number of mages.
Out of curiosity, LDi, what were the actual army numbers? How many on their side, compared to mine? If you can't tell me, that's OK, but I am a little curious - I'd thought I would have a little better advantage in peons, to offset their overwhelming number of mages.
Seon
Not An Evil Liar
...That was one Epic battle.
@Orange/DE: Could you get yourself on IM? Thanks.
@Orange/DE: Could you get yourself on IM? Thanks.
Stats sent. If you see something weird like units not appearing, mana suspiciously like previous turn value or whatever, don't hesitate to ask me for clarifications, it's likely a mistake.
NPC Diplomacy
From Ctis to Mictlan
You treacherous bastards!
You show the true face of your friendship, attacking us despite our treaties and your promises!
Did Abysia bribe you to attack us? If you defeated us, they would learn their mistake when you would backstab them. But this will not happen. If you try to invade C'tis, the wrath of Sslaah shall fall upon you. Your soldiers will die and we will raise them from the dead to invade your stinking lands. Abysians and Mictlanese shall fall in front of C'tisian might.
From Ctis to everybody else except Abysia
We propose open borders with all good-willing countries. We are ready to buy trade goods for 60% of their output (i.e. 3 gold for a 5 gold good, 6 for 10...)
NPC Diplomacy
From Ctis to Mictlan
You treacherous bastards!
You show the true face of your friendship, attacking us despite our treaties and your promises!
Did Abysia bribe you to attack us? If you defeated us, they would learn their mistake when you would backstab them. But this will not happen. If you try to invade C'tis, the wrath of Sslaah shall fall upon you. Your soldiers will die and we will raise them from the dead to invade your stinking lands. Abysians and Mictlanese shall fall in front of C'tisian might.
From Ctis to everybody else except Abysia
We propose open borders with all good-willing countries. We are ready to buy trade goods for 60% of their output (i.e. 3 gold for a 5 gold good, 6 for 10...)
Immaculate
unerring
- Joined
- Jan 22, 2003
- Messages
- 7,623
From Mictlan to Ctis:
You are an NPC nation and though this doesn't make sense to you now, the players don't care about your fate. I would have been true to you if you had been player-controlled but i needed your land and Abyssia cut me a good deal. No one cares if Laurent cries over your fate but everyone cares about their own nations and some might even cry.
You are an NPC nation and though this doesn't make sense to you now, the players don't care about your fate. I would have been true to you if you had been player-controlled but i needed your land and Abyssia cut me a good deal. No one cares if Laurent cries over your fate but everyone cares about their own nations and some might even cry.
Darksaber1
Secret Emperor
NPC...None Pretender Nation!
And Immy, you might be wrong. I don't care, but some nations might find C'tis useful, since they take up space and are a pain in the ass for you in the Southern Continent
.
And Immy, you might be wrong. I don't care, but some nations might find C'tis useful, since they take up space and are a pain in the ass for you in the Southern Continent
.
Immaculate
unerring
- Joined
- Jan 22, 2003
- Messages
- 7,623
But i can pretty much bet that you aren't going to back a losing side in a lop-sided battle AND lose lucrative trade routes AND start a new war you would likely suffer very badly in. I mean you might, but i don't think you will.
PS: i like the acronym description.
PS: i like the acronym description.
Darksaber1
Secret Emperor
I never said it was likely that someone support C'tis, just possible. Granted, they'd probaly be pretty desprite to that.
Immaculate
unerring
- Joined
- Jan 22, 2003
- Messages
- 7,623
absolutely and no one said otherwise.
nutranurse
Unlikeliest of Slash Fics
- Joined
- Jan 30, 2009
- Messages
- 2,077
Tbh I don't foresee myself lasting very long. I just seem to be sucking a lot lately and I am rather lost most of the time.
Immaculate
unerring
- Joined
- Jan 22, 2003
- Messages
- 7,623
thats what i thought about ulm but i guess i was shown otherwise.
Darksaber1
Secret Emperor
The next part of the Vanir Histories. Tomorrow (most likely) I'll have the next, and Final part of the Tome of History (It got longer then the rest).
The Aesir-Vanir War
Up next: Ragnarök
The Aesir-Vanir War
Spoiler :
Up next: Ragnarök
Darksaber1
Secret Emperor
Okay, this got much longer then expected, but here is the Final Tome of History.
Ragnarök
The death of the Gods
Ragnarök
The death of the Gods
Spoiler :
Seon
Not An Evil Liar
The Pythium to the world except Ermor, Mictlan, Arshnoc, and Ulm.
We propose an open borders treaty. Please send us an letter.
We propose an open borders treaty. Please send us an letter.
nutranurse
Unlikeliest of Slash Fics
- Joined
- Jan 30, 2009
- Messages
- 2,077
I'm sorry to say this, but I am going to have to pull out. Combined with pressures brought on from immigration (my citizenship is up in the air and I am constantly running back and forth between my home and Baltimore), troubles at home, and running another NES on a different forum I find myself giving less and less time to this NES and I don't think it is all too fair to the players or the mod for me to be putting in a lacklustre effort- not to mention most of the time I just feel lost and unsure about what I am doing and eventually deciding based upon an annoyance over my lack of understanding.
So, sorry, but if you ever run another NES again I would love to give it another shot.
So, sorry, but if you ever run another NES again I would love to give it another shot.
