Silver Steak
The Ghost of SS
How're orders coming, BTW?
EDIT: I sent PM reminders to all, that's why.
EDIT: I sent PM reminders to all, that's why.
ENES: World of Magic II
- Thread starter Erik Mesoy
- Start date
Erik Mesoy
Core Tester / Intern
Gladinia, ~Darkening~, and Azash have gotten theirs in. Warman sez:
so I may have to meteor storm him. Sheep posted above. TGIL will probably find his nation overrun by undead. Secret Nation #someirrelevantdistractingnumber hasn't sent orders, but it would be hard for you to remind them.
Silver Steak
The Ghost of SS
True. Why don't you go ahead and meteor strike them so the updating might begin?
Gladinia
Well, who else
Aye. Meteor strike all those without orders! Muwahahahaaaa!!!
Erik Mesoy
Core Tester / Intern
The Wheels of Updation have ground into gear. This time I'll try to avoid dribbling the update out over several days.
Oh, and to everyone who doesn't have a spy agency yet, consider getting one or demanding promises of good behavior from your neighbors. It's getting complicated.
Oh, and to everyone who doesn't have a spy agency yet, consider getting one or demanding promises of good behavior from your neighbors. It's getting complicated.
Silver Steak
The Ghost of SS
I've just discovered that the school right next to camp has an open wireless network! w00t! ![[party]](/images/smilies/partytime.gif "Party [party]")
EDIT: So where's the update?
EDIT: So where's the update?
Gladinia
Well, who else
For great meteorage!!! Update!
TerrisH
Mischief?
*whap* young one, Patcince, you must have. Arive, the update will, when it arrives.
Gladinia
Well, who else
Patcince I will have, old one.
RoddyVR
Veteran Board NESer
edit: got carried away on the last part of the story, and had to split it off. sorry for spliting it into a second post... should have just put a divide line between it and the first half.
The Costs of a growing Army
"But Dad! I WANT to join the army. You heard what the Luetenant said, they are actualy looking for young men who want to join."
"No. I said no and that's final. I am not sending my son off to go kill other young men."
"Well, if you're going to be like that, then I dont need you to send me off! I'll go on my own. I'm an adult now and I can make my own decisions. I had been hoping that you would support my desire to serve my country, but I guess all your talk about patriotism and protecting what one cares about was just talk. I am going to Fort Leestev tomorow to sign up, I would realy like to leave on good terms with you, but if you want to be stubborn about it, then it can't be helped."
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The colomn of fresh faced soldiers stood in the plaza. Twenty rows of twenty five men each, five hundred future farmers, smiths, merchants and scientists who had taken the path of the soldier. Few of their parents had immagined a military future for these boys when they were born, but the country called for help and these young men had answered the call.
"I present to you the gratuating class of 208. The finest soldiers this Fort has ever trained. Fort Korinov has answered the call to service!"
The cheers from the assembled company were drowned out by the cheers of the enourmous crowd gathered to see them off. If one listened carefully enough, he would hear that quite a bit of the noise from the crowd was the sound of crying.
-------------------------------------------------------
The word "Fort" had long been dropped off the front of the name of the city of Korinov. The Fort was still there, an assembly of large structures in the center of the city, but few people thought of it as the reason for the city. For years now Fort Korinov had been an ignorable presence. If one wanted to join the military, he would go to the Fort to sign up and train. Every once in a while the Army would hold a mock battle that would draw some spectators, and the Governor's workshop would show off some new inventions at the fort, but if you didnt want to have anything to do with the fort, you could almost forget its existance.
That was true untill the Recruitment Order was issued. All of a sudden, the city was full of military uniforms and all talk turned to the Fort. Recruiters started going around the city convincing both potential soldiers and their parents that the life of a soldier was a good one. The flood of "countryfolk" to the city increased atleast fourfold, both with those interested in joining the military and those looking to take up the "space" vacated by the city dwellers who went into the military.
The mock battles at the Fort yet again became the main entertainment for the city. Where as before the recruitment drive started the average battle included 20 or so soldiers, they were now getting up to battles of 100 vs 100. Even the betting rings once again took notice of the battles.
---------------------------------------------------------------
Fort Vetka
"We have no choice. The Fort has been here to protect the area for decades, and now its time to pay up. We tried waiting for volunteers, we didnt get enough. We tried asking for volunteers, we still didnt get anywhere near the numbers we need. So now we're left with no choice other then a random drawing. I will give each town a week to decide if they want to hold their own drawing, and send us the five future soldiers from the town, or if you want to be part of the Fort's drawing, in which case luck will play a part in how many are selected from your town, could be more then five, could be less. Those towns who fail to make a decision by next week will be put into the Fort's Drawing."
The Costs of a growing Army
"But Dad! I WANT to join the army. You heard what the Luetenant said, they are actualy looking for young men who want to join."
"No. I said no and that's final. I am not sending my son off to go kill other young men."
"Well, if you're going to be like that, then I dont need you to send me off! I'll go on my own. I'm an adult now and I can make my own decisions. I had been hoping that you would support my desire to serve my country, but I guess all your talk about patriotism and protecting what one cares about was just talk. I am going to Fort Leestev tomorow to sign up, I would realy like to leave on good terms with you, but if you want to be stubborn about it, then it can't be helped."
----------------------------------------------------------------------
The colomn of fresh faced soldiers stood in the plaza. Twenty rows of twenty five men each, five hundred future farmers, smiths, merchants and scientists who had taken the path of the soldier. Few of their parents had immagined a military future for these boys when they were born, but the country called for help and these young men had answered the call.
"I present to you the gratuating class of 208. The finest soldiers this Fort has ever trained. Fort Korinov has answered the call to service!"
The cheers from the assembled company were drowned out by the cheers of the enourmous crowd gathered to see them off. If one listened carefully enough, he would hear that quite a bit of the noise from the crowd was the sound of crying.
-------------------------------------------------------
The word "Fort" had long been dropped off the front of the name of the city of Korinov. The Fort was still there, an assembly of large structures in the center of the city, but few people thought of it as the reason for the city. For years now Fort Korinov had been an ignorable presence. If one wanted to join the military, he would go to the Fort to sign up and train. Every once in a while the Army would hold a mock battle that would draw some spectators, and the Governor's workshop would show off some new inventions at the fort, but if you didnt want to have anything to do with the fort, you could almost forget its existance.
That was true untill the Recruitment Order was issued. All of a sudden, the city was full of military uniforms and all talk turned to the Fort. Recruiters started going around the city convincing both potential soldiers and their parents that the life of a soldier was a good one. The flood of "countryfolk" to the city increased atleast fourfold, both with those interested in joining the military and those looking to take up the "space" vacated by the city dwellers who went into the military.
The mock battles at the Fort yet again became the main entertainment for the city. Where as before the recruitment drive started the average battle included 20 or so soldiers, they were now getting up to battles of 100 vs 100. Even the betting rings once again took notice of the battles.
---------------------------------------------------------------
Fort Vetka
"We have no choice. The Fort has been here to protect the area for decades, and now its time to pay up. We tried waiting for volunteers, we didnt get enough. We tried asking for volunteers, we still didnt get anywhere near the numbers we need. So now we're left with no choice other then a random drawing. I will give each town a week to decide if they want to hold their own drawing, and send us the five future soldiers from the town, or if you want to be part of the Fort's drawing, in which case luck will play a part in how many are selected from your town, could be more then five, could be less. Those towns who fail to make a decision by next week will be put into the Fort's Drawing."
RoddyVR
Veteran Board NESer
Brain
Town of Springfield, near Fort Vetka (see last part above)
Elder George had the unpleasant job of bringing the bad news to the towns potential "recruits".
"Alright Gentlemen, this is one decision that the elders would prefer to leave to you. We just cant bring ourselves to decide this. We cant gamble with your futures, but the choice we are presented is not 'gamble or dont gamble' it is 'which way do you want to gamble'."
"What could they possibly need this many recruits for in such a short time? The Simpson boys have already gone off to the fort, isnt that enough? I say we just ignore this whole thing! What are they gonna do? Attack the towns they've been protecting all this time? HA!"
"I'm sorry Robert, but that HAS been decided. The town will not go against the Fort, we will comply with their request. The question is how. Would you all prefer to hold a drawing here to pick the towns five "volunteers" or would you prefer to be in the big drawing in at the fort, where anywhere from none to all of you could be selected."
"Hold it here, the town wont survive if all of us are picked at the Fort!"
"I say we go with the Fort's drawing, I'd prefer to take my chances in a larger drawing pool."
"You idiot, they'll draw more names there, you're more likely to get picked there."
"Actualy, chances for any one of us are the same here or there..."
"Shut up Brain! They'll probably reject you even if you get picked."
"Its BRIAN, not Brain!!!"
"Hey, that's a great idea! Lets send Brain as one of our towns five, they'll reject him, and only four of us will have to go."
"Its BRIAN!!!"
At this point the "town meeting" broke down into chaos, yelling and arguing. This topic was too hot for them to handle it on their own, and George had to interfere before anyone started actualy fighting, plus he felt sorry for Brai...Brian.
"Gentlemen, PLEASE! Since this is clearly not a unanimous decision, how about a vote? This is how the elders handle a decision that all cant agree on."
After about 5 minutes everyone had agreed that a vote was the best way to go. Everyone agreed that whatever the vote came out to, the losing side would agree to follow the decision. It took almost half an hour to actualy count votes as some people kept changing their minds, but eventualy it was clear that the local drawing of five names had won. The reasoning that most of that side gave for their vote was that the town as a whole could handle losing 5 more men, but if more were picked in the Fort's drawing then severe problems could arise.
It took another hour before everyone's names had been writen on pieces of paper and collected for the drawing. In the mean time some of the men made pacts with eachother that if one was picked and one wasnt, the one that stayed would help the family of the on that was picked. A couple arguments broke out from this process too, but nothing major.
The first 3 names were drawn and read without much commotion, those who's names were drawn accepted their fate quietly, and were comforted by those sitting next to them.
"The fourth name is...Igor Kuznecov." George read out loud.
A few confused people in the hall asked "which one?", the town's smith and his youngest son had the same name.
"I think its the younger because i dont recognize the handwriting. Igor, could you confirm this?" As Igor Jr. was standing up, his father pulled him back down to his seat.
"NO, its me, he wrote both our papers, but his has 'Jr.' on it." Every one could hear the pleading in the man's voice, and it was obveous that he was just trying to take his son's place.
"Stop dad, its alright. If its fated, I will go and serve in the military. Besides Greg isnt ready to take over the smithy, so the town still needs you." The older Igor sat down completely deflated, hid his face in his hands, and those near him could just make out the stiffled sobs.
Elder Gregory let a few moments silence pass before proceding...
"Alright, on to the last name" but as he was pulling out the piece of paper...
"STOP!"
Brian, known to most of the town as "Brain" had walked into town when he was about 3 years old. The bodies of his parents were found a couple weeks later in the field west of town. It was unclear who they had been, where they had come from or how they had died. An inquiry to find any relatives proved fruitless, and Brian grew up in the town of Springfield, never staying with anyone for more then a week, but never having to spend a night homeless. He was easily the smartest child anyone in the town had ever seen and he had the habit of correcting everyone's mistakes when he noticed them, and that is why his name transfromed from Brian to Brain. At first it was just the children that called him Brain, but eventualy most of the adults were using it too.
"STOP! Don't read the fifth name yet, I'm volunteering to be the fifth."
After a few seconds silence George asked "are you sure?"
"I am. This town has raised me, and I am gratefull for that. I had hoped that I could repay the town by putting my mind to use for the town, but I dont think I'll be able to take living here much longer, so in this way i can save this town atleast one person. I would like you to read the name on that paper, just so I know who's place I took."
"...Bill Roman..." The laugh that burst out of Brian made every single person in the room sure that he'd now go back on his offer to be the fifth "recruit". It was well known that Bill Roman and Brain were bitter enemies. Brian's laugh stopped abruptly as he noticed Bill standing up and looking at him.
"I know what you're all thinking, but I wont go back on my word. Bill I was hoping it would be your name, I'd like you to do two things for me as thanks for taking your place in the army. First is, tell your sister about all this, I want her to hear from your own lips that I saved you from the thing you fear the most. She'll find out anyway, but I would realy like it if it was you that told her first. I know it wont be easy for you, but my second request will be much harder for you. You're the one that first called me "Brain", as a matter of fact you've never known me as Brian at all. I would realy like you to remember me as Brian, and not as Brain.
Town of Springfield, near Fort Vetka (see last part above)
Elder George had the unpleasant job of bringing the bad news to the towns potential "recruits".
"Alright Gentlemen, this is one decision that the elders would prefer to leave to you. We just cant bring ourselves to decide this. We cant gamble with your futures, but the choice we are presented is not 'gamble or dont gamble' it is 'which way do you want to gamble'."
"What could they possibly need this many recruits for in such a short time? The Simpson boys have already gone off to the fort, isnt that enough? I say we just ignore this whole thing! What are they gonna do? Attack the towns they've been protecting all this time? HA!"
"I'm sorry Robert, but that HAS been decided. The town will not go against the Fort, we will comply with their request. The question is how. Would you all prefer to hold a drawing here to pick the towns five "volunteers" or would you prefer to be in the big drawing in at the fort, where anywhere from none to all of you could be selected."
"Hold it here, the town wont survive if all of us are picked at the Fort!"
"I say we go with the Fort's drawing, I'd prefer to take my chances in a larger drawing pool."
"You idiot, they'll draw more names there, you're more likely to get picked there."
"Actualy, chances for any one of us are the same here or there..."
"Shut up Brain! They'll probably reject you even if you get picked."
"Its BRIAN, not Brain!!!"
"Hey, that's a great idea! Lets send Brain as one of our towns five, they'll reject him, and only four of us will have to go."
"Its BRIAN!!!"
At this point the "town meeting" broke down into chaos, yelling and arguing. This topic was too hot for them to handle it on their own, and George had to interfere before anyone started actualy fighting, plus he felt sorry for Brai...Brian.
"Gentlemen, PLEASE! Since this is clearly not a unanimous decision, how about a vote? This is how the elders handle a decision that all cant agree on."
After about 5 minutes everyone had agreed that a vote was the best way to go. Everyone agreed that whatever the vote came out to, the losing side would agree to follow the decision. It took almost half an hour to actualy count votes as some people kept changing their minds, but eventualy it was clear that the local drawing of five names had won. The reasoning that most of that side gave for their vote was that the town as a whole could handle losing 5 more men, but if more were picked in the Fort's drawing then severe problems could arise.
It took another hour before everyone's names had been writen on pieces of paper and collected for the drawing. In the mean time some of the men made pacts with eachother that if one was picked and one wasnt, the one that stayed would help the family of the on that was picked. A couple arguments broke out from this process too, but nothing major.
The first 3 names were drawn and read without much commotion, those who's names were drawn accepted their fate quietly, and were comforted by those sitting next to them.
"The fourth name is...Igor Kuznecov." George read out loud.
A few confused people in the hall asked "which one?", the town's smith and his youngest son had the same name.
"I think its the younger because i dont recognize the handwriting. Igor, could you confirm this?" As Igor Jr. was standing up, his father pulled him back down to his seat.
"NO, its me, he wrote both our papers, but his has 'Jr.' on it." Every one could hear the pleading in the man's voice, and it was obveous that he was just trying to take his son's place.
"Stop dad, its alright. If its fated, I will go and serve in the military. Besides Greg isnt ready to take over the smithy, so the town still needs you." The older Igor sat down completely deflated, hid his face in his hands, and those near him could just make out the stiffled sobs.
Elder Gregory let a few moments silence pass before proceding...
"Alright, on to the last name" but as he was pulling out the piece of paper...
"STOP!"
Brian, known to most of the town as "Brain" had walked into town when he was about 3 years old. The bodies of his parents were found a couple weeks later in the field west of town. It was unclear who they had been, where they had come from or how they had died. An inquiry to find any relatives proved fruitless, and Brian grew up in the town of Springfield, never staying with anyone for more then a week, but never having to spend a night homeless. He was easily the smartest child anyone in the town had ever seen and he had the habit of correcting everyone's mistakes when he noticed them, and that is why his name transfromed from Brian to Brain. At first it was just the children that called him Brain, but eventualy most of the adults were using it too.
"STOP! Don't read the fifth name yet, I'm volunteering to be the fifth."
After a few seconds silence George asked "are you sure?"
"I am. This town has raised me, and I am gratefull for that. I had hoped that I could repay the town by putting my mind to use for the town, but I dont think I'll be able to take living here much longer, so in this way i can save this town atleast one person. I would like you to read the name on that paper, just so I know who's place I took."
"...Bill Roman..." The laugh that burst out of Brian made every single person in the room sure that he'd now go back on his offer to be the fifth "recruit". It was well known that Bill Roman and Brain were bitter enemies. Brian's laugh stopped abruptly as he noticed Bill standing up and looking at him.
"I know what you're all thinking, but I wont go back on my word. Bill I was hoping it would be your name, I'd like you to do two things for me as thanks for taking your place in the army. First is, tell your sister about all this, I want her to hear from your own lips that I saved you from the thing you fear the most. She'll find out anyway, but I would realy like it if it was you that told her first. I know it wont be easy for you, but my second request will be much harder for you. You're the one that first called me "Brain", as a matter of fact you've never known me as Brian at all. I would realy like you to remember me as Brian, and not as Brain.
Erik Mesoy
Core Tester / Intern
Good news - the "huge descriptive story" bit of the update is finished, and it's the most complicated one, as it depends the most on other bits such as conditional orders and probability events.
I'm now doing fiddly stuff like adjusting population numbers up, working casualties into the stats (I intend to post updated stats along with the update), and composing the secret messages to be given to people. To save PM space, and for easy reference, all spy agency reports and similar stuff will henceforth be posted in the thread.
I'm now doing fiddly stuff like adjusting population numbers up, working casualties into the stats (I intend to post updated stats along with the update), and composing the secret messages to be given to people. To save PM space, and for easy reference, all spy agency reports and similar stuff will henceforth be posted in the thread.
Erik Mesoy
Core Tester / Intern
Update 11
A.Y. 211
"Rocks fall, lots of people die"
The major event of this time is perhaps the intersection of the spatial paths of a few hunks of rock with that of the planet. But that will be described later.
In the far North, where the undead hordes are said by some to have originated, the nation called Duskmist begins expanding its borders and the Mythal which protects it. Erathal the Ancient is still secluded, but the people of Duskmist are proving far happier now.
Well, except for some on the borders, who are seeing the ghosts of Bersia wandering about. Unhappy men and women in the clothes they bore in life, still crying over their deaths and those of their companions and families.
(Duskmist +3 haunted border provinces)
A few years on from the conclusion of these make nice uniforms, the paltry team of researchers assigned to investigating the clothing artifacts from the Ancients discovers how to make the artifacts near impenetrable while worn. This results in a few embarassing situations as hapless test subjects find themselves unable to remove suddenly indestructible full-body wear. Happily, a reversal is soon found, and so Erathal finds himself in the pleasurable position of being able to equip a hundred men with a form of armor superior to any seen so far.
(Duskmist +120 sooper speshul combat suits)
Further east, the undead hordes formerly commanded by Lerkal continue to taint the land. The north part of the Larian Peninsula is said by some brave sailors to be sinking into the sea. What is for certain is that the region is decaying as a whole. Pools of brackish water appear just north of the Kenyatan warding-line, and the vegetation rots into organic soup which festers and ferments. The occasional warband, sometimes bringing a Nurturer attempting to cleanse the land, brings reports of a new ecosystem springing up, one based on little else than fungus and rot.
(Undead hordes +1 new homeland)
The Kenyatan confederacy is taking this quite calmly, having warded their northern borders securely. The undead are not attacking them directly, so the Kenyatans are not worried. The most major event in their lives appears to be the opening of a trade route with Iceland to the south.
(Kenyata +1 trade route)
With the death of the benevolent and last true ruler of Seleucia Novus, the country fragments. The experiments with grassroots movements are put into practice as a dozen small regions spring up. Archon Teradin attempts to claim power, but finds himself without a leg to stand on literally as his legs are symbolically hacked off by an independence group proclaiming This is how we deal with those who would tread on us! and parading one of the severed legs on a pole.
As a group, the new regions shift westwards, feeling sympathy towards the Kenyatan confederacy of farms, and some hostility towards the paranoid Rolagangaregorolians.
Rolangaregorol, apparently one of the most advanced nations in the world, but also one of the most extended and disliked, makes progress on all fronts save diplomacy. Having more advanced technology than the nearby nations, having an expansionist policy, and having the Mistblowers of Goolsa at their beck and call all combine to create a sense of arrogance which instills dislike in the non-native populations. Another danger is the rise of cult leaders within the nation who are aware that human minds create power. The leader will offer something to potential followers in exchange for their loyalty and devotion, then use the power this gives him to win more followers by displays of magic.
(Rolangaregorol -1 Culture)
With the passing of Elder Hawkeye, the Orioch Nomads find themselves under the guidance of Elder Sharpclaw. He founds the city of Gaveana to serve as the Orioch capital. Great things are expected from Sharpclaw, first of all measures against Rolangaregorol...
THE WESTERN SKYFALL
A meteor swarm hits the Cammane City-States. This is not at all good for them. Happily for everyone else, this also obliterates a large number of undead. However, the undead had overrun the CCS sufficiently that they are destroyed, leaving several thousand refugees heading mostly towards the Church, the sole remaining power in this land.
(-1 CCS, -2000 undead warriors, +60 000 people with no real leader)
The Leonhards continue to move. The western, more military contingent, sees the lands it left devasted by a second meteor swarm, probably related to the first one, which essentially obliterates the Lokianicans following in their train.
(-1 Lokianica, which was a secret nation, being played by Disenfrancised. Ask him if you want details.)
(House Leonhard +30 000 population, leaderless people +another 40 000)
The Akratian Leonhards in the east find themselves new homes and settle down alongside the Dangals. Already prophecies are taking root among them, telling of the day when the true scion of House Leonhard will return from the west and lead them to war against the Church.
The Church fortifies itself against the undead, who have been busy elsewhere. With the CCS destroyed, Eshva and his followers are the only ones with any non-negligible quantities of maggots on their hands. With no undead attacks, they have instead begun using the maggots for healing. When placed on an infected wound, the maggots will consume only the rotten flesh, leaving the wound purified. While somewhat gross, this has eliminated what remaining plague there is in the area.
This leaves The Church faced with a short peace, a hundred thousand refugees, and ten thousand undead soon to arrive on their rather well-defended doorstep.
THE EASTERN TANGLE
Participants: Telvanni and Rome Reborn in the center; also Arkenaar, Lahmia, Olympus, Roddyna; possibly Zhiki by Olympus; possibly Furey's Dominion by Roddyna.
It is somewhat unsure which of the following events were done in truth, which were staged by infiltrators, and which are merely rumors and propaganda.
Lahmian enterprises are found sabotaged, probably by Olympian spies.
Olympus declares support for Rome Reborn, inviting Emperor Morgan to join the pantheon as demigod-ruler over the Roman people.
Olympian troops begin attacking Telvanni villages, furthering the above.
Roman mobs kill several Arkenaaran observers and drive the Arkenaaran observers away with barrages of thrown objects from stones to rotten fruit, strongly insulting Arkenaaran honor and neutrality.
Arkenaar's true purpose in sending an observer corps is revealed to be that of protecting the Telvanni from Roman imperialism.
A huge dead fish with fortifications on its back is seen lying dead in the sea south of Telvanni;
-it was awakened by a meteor falling into the sea
-it was an Olympian construct that died somehow
-it never existed, the Telvanese Illusionists were behind making it seem to appear
-it was created by the Roddynan artifact that fell from the sky
Several Lahmian spies are discovered in Arkenaar. This is compounded by a story that they are not quite human, leading to quite real and verifiable riots, lynchings of several Lahmians and demands that the government declare war on Lahmia, met by demands from Lahmia that the Arkenaaran government condemn these actions.
Old plans for the alliance of Rome Reborn and Olympus are discovered, stating to first destroy Telvanni and later Arkenaar. This, combined with stories of genocide, attempted or full, from both the former nations, lends moral support to the position that nations such as Lahmia and Roddyna should make war on Rome and Olympus.
Ancient documents from House Telvanni suggest that Rome was at one point a Telvanese vassal.
(OOC: I keep an archive of all Private Messages received. It proved handy in writing this. We now return you to the regular events of these nations.)
The Telvanni-Rome war, no longer making any pretence to civility, enters its heaviest stage yet. The losses number in thousands of warriors and even more civilians, due to indiscriminate hatred on both sides. Tel Vos was the first city to be razed it is not the last. And now several other nations threaten to enter the conflict. For the present, the Telvanni elite units appear busy on other missions or neutralized by the sudden upsurge of roman Praetors, and so sheer military force on the part of the Romans pushes forwards. Meanwhile Wraith is no longer merely the leader of a rebel movement he is a national hero, destined to lead the people.
(Telvanni -534 infantry, -3900 militia, -11442 population, +1 set of stats)
(Rome Reborn -1719 infantry, -4 Legionnaires, -4444 population)
In one of the mountain passageways where the apprentice Illusionists and Masks practice their trade, one notices a regular flow of air, too regular. Investigating, he is lead to a walled-up chamber. At his touch, the wall seems to fly apart, revealing a room covered in metal and glass, and a self-contained throne chamber in the middle. Lights dot the interior, runes cover every surface, and hisses and squeaks of machinery are heard from inside the walls. It can be nothing but a grotto of the Ancestors, most likely sealed up in the early Age of Horrors. As he leaves, the walls close, leaving no visible trace even for him, and he eventually tells Wraith about this...
(Telvanni +1 artifact)
Two olympian preachers enter Zhiki in defiance of local law and previous warnings, preach, and are summarily executed. Furthermore, their ship is sunk and their companions detained, so word takes a month or two to get back to Olympus. Zhiki is still heavily fortified, although it has been expanding. (Olympus -2 Priests, or Preists as TerrisH so often calls them
)
The Roddynan army expands substantially as the levying measures put into place several years ago are finally activated. This recruiting comes on top of a volunteer surge from the war with the Dominion. (Roddyna +1000 infantry, story bonus)
But the Roddynan military is stretching its boundaries once again. Where the previous Czar had to solve the problem of logistics with regard to rations, this one will have to find out how to maintain such large armed forces without depriving the towns of much of their workforce. (You have 250k population. About ¼ of those are of military age, meaning 60k. Your military is 10k.)
On the disputed border, there is only one serious conflict, which is swiftly won by the numerically and technologically superior Roddynan armies (Roddyna -23 infantry, -3 Lizard Cavalry, Dominion -40 infantry, -1 Wofter), and then...
Furey's Dominion immediately and unilaterally withdraws from the territories contested by Roddyna. No reason is given, but most suspect military inferiority. Meanwhile, reports emerge that the population of the Dominion is over five-sixths female, unless possibly all the males are hidden in salt mines or the like. The army of Furey's Dominion, of course, is composed of only women.
The Roddynans tinker eagerly with the artifact. A year is spent recording, noting, cleaning, examining and finally duplicating it as far as possible. The first tests of the duplicate show to not possess the structural strength or fine components to function, so tests are continued with the original artifact. Traces of a rock extract in some of the chambers suggest that it used this as fuel. Refilling and replacement of some bits hoped to work eventually cause the artifact to burst into fire and rise off the ground for a while. Unfortunately, the landing mechanism which slowed it last time is not present, and so repairs must begin again. But over the course of another year or two, the Roddynans discover that some of the old equipment in New Moscow responds to signals from the artifact. The second time they launch it, it rises to a height of several miles, and provides a bird's-eye view of the ground below displayed on old screens thought long dead. For an hour, the Techmagi and Engineers are witness to a beautiful display of their land. Preparations to catch the artifact, now dubbed the Sunsoarer, are in place and work perfectly. The report goes out to Czar Grisha, who sees the Sunsoarer's potential. Over the next few months, a village springs up from nowhere on an area with concentrates of several of the materials involved in the Sunsoarer and the response machine. Eventually, the Sunsoarer is flying for several weeks at a time.
(now, do you have anything to use this for?)
And finally, after the claims in the south are more or less resolved, the Orcs spring up again. They have a base named Dral'Kar where at least a thousand active warriors are on duty. As before, they display no technology more advanced than axes and swords, and they are of the same stock as those which sprang from the Roddynan fears a long time ago...
The Illyrian civil war begins taking a heavy toll from the involved. The Illyrian military returns from conquest; the rebels, finding no place of sanctuary in Roddyna, take up the sword and fight. (New Illryia -749 infantry, rebels -1958 militia.)
Novoria prepares to peacefully rejoin the Tecno Union after a long period of negotiations. With no communicating neighbors and a continent full of dread monsters to their immediate south, war seems a rather pointless thing to do, and the independence thing didn't work out as well as hoped.
A.Y. 211
"Rocks fall, lots of people die"
The major event of this time is perhaps the intersection of the spatial paths of a few hunks of rock with that of the planet. But that will be described later.
In the far North, where the undead hordes are said by some to have originated, the nation called Duskmist begins expanding its borders and the Mythal which protects it. Erathal the Ancient is still secluded, but the people of Duskmist are proving far happier now.
Well, except for some on the borders, who are seeing the ghosts of Bersia wandering about. Unhappy men and women in the clothes they bore in life, still crying over their deaths and those of their companions and families.
(Duskmist +3 haunted border provinces)
A few years on from the conclusion of these make nice uniforms, the paltry team of researchers assigned to investigating the clothing artifacts from the Ancients discovers how to make the artifacts near impenetrable while worn. This results in a few embarassing situations as hapless test subjects find themselves unable to remove suddenly indestructible full-body wear. Happily, a reversal is soon found, and so Erathal finds himself in the pleasurable position of being able to equip a hundred men with a form of armor superior to any seen so far.
(Duskmist +120 sooper speshul combat suits)
Further east, the undead hordes formerly commanded by Lerkal continue to taint the land. The north part of the Larian Peninsula is said by some brave sailors to be sinking into the sea. What is for certain is that the region is decaying as a whole. Pools of brackish water appear just north of the Kenyatan warding-line, and the vegetation rots into organic soup which festers and ferments. The occasional warband, sometimes bringing a Nurturer attempting to cleanse the land, brings reports of a new ecosystem springing up, one based on little else than fungus and rot.
(Undead hordes +1 new homeland)
The Kenyatan confederacy is taking this quite calmly, having warded their northern borders securely. The undead are not attacking them directly, so the Kenyatans are not worried. The most major event in their lives appears to be the opening of a trade route with Iceland to the south.
(Kenyata +1 trade route)
With the death of the benevolent and last true ruler of Seleucia Novus, the country fragments. The experiments with grassroots movements are put into practice as a dozen small regions spring up. Archon Teradin attempts to claim power, but finds himself without a leg to stand on literally as his legs are symbolically hacked off by an independence group proclaiming This is how we deal with those who would tread on us! and parading one of the severed legs on a pole.
As a group, the new regions shift westwards, feeling sympathy towards the Kenyatan confederacy of farms, and some hostility towards the paranoid Rolagangaregorolians.
Rolangaregorol, apparently one of the most advanced nations in the world, but also one of the most extended and disliked, makes progress on all fronts save diplomacy. Having more advanced technology than the nearby nations, having an expansionist policy, and having the Mistblowers of Goolsa at their beck and call all combine to create a sense of arrogance which instills dislike in the non-native populations. Another danger is the rise of cult leaders within the nation who are aware that human minds create power. The leader will offer something to potential followers in exchange for their loyalty and devotion, then use the power this gives him to win more followers by displays of magic.
(Rolangaregorol -1 Culture)
With the passing of Elder Hawkeye, the Orioch Nomads find themselves under the guidance of Elder Sharpclaw. He founds the city of Gaveana to serve as the Orioch capital. Great things are expected from Sharpclaw, first of all measures against Rolangaregorol...
THE WESTERN SKYFALL
A meteor swarm hits the Cammane City-States. This is not at all good for them. Happily for everyone else, this also obliterates a large number of undead. However, the undead had overrun the CCS sufficiently that they are destroyed, leaving several thousand refugees heading mostly towards the Church, the sole remaining power in this land.
(-1 CCS, -2000 undead warriors, +60 000 people with no real leader)
The Leonhards continue to move. The western, more military contingent, sees the lands it left devasted by a second meteor swarm, probably related to the first one, which essentially obliterates the Lokianicans following in their train.
(-1 Lokianica, which was a secret nation, being played by Disenfrancised. Ask him if you want details.)
(House Leonhard +30 000 population, leaderless people +another 40 000)
The Akratian Leonhards in the east find themselves new homes and settle down alongside the Dangals. Already prophecies are taking root among them, telling of the day when the true scion of House Leonhard will return from the west and lead them to war against the Church.
The Church fortifies itself against the undead, who have been busy elsewhere. With the CCS destroyed, Eshva and his followers are the only ones with any non-negligible quantities of maggots on their hands. With no undead attacks, they have instead begun using the maggots for healing. When placed on an infected wound, the maggots will consume only the rotten flesh, leaving the wound purified. While somewhat gross, this has eliminated what remaining plague there is in the area.
This leaves The Church faced with a short peace, a hundred thousand refugees, and ten thousand undead soon to arrive on their rather well-defended doorstep.
THE EASTERN TANGLE
Participants: Telvanni and Rome Reborn in the center; also Arkenaar, Lahmia, Olympus, Roddyna; possibly Zhiki by Olympus; possibly Furey's Dominion by Roddyna.
It is somewhat unsure which of the following events were done in truth, which were staged by infiltrators, and which are merely rumors and propaganda.
Lahmian enterprises are found sabotaged, probably by Olympian spies.
Olympus declares support for Rome Reborn, inviting Emperor Morgan to join the pantheon as demigod-ruler over the Roman people.
Olympian troops begin attacking Telvanni villages, furthering the above.
Roman mobs kill several Arkenaaran observers and drive the Arkenaaran observers away with barrages of thrown objects from stones to rotten fruit, strongly insulting Arkenaaran honor and neutrality.
Arkenaar's true purpose in sending an observer corps is revealed to be that of protecting the Telvanni from Roman imperialism.
A huge dead fish with fortifications on its back is seen lying dead in the sea south of Telvanni;
-it was awakened by a meteor falling into the sea
-it was an Olympian construct that died somehow
-it never existed, the Telvanese Illusionists were behind making it seem to appear
-it was created by the Roddynan artifact that fell from the sky
Several Lahmian spies are discovered in Arkenaar. This is compounded by a story that they are not quite human, leading to quite real and verifiable riots, lynchings of several Lahmians and demands that the government declare war on Lahmia, met by demands from Lahmia that the Arkenaaran government condemn these actions.
Old plans for the alliance of Rome Reborn and Olympus are discovered, stating to first destroy Telvanni and later Arkenaar. This, combined with stories of genocide, attempted or full, from both the former nations, lends moral support to the position that nations such as Lahmia and Roddyna should make war on Rome and Olympus.
Ancient documents from House Telvanni suggest that Rome was at one point a Telvanese vassal.
(OOC: I keep an archive of all Private Messages received. It proved handy in writing this. We now return you to the regular events of these nations.)
The Telvanni-Rome war, no longer making any pretence to civility, enters its heaviest stage yet. The losses number in thousands of warriors and even more civilians, due to indiscriminate hatred on both sides. Tel Vos was the first city to be razed it is not the last. And now several other nations threaten to enter the conflict. For the present, the Telvanni elite units appear busy on other missions or neutralized by the sudden upsurge of roman Praetors, and so sheer military force on the part of the Romans pushes forwards. Meanwhile Wraith is no longer merely the leader of a rebel movement he is a national hero, destined to lead the people.
(Telvanni -534 infantry, -3900 militia, -11442 population, +1 set of stats)
(Rome Reborn -1719 infantry, -4 Legionnaires, -4444 population)
In one of the mountain passageways where the apprentice Illusionists and Masks practice their trade, one notices a regular flow of air, too regular. Investigating, he is lead to a walled-up chamber. At his touch, the wall seems to fly apart, revealing a room covered in metal and glass, and a self-contained throne chamber in the middle. Lights dot the interior, runes cover every surface, and hisses and squeaks of machinery are heard from inside the walls. It can be nothing but a grotto of the Ancestors, most likely sealed up in the early Age of Horrors. As he leaves, the walls close, leaving no visible trace even for him, and he eventually tells Wraith about this...
(Telvanni +1 artifact)
Two olympian preachers enter Zhiki in defiance of local law and previous warnings, preach, and are summarily executed. Furthermore, their ship is sunk and their companions detained, so word takes a month or two to get back to Olympus. Zhiki is still heavily fortified, although it has been expanding. (Olympus -2 Priests, or Preists as TerrisH so often calls them
)The Roddynan army expands substantially as the levying measures put into place several years ago are finally activated. This recruiting comes on top of a volunteer surge from the war with the Dominion. (Roddyna +1000 infantry, story bonus)
But the Roddynan military is stretching its boundaries once again. Where the previous Czar had to solve the problem of logistics with regard to rations, this one will have to find out how to maintain such large armed forces without depriving the towns of much of their workforce. (You have 250k population. About ¼ of those are of military age, meaning 60k. Your military is 10k.)
On the disputed border, there is only one serious conflict, which is swiftly won by the numerically and technologically superior Roddynan armies (Roddyna -23 infantry, -3 Lizard Cavalry, Dominion -40 infantry, -1 Wofter), and then...
Furey's Dominion immediately and unilaterally withdraws from the territories contested by Roddyna. No reason is given, but most suspect military inferiority. Meanwhile, reports emerge that the population of the Dominion is over five-sixths female, unless possibly all the males are hidden in salt mines or the like. The army of Furey's Dominion, of course, is composed of only women.
The Roddynans tinker eagerly with the artifact. A year is spent recording, noting, cleaning, examining and finally duplicating it as far as possible. The first tests of the duplicate show to not possess the structural strength or fine components to function, so tests are continued with the original artifact. Traces of a rock extract in some of the chambers suggest that it used this as fuel. Refilling and replacement of some bits hoped to work eventually cause the artifact to burst into fire and rise off the ground for a while. Unfortunately, the landing mechanism which slowed it last time is not present, and so repairs must begin again. But over the course of another year or two, the Roddynans discover that some of the old equipment in New Moscow responds to signals from the artifact. The second time they launch it, it rises to a height of several miles, and provides a bird's-eye view of the ground below displayed on old screens thought long dead. For an hour, the Techmagi and Engineers are witness to a beautiful display of their land. Preparations to catch the artifact, now dubbed the Sunsoarer, are in place and work perfectly. The report goes out to Czar Grisha, who sees the Sunsoarer's potential. Over the next few months, a village springs up from nowhere on an area with concentrates of several of the materials involved in the Sunsoarer and the response machine. Eventually, the Sunsoarer is flying for several weeks at a time.
(now, do you have anything to use this for?
)And finally, after the claims in the south are more or less resolved, the Orcs spring up again. They have a base named Dral'Kar where at least a thousand active warriors are on duty. As before, they display no technology more advanced than axes and swords, and they are of the same stock as those which sprang from the Roddynan fears a long time ago...
The Illyrian civil war begins taking a heavy toll from the involved. The Illyrian military returns from conquest; the rebels, finding no place of sanctuary in Roddyna, take up the sword and fight. (New Illryia -749 infantry, rebels -1958 militia.)
Novoria prepares to peacefully rejoin the Tecno Union after a long period of negotiations. With no communicating neighbors and a continent full of dread monsters to their immediate south, war seems a rather pointless thing to do, and the independence thing didn't work out as well as hoped.
Erik Mesoy
Core Tester / Intern
Here is the map.
Silver Steak
The Ghost of SS
Erik Mesoy said:
Huh? Are yu quite sane? Spoilers are used for highlighting things, not hiding them!
Erik Mesoy
Core Tester / Intern
I have no clue why I wrote the above.Silver Steak said:
Still, funny that you would comment on that instead of going WOOT UPDATE.
Corrections to things I missed in the update are welcome...
Gladinia
Well, who else
Woot Update
The Strategos
Thanatos
- Joined
- Jul 21, 2002
- Messages
- 1,175
To: The Roman Rebels
From: Telvanni
Any Roman rebel who lays down his arms and pleads for forgiveness will be pardoned for rebelling against his rightful liege lord. In our generosity, we will even extend this offer Morgan, made Kaiser of the Romans by the grace of Telvanni, who in his pride led his nations into the sin of forsaking their oaths of fidelity.
To: Olympus
From: Telvanni
You have interfered in our punishment of rebels in our lands, killing innocent people and allying yourself with oath-breakers. However, in our graciousness, we will ignore this, if you immediately withdraw all your troops from our continent and pay us the sum of [2 eco points] to compensate the families of the victims of those who you massacred in cold-blood.
To: Arkenaar
From: Telvanni
It appears that our enemies are also your enemies. Perhaps an alliance could be signed for our mutual protection?
TerrisH
Mischief?
*diplo Never Reaches Zuse, because we don't Acknowlage Telvanni as a nation*
To the People of Rome
It dose not matter who came first, mearly who controls the NOW.
To the People of Rome
It dose not matter who came first, mearly who controls the NOW.
RoddyVR
Veteran Board NESer
*rubs his hands in glee.*
mwahaha... the update!!!
anyway, have a couple questions on the artifact:
so its some sort of flying machine... i guess more a hovercrafty/helicoptory type then a plane, judging by being able to "catch" it. right? how big is it? when its flying, is it flying with people on it? or is there no space on it for people and other stuff (thinking of something like possibility of bombing). how much control over it can i actualy excert when its flying? are we just launching it, and watching it fly around on the monitors, or can we tell it where to go and so on?
right now the picture in my mind is like that thing in that "moon lander" game, a house with legs that shoots flames out the bottom and sides to control its descent to the surface.
mwahaha... the update!!!
anyway, have a couple questions on the artifact:
so its some sort of flying machine... i guess more a hovercrafty/helicoptory type then a plane, judging by being able to "catch" it. right? how big is it? when its flying, is it flying with people on it? or is there no space on it for people and other stuff (thinking of something like possibility of bombing). how much control over it can i actualy excert when its flying? are we just launching it, and watching it fly around on the monitors, or can we tell it where to go and so on?
right now the picture in my mind is like that thing in that "moon lander" game, a house with legs that shoots flames out the bottom and sides to control its descent to the surface.
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