It sounds good, except for Lugus ordering him to raze a Calabim city. Lugus is the god who tries to reform evildoers, razing cities is more Junil's line of work. I think he'd want the city occupied and converted to the Empyrean (or another good religion in a pinch) instead; even if he'd want the evildoers killed off instead of reformed, I hardly think Lugus would condone the mass-slaughter of innocents (Calabim society contains a large percentage of suppressed civilians, after all).
Anyway, I've got done writing my next piece. I'll edit the save tomorrow and then I'll post (an edited and improved version of) this. Feel free to critise it or point out mistakes meanwhile:
Spoiler:
Dallarin still vividly remembers the miracle, and still can't help but glance at the Black Candle expectingly whenever it is in the sky. Especially now, after his people have followed Ceridwen's orders and regained much knowledge from the age of magic and are even taking steps towards harnessing magic. One night, at last, his expectations pay off as the Black Candle is once again burning with a purple flame.
"Dallarin..." a voice speaks. "You have done well... You have tried to recover lost knowledge of magic to the best of your abilities. Yet it seems the curiosity of your people is not as great as I hoped. You are progressing slowly towards the knowledge of magic you seek; too slowly.
Yet let it never be said I do not reward those who try to carry out my commands. While the knowledge you are steadily obtaining will be a great reward in itself, I have also ignited the mind of a simple man among your people. He shall now be among the very wise. Finding him will be quite easy, as he will come to find you. His mind shall be a great asset to you.
He will also instruct you on how to properly worship Me, the wisest and most benevolent of all gods. As you have noticed, doing My bidding brings great rewards. Kylorin was loyal to me, and ruled Erebus because of it. You must learn the ways of the wise from him. There is no hurry, I understand your people have immediate needs that need to be seen to as well. But do not keep Me waiting too long..."
--
Weyoun awoke in the middle of the night. His mind was swimming with ideas and curiosity. He suddenly understood so much more than he had before now... Yet he also realised now there was so much he didn't understand. The thought was appalling; he wanted to know more. He had gone to bed last night with the only two thoughts on his mind being the upcoming harvest and how much he loved his wife. Now the first couldn't be further from his mind, while the second was only a small part of his suddenly enormous thoughts now.
Weyoun got up and started collecting the things he would need in a hurry. He had already wasted forty-two years, he didn't want to waste another second.
"Huh?" Mumbled his wife. "Weyoun, what are you doing? It's the middle of the night..."
Weyoun took a look outside at the stars and did a quick calculation, realising he had barely been able to count past fifty until he had woken up just now. "It is not, actually; that passed an hour and fifty-seven minutes ago. And there is no time to waste; I must get to the capital!"
Kilana sat up in bed. "Why? We can't go to Aerie! It's the middle- it's night, and the harvest is coming up!"
"I can't wait for the harvest, it is a dreadfully slow process. I must go to the capital, there is so much to learn..."
"Weyoun!" Kilana snapped angrily, "the only thing you must do is get back into bed and sleep this madness off!"
Weyoun sighed, beginning to wonder how he could ever have married someone so slow. It was a good thing they had no children yet, they would distract him from pursuing the knowledge he wanted. "Madness? This is a blessing! The gods have smiled upon me!" He looked out of the window, and saw the black candle, unusually bright, and burning with a purple flame. "Ceridwen be blessed! The godess of the stars herself has brought this upon me... Look at the Black Candle, Kilana, it's a sign! I must praise Ceridwen for bringing this upon me, and I must go to Aerie... Tell others of this miracle, so that they may also praise the greatest of all gods! And I must find books... I must learn..."
Kilana looked out of the window, and was visibly impressed by the omen. "I... Wow... I- I suppose you must be right... But what about the harvest?"
"Someone else will have to bring in the harvest, or it won't be brought in. It's not important, there is so much to learn! And when I know more, I will create food for us."
"But... Weyoun, we're one of the biggest farms in Aerie lands, what if there's not enough food left for everyone if we leave?"
"The odds of that are no more than 39,7%."
--
Weyoun cautiously entered Dallarin's quarters. He calculated there was only a 18,3% chance the King realised his leaving his farm had contributed to the famine, but why take the risk?
He cleared his throat. "Your majesty? My name is Weyoun; I am the one you likely have heard about, as I have been receiving a number of followers lately, who have been pursuing knowledge and worshipping Ceridwen, and of course her dragon Abashi, with me. Unfortunately, we find our pursuit of knowledge here is strained by several factors. The famine is one of them; another is followers of other gods attacking us occassionally. Therefore, I must inform you we will leave Aerie and settle somewhere else to probe the secrets of creation.
We will remain loyal to you and serve you, however if we were to leave with your blessing, we could attract more citizens, and educate them in the arts of magic as well. I'm quite sure Ceridwen would be very pleased with you if you did."
OOC:
Spoiler:
Since you didn't complete the quest, so you don't get a settled Great Scientist, unlike your rivals who did make it, but you did get close (and I suspect my quest was in fact impossible for you ). The famine takes away some population from Aerie, but you get a settler.
Quests:
-Use the Settler to settle a city. Preferably in a good commerce or great people spot, but this is up to you.
-Research Way of the Wicked. There is no time limit on this, apart from researching it before you research Way of the Wise.
-Rewards for these quests: You'll see. (You didn't expect a goddess of secrets to reveal her hand, did you? )
Ahh, this is something I overlooked, and is why I'm trying to make sure I run everything by the more experienced FFHers first. I understand that Lugus is typically a benevolent god who would not be one to commission crusades, but I also know that Lugus holds a vendetta against the vampires and enslaving loyal subjects seems to be a good way to piss off any god, the Calabim control of the Mirror of Heaven seems like a special circumstance. The idea of liberating and/or converting the offending city seems like a much better compromise, or simply seizing control of the Mirror of Heaven from the Calabim.
And hell, the pilgrims could maybe even tie into the mega plot. Esus could whisper ideas of heading towards Bradeline's Well once they're freed. If my task is accomplished it'd be fun if a rival god opened an "evil" option to Veridian for what he wants to do with my settler.
The Hell Hounds will be there for a while as they're twice as strong as Verdian's current units. Will their presence clash with your plans for Swanmay Island (or are they integral to it)?
Do you still want this island renamed or would you prefer a new island a little further out that Verdian can discover with his new boat?
@Elder Methyl,
Demon Slaying would probably look like a valuable promo seeing as he's been asked to kill two hell hounds.
Do you want forested grassland on the island or a different terrain type? I'll try to do the edits for you this evening if no-one else does them in the meanwhile.
Edit: Added an island called Swanmay Isle directly East of Aerie. Does this meet your requirements or would you like it edited further?
Reedit: Replaced some Ocean with Coastal terrain so that the galley can reach the island.
@Elder Methyl,
Demon Slaying would probably look like a valuable promo seeing as he's been asked to kill two hell hounds.
Do you want forested grassland on the island or a different terrain type? I'll try to do the edits for you this evening if no-one else does them in the meanwhile.
Edit: Added an island called Swanmay Isle directly East of Aerie. Does this meet your requirements or would you like it edited further?
Reedit: Replaced some Ocean with Coastal terrain so that the galley can reach the island.
@Zbelg, what about offering a joint quest to Dallarin: Research Way of the Wise before Way of the Wicked in exchange for a combination reward? Perhaps the Allegiance of the Angel stationed at the Mirror of Heaven?
@Elder Methyl
You're welcome.
You might want to give Verdian a clearer indication of how long you expect the unit to stay on the island. I think one turn represents a month and if I spent a month on an island, I'd certainly feel like I'd been there a while. If aiming for at least 9 months, you could describe it as,"long enough to be reborn in Sirona". Main thing I'd do would be to specify the duration OOC.
Will you be suggesting that he settle the settler so Swanmay Isle is within its BFC?
One thing to consider is that when I rewarded the Warrior with City Garrison 1 promo, I mentioned that they were suffering from paranoia and made some suggestions as to how Verdian "might" try to deal with this. If he never did anything about the paranoia or if I didn't think his steps were effective, I was going to have the paranoia develop into Crazed. I reckon the most effective cure for paranoia is a blessing from the Angel of Serenity. If Verdian sends the warrior with the City Garrison 1 promo to Swanmay, you might build the lifting the fear of the unknown from his mind into your response.
FYI, the warrior has not been cursed by Esus with paranoia. Rather all the stories, suspicions, lies and superstitions have built up enough to be a burden on his mind.
Will you be suggesting that he settle the settler so Swanmay Isle is within its BFC?
One thing to consider is that when I rewarded the Warrior with City Garrison 1 promo, I mentioned that they were suffering from paranoia and made some suggestions as to how Verdian "might" try to deal with this. If he never did anything about the paranoia or if I didn't think his steps were effective, I was going to have the paranoia develop into Crazed. I reckon the most effective cure for paranoia is a blessing from the Angel of Serenity. If Verdian sends the warrior with the City Garrison 1 promo to Swanmay, you might build the lifting the fear of the unknown from his mind into your response.
FYI, the warrior has not been cursed by Esus with paranoia. Rather all the stories, suspicions, lies and superstitions have built up enough to be a burden on his mind.
@Zbelg, what about offering a joint quest to Dallarin: Research Way of the Wise before Way of the Wicked in exchange for a combination reward? Perhaps the Allegiance of the Angel stationed at the Mirror of Heaven?
I like that. I still consider the angel to be your territory, but that would work out very well for my directive. If Veridian accomplishes the Open Borders task, I was thinking of giving him the quest to take Nubia (assuming that is still the most appropriate city) immediately after so he has adequate time to prepare. By "joint quest" do you mean that we will both offer the quest, and/or give separate awards for it's completion?
I like that. I still consider the angel to be your territory, but that would work out very well for my directive. If Veridian accomplishes the Open Borders task, I was thinking of giving him the quest to take Nubia (assuming that is still the most appropriate city) immediately after so he has adequate time to prepare. By "joint quest" do you mean that we will both offer the quest, and/or give separate awards for it's completion?
Yes, I think that we should both offer the quest. As for rewards, mine is the allegiance of the Mirror Angel, while yours could be granting that Angel Sun spells (gained from being in close proximity to the mirror).
Yes, I think that we should both offer the quest. As for rewards, mine is the allegiance of the Mirror Angel, while yours could be granting that Angel Sun spells (gained from being in close proximity to the mirror).
Okay, so Settler wise, Verdian's getting a Ceridwen settler this turn and probably a Sirona settler next turn.
The fight between good and evil is crytallising around Way of the Wise and Way of the Wicked with Junil and Sirona planning to make a counter offer to Ceridwen's veiled offer. Researching Way of the Wicked is of course implied in the planned Esus Spymaster quest to get Deception.
I plan to combine the Esus Settler and fast track to Way of the Wicked in a single decision for Verdian - essentially allow corruption into your empire by taking in an Esus settler or embrace corruption in your empire by choosing Way of the Wicked instead. This would be the draft blurb for this to be given on turn 100,
Spoiler:
Verdian, This spoiler is only to be read after you have played through to turn 150. I'll expect your response in the next report.
Spoiler:
The ever vigilant Aerie guards spotted the flotilla when it was still far out to sea. Rabish made his way to the cliff edge on hearing.
The lead ship was familiar. It was the ship that Dallarin had travelled to this continent on, just under twelve and a half years ago. Lord Rabish made the trip down the steep cliff path to where the fishermen kept their boats. He was curious to see if Captain Ruet was still in charge of The Roving Eye. Rabish reached the sea just as Captain Ruet's skiff pulled up.
Captain Ruet jumped out and walked up out of the water. He grabbed Rabish in a rib-crunching hug.
"Well met old friend. I long for trips like de one dat we shared. Dis last 'as been an 'ellish journey."
"I remember it was a long trip but not an exceptionally hazardous voyage. This time, were there pirates, storms . . .?"
"No. We brung all our problems wi' us from Kwythellar. De job was sold to me as bein' jus' like your old voyage. What weren't made clear were dat de cargo be de lowest form of life e'er to board a ship."
"What manner of cargo have you? Is it animals or Orcs or what?"
"Dey're people, well de mix of races you lot call people, but dey're scum. Lorda's thrown every murdering, thieving, lying son of a whore out of Kwythellar and onto our ships. Dey tried takin' two ships over - lost some good men dat day. We've 'ad to chain 'em all down in the 'old - none of de freedom to roam de ship that you 'ad. Dat Cardith Lorda 'as made me ships into slaveships and me and de crews ain't 'appy 'bout it."
---
"My lord, I would remind you that we are not a colony and not a vassal of Cardith Lorda. We are exiles and so are not bound by his laws nor are we bound to accept the dross he sends us."
"They are already here. From your discussion with Captain Ruet, I doubt he'll agree to bring them back to Kwythellar. At least, not at a price we can afford."
"If we allow them to freely join the city, crime will soar. It would be better to help them establish a settlement further away from the capital's population."
"You heard of their attempts to take control of the ship. If they are too far from our capital, they may rebel against us."
"Quite true, my lord but that in itself offers a potential solution. They are not Dragon Cultists and so are not bound to our nation in the way others are. If we accept that they would not remain true to us, we may be able to recompense Captain Ruet to ensure that they settle sufficiently far enough from us that they don't pose a threat. Let them be a thorn in someone else's side."
"Any who meet them will quickly assume that they are Kuriotates, given the mix of races they represent. Letting them loose elsewhere on the continent, out of our control, will surely be damaging to our reputation. It would be better to have them establish a new city and quickly build a temple where they can learn more of and become part of the Dragon Cult and our new nation."
"We should quickly invest in such a city then so that they feel welcomed and more loyal. This may help redeem them. Otherwise, they must be close enough to the capital that our influence will discourage their independence. If these people do settle in Aerie or elsewhere in our land, I'd suggest prioritising the building of the dungeon that Cardith Lorda chose not to."
"I'll need to look at the maps to see what the best option is."
"There is one further, distasteful option. They have been brought here chained like slaves. If we choose not to remove the chains, then it will certainly be easier to control them. . ."
OOC
Spoiler:
Decision time:
Get Rid of Them
Make a suitably generous offer and Captain Ruet returns the Settlers to Cardith Lorda.
Make an offer of some gold and pick a Coastal location on the continent for the establishment of a barbarian city with a Held Warrior for defence, Assassins, Hunters Lodge and a Palisade. Take a diplomatic hit from other nations.
Pay no gold (or I think your offer is too cheap) and I'll position the new barbarian city. Take a diplomatic hit from other nations. Anything offered will be considered.
Accept Them
Choose to accept the newcomers and get a Settler.
Choose to accept the newcomers specifically into Aerie and increase it's population by 1.
Pay 30 gold to cover the cost of the quick temple construction and select a tile within your cultural control and I'll position the CITY (note: not a Settlement) with a Pagan Temple already in it there.
Any assassins or agents of Esus in the city (founded by settler or placed by me) get an extra 5 xp on the God turns up to a max of 25. If they are settled in Aerie, then it will be only 3 xp for these units on the God turn.
Enslave Them
If you already have Philosophy researched (or are within 3 turns of completing research on it) and choose the Slavery approach, I'll give Way of the Wicked tech and two Slave units.
If you already have Way of the Wicked, you can have the two slaves.
If you don't have Philosophy, you can have only 1 slave and don't get Way of the Wicked (you're not as efficient at managing their work).
Divine Eyes Only
Spoiler:
Cost to return the criminals to Kwythellar is 400 gold or equivalent.
For determining if an offer is too cheap for selecting the barbarian city location, the number of sea tiles to reach settlement location * 3 is the required amount for an offer not to be too cheap. If Verdian is creative in the offer, I'll consider anything he includes apart from the gold.
Zbelg, if Lugus wanted to encourage acceptance of the settler, instead of opting for Way of the Wicked, he could give a vague vision about the power of forgiveness and that some people can do great things if given a second chance. I expect all Gods would know that Cardith is sending the criminals over.
---
Mega Plot
If Acheron has risen, then I'll do the Song of Morpheus chapter and add the defended city near Bradeline's Well. Given the position of the Well, it'll be either a Clan or Calabim city. I can't see Verdian jumping in to help defend either of them when they are attacked. If I make Morpheus an Amurite hero, then Verdian might help defend them against the Clan/Calabim counterattack. The fact that his neighbours, the Amurites execute a completely stealthy attack to claim a city and the Well should give him
pause for thought whether he chooses to get involved or not. So that Verdian, gets the story from both sides I was thinking of putting a Calabim scout between the Sidar and Kuriotates and opening the borders between Lanun and Calabim on turn 100. This should give a chance for contact to be established with the Calabim.
Here's a draft blurb:
The Song of Morpheus
Spoiler:
He'd been warned about the audiences in Aerie. Enough bards had left that city with broken instruments or broken fingers as payment for their songs. Some said, the extra aggression was to be expected given a population of young men who'd been uprooted from their homes and forced to carve a new life for themselves in a strange place. Those who'd toured there longest said the problems only got very nasty in the last couple of years.
As expected, the bard wasn't playing to an easy crowd. Too many young men and too much alcohol had the room near tipping point. The wrong word would set enough them off and cause the whole room to descend into melee. He needed a passionate song to catch their mood and attention but he needed one to calm the bravado of youth.
He considered his repertoire and picked the Song of Morpheus. The early verses were all about the heroic Amurite, Morpheus and his great feats of bravery. Rooms of hotheads tended to identify with him and so the song was good for claiming their attention. It was not a tale of glory though. The Song of Morpheus was a story of one man's hubris. Morpheus had thought himself so great that he sought Acheron's city. There, he planned to slay the terrible dragon and then rob his famous horde. The gradual realisation that the hero, with which they had initially identified, was going to fail and die usually worked to calm rough crowds.
Things didn't quite go as planned when he sang. Initially, the song worked it's usual magic. Conversations lowered as all tried to hear. The few Amurites in the room began to mouth the words of the verses they knew best. When Acheron was mentioned all conversation in the room ceased. The only sounds were the bard's voice and the strumming of his strings. When Acheron slew Morpheus, most of the men gave a loud cheer. The Amurites were not impressed. It was a very impressive brawl, though. It started between some of the cheerers and the Amurites. Misplaced blows gradually brought almost everyone else into it. The bard tried to maintain his composure and finish the song. A look from the owner told him that he regarded the bard as being responsible for starting this fight. The bard made a quick exit and resolved not to play in Aerie again.
Obviously, Acheron has to have risen before I do the above chapter. It also makes more sense if the Amurites have established open borders with the Kuriotates. I'm not planning on changing Amurite diplomatic relations because of this - it was just a barfight after all.
Matters in Aerie were reaching a head. In the city, the sages were debating on what ways to research first: that of wisdom, or that of corruption? For the moment, it was corruption that was winning, due to the seductive rewards that it offered. However, it was not hopeless, as many of the populace still belived in the value of compassion, honor, and justice.
And so it was to tip the scales in favor of the latter that Sirona came to Lugus, openly and without concealment.
"I have come to talk about matters regarding the Dragon Cult," spoke Sirona. While such bluntness wasn't her usual mode of speech, the Goddess new that the Precept of the Sun cared not for tact, merely truth. It had in fact been that tactless honesty that had done in Lugus' followers in the Age of Magic, as they had few allies in that time.* But now, the world was most accepting of the truth, at least for now.
Quest 1 idea ("Law and Order"):
I want to make a quest to kill barbarians since my theme is law and order. I don't know of a way to count if a unit has killed a barbarian however (does anyone??). Otherwise I will check the XP for all units on the map (if I'm motivated enough) and divide by 2 to give a approximation of barbarian killing activity. EDIT: The CoE warriors have XP at turn 50?? There will be a reward for killing barbarians. Feedback?
Quest 2 idea ("Prepare for War"):
Good civs must build armies to prepare for war on evil. How can I encourage the AI good civs to build armies??
I plan on teleporting the Bannor settler and 2 warriors to a southern city location so they actually build a 2nd city!!
Quest 1 idea ("Law and Order"):
I want to make a quest to kill barbarians since my theme is law and order. I don't know of a way to count if a unit has killed a barbarian however (does anyone??). Otherwise I will check the XP for all units on the map (if I'm motivated enough) and divide by 2 to give a approximation of barbarian killing activity. EDIT: The CoE warriors have XP at turn 50?? There will be a reward for killing barbarians. Feedback?
A reward for killing barbarians could work.
Might be easier if you created a barbarian close to the Kuriotates for Verdian to deal with specifically, apart from the general get rid of the barbarians request.
If nations go to war you'd have to assume that most kills were associated with that, rather than killing barbarians. I think you're creating a lot of book keeping work for yourself with the approach you're planning. Verdian can let you know what barbarians he kills. Just do a guess for the other civilizations.
Where do the Clan of Embers fit in with this quest? Does Junil regard them as barbarian?
Quest 2 idea ("Prepare for War"):
Good civs must build armies to prepare for war on evil. How can I encourage the AI good civs to build armies??
I was making the mistake of wondering how to get the AI to play according to script when I first suggested the Mega Plot. The AI is just going to do it's thing.
I think the answer here is that you gift a warrior to the Bannor. How many of the other civs were you thinking would go along with Junil's suggestions. If it's not too many, a similar gift could be made. Just remember that balance needs to be maintained, so don't be excessive, otherwise it will end up as a gift giving arms race.
I plan on teleporting the Bannor settler and 2 warriors to a southern city location so they actually build a 2nd city!!
As I was saying, don't trust the AI. Plop a city down where you think it should be built and teleport the warriors in. Kill the settler (it founded the city).
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Lugus is the god who tries to reform evildoers, razing cities is more Junil's line of work. I think he'd want the city occupied and converted to the Empyrean (or another good religion in a pinch) instead; even if he'd want the evildoers killed off instead of reformed, I hardly think Lugus would condone the mass-slaughter of innocents (Calabim society contains a large percentage of suppressed civilians, after all).
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