Update 18- 800 BCE
DEAD! DEAD! WE'RE ALL GONNA DIE!!!
-Urrian citizen, as the curse of the glass throne falls upon his city.
The Hawaiian-led occupation of Antarctica continues. Money is being poured into rebuilding the nation, but the use of that is limited. The land is bitterly cold, and numerous Hawaiians are perishing due to the cold. Fortunately, Vol'Kiss Volcanists have created enough heat to survive.
The Immortal Kingdom has abandoned its holdings on Antarctica to the Hawaiians, and has teleported its army back to warmer lands.
(-1 thousand Hawaiian infantry)
The main Vol'Kiss force pulled out of Antarctica, giving their holdings (Minus the trade centers) to the penguins. While some volcanists remain to heat the Hawaiians, everyone else landed in southern Africa and attacked the colony.
It would suffice to say that they expected slightly more resistance.
The Antarcticans had already fled their colonies to places unknown. The Vol'Kiss declared the South African colony to be theirs.
The Hawaiians were quite amused when a group of Antarcticans returned to their continent to continue construction on the Antarctic Harbours.
(-10 000 Antarctic population, +10 000 Hawaiian population)
Hyperborea has gone on a massive burst of expansion, founding colonies and outposts all over the surface of the world. However, some of these have been built just a little too close to other nations than they would prefer. Avalon and Malawi are likely annoyed about Hyperborean outposts on their colonial borders.
Germania, Avalon, and Gorin have finally stamped down the flames of the East Germanian revolution. They sent in a massive force, and the small rebel forces were quickly crushed, the survivors scattering. The citizens of Eastern Germania were then all systematically killed. The last remenants of the revolution linger powerlessly on in Welikoslavia, Baltica, and Illyria.
(-Germanian Rebellion, -1 thousand Avalonian infantry, -1 thousand Gorin infantry)
The Illyrian attack on Balaeria is going well. They have cast Grenth's curse, the same spell they used on New Atlantis, upon all of the Balaerian lands. But this time, it is even more powerful. Using both the power of the Chaos Crystal and the lore of the Book of the Dead, not to mention the increased experience of their Unholy Knights, the spell's power has vastly increased.
The Leviathans, longtime defenders of Balaeria, turned on their charges. Fortresses crumbled. And under the influence of Seth Dethos' ring of power, the will of the people collapsed.
The Illyrian Army sailed over the seas, and fairly easily conquered the Balaerians. The last vestiges of Karthage were shattered. Some Balaerians were killed in dark rituals, many were enslaved, and the leaders were given golden rings and full rights as Illyrian citizens.
(-1 thousand Illyrian infantry, -1 thousand Illyrian cavalry, -1 thousand Illyrian archers +200 000 population, +1 economy point, - Balaeria)
But the Illyrians didn't have long to enjoy their victory.
Ur's campaign against Welikoslavia was on an easy path to victory. King Desh set his eyes on a bigger prize than the nation of 'forest dwelling primitives' to his north.
Leaving dragons and part of his army to deal with Welikoslavia, he loaded the rest of his army into ships and sent them westwards. Thousands of infantry and cavalry forces landed in almost totally undefended Greece. They conquered, burned, and pillaged all that the Illyrians had built there for centuries before. More and more forces poured into Illyria from all of Ur's borders.
The Illyrian army quickly received word of this, and wearily set out to fight yet another battle. Their war weariness is growing to an alarming level, but their loyalty to and fear of Seth Dethos keeps them strong.
Unfortunately for Illyria, the lack of roads through their nation made sure that the army could move only at a painfully slow pace.
The Urrian armies advanced slowly but inexorably, destroying and pillaging every Illyrian city they captured. They were nearly at the capital of Kera when the first of the main Illyrian army arrived. Their cavalry Vanguard began launching attacks, and bogging down the offensive. By the time that the infantry and Unholy Knights arrived, the Urrian offensive was no longer immediately threatening Kera. But their vast numerical superiority paints a grim picture for Illyria, unless it gets help soon. Will old allies Hyperborea and Elgovia send aid?
The war against Welikoslavia, not that anyone has noticed it after other major events, is going well for Ur. Numerous dragon raids have crippled cities, people, and the economy. The once-mighty city of Kiyevgrad is now a smouldering ruin. But people are protesting the destruction of trade centers. Surely it would be better to reap the riches of these cities than to raze them?
(-2 thousand Illyrian infantry, -3 thousand Illyrian infantry, -3 thousand Illyrian cavalry, - Balaeria, -2 thousand Urrian infantry, -2 thousand Urrian cavalry, -10 Dragon Riders, -2 thousand Welikoslavian infantry, -2 confidence, -200 000 population, -2 economy levels)
As the great wars of Europe raged to the north, Khemri continued its conquest of the ancient Kingdom of Abyssinia. The last mainland cities were defeated, and a force was dispatched to finish off the last colonies. The Abyssinians fought bravely, and it seemed that they could possibly even remain independent!
But how they were defeated, though they didn't know it, was already a moot point.
Deep in the Libyan desert, burned to glass millennia ago in the Atlanto/Urrian war, Khemri had a settlement. At that settlement, thousands of slaves and zombies toiled for centuries in the construction of a perfect glass pyramid in the center of the perfect reflective landscape. At the center of the pyramid was a single chamber, attatched to a tunnel to the outside.
When the pyramid was complete, its workers marveled at its beauty. But the Lich King had much more in store for it than just appearance.
Taking a relic discovered recently deep in the sands beneath egypt, a relic so dark that it has no name, the Lich King carried it into the center of the Pyramid, even as its contact with him withered and twisted his hand. He placed it on a platform in the center of the chamber, in the center of the pyramid.
He let loose a horrific, echoing laugh. He had waited centuries for this.
Black tendrils spread out from the center of the Pyramid. Onlookers stared on in curiosity as they rebounded from side to side of the pyramid, growing darker and larger with every movement, until the whole interior of the pyramid was a maelstrom.
The Lich King continued to laugh.
Suddenly, a beam escaped the pyramid. It struck down a row of people. Panic broke out as more black light escaped the pyramid, killing everyone it touched. Within minutes, a constant black cloud was spreading all over Khemri. Then Abyssinia. Then Ur. Then Illyria and Karthage. After just a few minutes of existence, the black cloud dissipated. People counted their dead.
All of Khemri was dead. Half of Abyssinia. Numerous people in Ur, Illyria, and former Karthage had fallen. The Hyperborean islands of Crete and Malta were mostly killed. Only the magical fortress of Rhodes remained untouched.
As the dead were mourned, the distant Pyramid, the Glass Throne, pulsed with light once. Those killed by the black cloud stirred. And rose once again. As zombies, utterly loyal to the Lich King. All over the Mediterranean, their hordes are poised to strike.
(Khemri's population turned into zombies, -3 thousand Urrian infantry, -100 000 Urrians to Khemri, -1 thousand Illyrian archers, -3 thousand Hyperborean infantry, -50 000 Hyperboreans to Khemri, -2 thousand Elgovian infantry, -50 000 Elgovians to Khemri, -200 000 Abyssinians to Khemri, Abyssinia collapses into anarchy)
Notes: Hmm. Biggest turn since the dawn of the Karthaginian war. This should be good.