orangeNES: Insert Witty Comment Here

orangelex44 · Apr 16, 2009

Current due date for character orders looks to be Saturday the 2nd - noon my time. That's 5:00 PM GMT, so do your own conversion after that. That date may change, if people need more time - I know we got started a lot earlier than I'd first planned.

While the NES is currently full, I encourage anyone to put their name on the reserve list. Lurkers are welcomed as well; feel free to input your opinions.

I've noted this before, and possibly in other places in the starting posts, but it's worth reiterating: I'd be more than happy to try and explain lore questions to anybody with a question, whether or not you're actually in the NES. Either post your questions within the thread, or PM me.

Table of Contents:
Post 1 - intro
Post 2 - nations
Post 3 - characters
Post 4 - lore 1
Post 5 - lore 2
Post 6 - update list, miscellaneous

Current Political Map:

Spoiler :

(recently updated to include city locations, as well as the locations of Yggdrasil, Letum Frigus, and Aifon Isle)
(the starting political map, as well as one with place names, are in the Lore section under "Maps")

The General Idea:

Spoiler :

My goal is to take the general "FFHNES" style and add my own personal flair. (To those that may not know, "FFH" stands for Fall From Heaven, a mod for Civ. There are currently three FFH NES's in some stage of play: one is active, one is on hiatus, and one is in development.) Before I go any further, I want to mention that I intend this to be a summer project of mine, for my own enjoyment. It will not be intended to last longer than a few months. Also, since this is for my (and hopefully, the players') enjoyment, it will be quite low-key. It's just for fun, and any potential player shouldn't worry too much about how much time they can spend on it, how good their writing is, ot whatnot.

Like I suggested to Immac in FFHNESII, I thought that having individual characters working as active participants in the NES was a neat idea. Immac agreed, and implemented the nicely working system there that, to me, has added a lot to the feel of the NES. Among other idea, I would like to take that "character" concept and extend it further. Immac did a good job, but this NES will be designed from the ground up to include characters as active participants. Of course, "regular" nations will be there too, and what I plan to have happen is a sort of character NES within the greater NES. There will be lots of interaction between the two, but the characters will have quite different objectives than nations will and overall the "feel" will be different for players at each "scale" of the world.

The other major change from the formula FFHNESI, FFHNESII, and KolNES are taking is to start the NES "mid-game". If those NES's were random maps, this NES is a scenario - so everyone starts out with more than a warrier and a settler. There will hopefully be little to no "buildup" stage, and though not everyone will start in equally advantageous positions I'll try to let everyone get in the action to start with. To advance this goal, I'll be tossing out techs and revamping the FFHNES-accepted money system to make it population-based instead of improvement-, trade- and resource-based.

Knowledge of Fall From Heaven lore is nice, but not necessary. You'll eventually have to get a little acquianted, but that's not a big issue to me. I just want to see how much interest there is right now, and solve the other problems later. If you are interested, check out the FFH forums here: http://forums.civfanatics.com/forumdisplay.php?f=190.

We got started earlier than I expected. I don't know when my classes will start back up in fall, so the end date is still up in the air a little bit. I may, if the NES is looking really exciting, extend the length by an update or two - but don't count on it. If I still feel like modding, I'll instead start a new (smaller) NES, perhaps outside of the FFH world.

Player List:

Spoiler :

Nation List:

Spoiler :

Relative "power" of player actions:

1) Character stories.
2) National orders.
3) National stories; if you wrote that you killed a character, but he claims he escaped, he'd probably right.

... subject to my decision, of course. However, I would guess that 90% of the time this is what I'll follow.

TO THE NATIONS, PART II:

Remember that you can spend gold later on for "general" improvements. I won't have a specific list of what you can and can not do, so if you have an idea ask me and I'll price it.

Currently, there are a few cities that have defensible walls around them. Kwythellar (obviously), Cevedes, Torrolerial, and Ithralia. There are also some defensive lines along the Bannor/Clan of Embers border, and along the Kuriotate's borders - these aren't as tough to get past as the city walls. You should expect to lose more men if you assault well-defended areas or cities.

A note: I've decided that I'll probably switch to Immac's system of letting recon units and paid-for recon send in orders earlier for information-gathering. I'm going to one one further than him, though: you can send in recon orders (either for units, or using cash) at ANY TIME in the order process. That includes during the "character round".

However... you can only do one mission per recon unit per round, and money-bought missions will be slightly less effective each time you do them. So use the ability wisely.

I do want people to clearly indicate a couple things when sending orders: first, who they are (nation or character); second, that they are Final Orders or Recon Orders. Question emails should be labeled as such. DO NOT GIVE ORDERS THROUGH PM'S.

As for format, well, I don't care overmuch. Just be clear about where you're spending money/who you're drafting, and when it comes to combat orders the more descripitive the better

orangelex44 · Apr 16, 2009

NATIONS:

Economy:

Spoiler :

This is a major departure from the previous FFHNES's. My goal was to simplify and streamline the process a little bit, mostly so that I have less to deal with since there are more players. Like all good things, it's deceptively simple.

I don't want to have to dig through the numbers of the following example and correct them, but I've finalized the people-to-gold ratio. 2500 people will give you one gold. Again, cities provide 10, and most UF's provide some gold as well.

Essentially, your entire economy will be based on one thing: population. Every territory will have a population assigned to it, and the gold you get from that population is a multiplier of that. So, for instance, assume you have a total national population of 13455 people. Every 1000 people (or something like that; I'm still playing with the numbers) gives you 1 gold, so your "base" income is 13.5 gold.

Now, there are a couple other things that add into that. Some Unique Features will add in an extra bonus on top of that. So, let's say our hypothetical nation owns the Remnants of Patria, for another 10 gold. You're up to 23.5 gold to play with.

Finally, there is a final modifier that comes into play: Productivity. Depending on events, your nation's general level of civilization, wars, and the like your productivity can rise or fall. Thus, if our above nation was, say, in the middle of a civil war, the final total could maybe be multiplied by .75. Thus, your final total becomes 17.6, which gets rounded off. Think of it as the stability modifier that exists in so many NESs: You want it to go up, and to do that you want happy people, safe lands, cool buildings, religion, etc.

Now, that's fair enough. Where it truly becomes interesting is in how your population can change. There are a couple ways - first, most territories will grow a percentage of their population every turn, depending on what's happening in the area (plagues, good harvest, etc.). However, conquest also increases your total population. Drafting units, while not actually removing the citizens, does remove them from your active economy and thus they don't count toward your income.

Gold isn't just useful for military. I will not release a specific list of buildings or improvements you can buy, but if someone wishes build a defensive line, improve their food production, train their soon-to-be-drafted population or something like that I'll be willing to listen, and work something out. THINK CREATIVELY, WRITE A STORY, and COMPLAIN A LOT - and you might be surprised at what you end up with.

Perhaps the most important part of gold is that it can be traded, whereas population can't. That extends to units, as well - I'll allow selling or renting of units, but only bought ones, not recruited ones. There is one exception to that - the Hippus, which shouldn't be any great surprise. Their population still has to stay at home, but their drafted units can be hired as mercenaries.

A little more subtly, I'll be making gold inviolate once banked. Stored gold cannot be taken from you, under any circumstance. Invading nations may recieve gold, but it will be at the cost of killing a whole bunch of your citizens, not by taking gold you're already gained.

So, to summarize, there are basically only two resources you'll ever need to keep track of: population and gold. Population is vital - it not only produces gold, but can be directly traded for military units. You can't go wrong with trying to get a larger population. Gold is useful because it's flexible - you can use it to do neat things a simple population can't do - and because it's "safe". Plagues, wars, and the like cannot affect how much gold you have stored, but you can't depend on your population staying at what it is. Also, unlike population, gold can be traded.

Reconaissance/Information:

Spoiler :

Unique Features/Cities:

Spoiler :

Military:

Spoiler :

Territories:

Spoiler :

Stories:

Spoiler :

Updates:

RECENTLY UPDATED! Characters, look at this too.

Spoiler :

NOTE:
These are general rules. Just like FFH itself, I broke nearly every one of them while designing the nations. There are no absolute rules, except that exceptions are the rule. Be warned in advance, since you cant depend on the fact that everyone else is limited in the same way you are.

And, of course, everything here is rather in a state of flux. The basics likely won't change, but minor revisions will continue to go on until we start, and possibly even after - if someone finds an egregious error, or something.

orangelex44 · Apr 16, 2009

Characters:

Yeah, I know, your section is smaller. I'm sorry about your nation envy but put simply, characters simply have less to worry about than nations. It's not that they're less important, or even that they're less influential - it's just that you don't need to worry about numbers so much, and characters will probably need some more individual considerations anyway. There's no reason to work on some comprehensive ruleset when no one will end up following them, is there? Plus, most of your actions will take place via story, making your part of the NES easier for me to run.

The General Idea:

Spoiler :

Let's start with my intentions for what a "character" will be in this NES, since the idea is (to my knowledge) pretty new to the genre.

My goal for characters is to have them be a full half of the NES. Instead of focusing on a national level, though, the character players will instead take follow the life of a single person (or, in one case, a small group of people), and how that person interacts within the world the nations are creating. Obviously, these characters aren't going to be average Joes, but people of minor standing, unique skill, or some other odd circumstance to make them important. Still, while your character is a singular individual, remember that you aren't a head of state, and are still limited in scope and power.

You primary method of interaction is going to be pure story-writing. You will end up getting some kind of abbreviated stats, but the main thing I'll be looking for are some good stories that show how your person(s) have worked within the world. Try to be realistic, here - I'll want everyone to run their character stories by me before posting them - so that you don't just declare "I walked into a city, all by my lonesome, and killed 10000 people". No, you didn't. However, if you write a story telling how you killed one person who happened to lead a powerful faction within that city, while disguised as a rival faction member, I might just well take that as inspiration for an event that leads to 10000 dead people.

My goal is to devise the system in such a way that the nations have nothing to offer you. You'll be free to talk or whatever, but for the most part the nations will have very limited control over what you do. Sure, they may issue a warrant for your arrest or death, but that will be rather tough to accomplish in most cases. Realistically, a single person can be damn hard to track down. You might end up losing most of your followers or something, but unless you have bad luck or the nation does a spanking good job you'll probably live to see another day.

Anyway, the point is, while you can greatly affect the nations the nations will, perhaps, have less effect on you. Don't get me wrong, they will affect you. The nations will have their wars and peaces, migrations and exterminations, grand civic plans and improvements - these will mainly serve as a rough backdrop for what you are allowed to do. If someone raises an army, perhaps you will manage to sneak yourself in as a common soldier for a while; if someone else starts trying to round up and kill all their redheads, perhaps you will decide to work on creating a resistance movement.

Character Stats:

Spoiler :

Each character will be based off of three (well, four) stats only: Followers, Equipment, and Strength Equivalent (or SE). The sort-of fourth one is your base strength, which is a "hidden" value in the SE. Now, not every character will have all of these - you'll all get a SE value, but some won't have (or want) Followers, or be able to get Equipment. The main difference between your stats and the nations' is that character stats are based less on definable numbers. Nations pretty much boil down to population, which I can easily track - characters, on the other hand, will get higher stats mostly from "mod rewards".

Followers will be gained from a lot of things. First, the more your character is "in the open" - i.e., the better they're known - the higher your chance will be to gain followers. Second, some characters have better relations with people of specific nations, and while staying in those nations' land they get more people than if they were in an enemy's land. You can try to convert people to your cause, you can enslave people, you can hire people with Equipment, etc.

Followers will carry certain skills with them. You may, for instance, get a troop of scouts, or a small cult of priests, or some skilled archers, or... well, you understand. These can then be used within stories, or within combat orders if you're forced into that. They also can serve as people to die instead of your character, in some situations. Note that, should your character die, it's possible that your followers will try to continue your cause for you.

Equipment is harder to get, but cooler. This could indicate a couple things - both singular weapons like Orthus's Axe, as well as a general level of weaponry among your followers. To get it, you either need to steal/take it from someone or somewhere - although it may also serve as reward for completing your goal, doing something that I personally thought was awesome, or for absolutely nothing at all. Some characters will start with equipment, as well. Having more followers may also indirectly change your equipment, as will the nationality or your followers. Orcs will probably be stronger followers, but less well-equipped - whereas dwarves are usually heavily armored, but a bit weaker to compensate.

The cool part comes in with the "special" equipment. Some of it will be from the mod, some of it will be my own custom creation, and all of them will have effects other than a simple strength boost. Your character might not know what those effects are, but they're there. To get this stuff, you'll most likely have to encounter another character, find a Unique Feature, or so something so mind-boggling that I feel obligated to give you one.

Note on equipment: if your character becomes diseased, crippled, or otherwise weakened that will be factored in here.

Strength Equivalent is where characters start to interact more with nations. Followers and Equipment mean nothing to nations - SE does. Should a nation attempt to attack you (or vice versa), SE is the first indicator of how that effort will go. Luckily for you, nations will have no idea what your SE is. Even if your SE is low, though, remember that battles depend as much on orders as overall strength, and that your stories usually take precedence. If you say you escaped, you probably did, although your followers are most likely dead and your Equipment lost. Character/character fights will be more interesting, since then you'll be combating on an equal footing.

SE is based on a couple things; more followers will help, more equipment will help, and your character will have a base strength as well. For most of you, your SE will be tied very closely to your amount of followers, but there are exceptions.

Note, that having a higher SE or more followers doesn't imply that you're doing "better". More followers makes you more open to influence from nations, and a bigger target overall. The SE helps offset that a bit, but remember that a nation almost certainly has more resources than you do. A single person is much tougher to find, kill, and/or capture than a small army, no matter what TV may say differently.

Also, raising more followers can eventually lead to you becoming something like a nation by yourself. I mentioned that earlier, but it's worth saying again. Becoming a new nation is exciting, but you will almost certainly arise as the weakest nation. Try it if you want (or if it's your goal...), but remember the risks.

orangelex's Rules for Story-Writing:

(applies mostly to characters, but nations might want to follow these too)

Spoiler :

1) I must see everything and approve of it before it's posted. I'll try not to make anyone's hard work go to waste, but I also want to make sure everything is appropriate, fair, and within the bounds of the NES.

2) No superheroes. I'm not talking about being a good guy, I'm saying that no one is invulnerable. Many characters will be skilled, and tough as individuals, but you're still only one man. Don't attempt the impossible, and if you ever wonder "would I actually be able to do this?" ASK!

3) Be consistent. When we first start, I'll allow a person to alter my initial vision of the character a lot - you'll write an intro story, detailing your past, and showing a little of your morals or whatnot. However, once that's done, I don't want to see a sudden, drastic change in your goals. Unless you can justify it somehow to me. Small changes are OK, and in fact encouraged - people change, after all.

4) If you like to keep secrets, do so. This isn't a rule, so much as an offer. Some players will be content to let everyone know who they are; others may not think that is such a good idea. If you wish, I can post stories on your behalf on the forum to preserve your secrets. However, every story must be posted.

5) Respect the timeline - both your own, and the nations'. Don't try to change things that already happened. I will, however, allow stories about your past if you wish to write them, so long as they are obey rule #3.

6) Have fun. Be imaginative, try to surprise me, and do your damndest to tick off the nations. Your whole existance is based on the premise that you'll create interesting situations, and help keep the world "alive" for the rest of us.

7) Commitment. I'm not a terrible stickler on how much time you should or should not put into these things, but I do require that you put some time into them. I don't yet know what update times will run, but I will probably kill your character off if he, she, it or they have not done anything for more than an update or two. It doesn't have to be much, but I recommend that at the very least you keep moving.

8) I may kill you. I apologize in advance, but this is dark fantasy, and no one is immune to a violent end. I won't let any player be truly removed if they don't want to be, but you may have to switch to another character before the NES ends.

9) Use other's inspiration. If a nation writes a story and describes a good situation, person, or other idea you like, borrow it. Try to use the character or whatever as the original story-writer would have intended, and be respectful of the originator. A note here: character stories will generally take precendence... so you may be able to kill off nation's characters, if done right.

orangelex44 · Apr 16, 2009

Assorted Lore: It's not required reading,but perhaps recommended.

General FFH Need-to-Know can be found HERE. If you scroll down past the first post or two, there are some very nice pictures that display the nations, their alignments, the magic spheres, and some other very useful things.

To the Nations:

Spoiler :

To the Characters:

Spoiler :

Maps:

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On Magic:

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On Magic, Part II:

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After a couple questions from players, I added this to make my vision of magic within Erebus clearer. First, I want to repeat my earlier claim - the general ability of mages is based not on their strength, but their control. For the most part, all people with magic ability are roughly equal in strength.

This leads to some interesting repurcussions. Most mages know a larger amount of spells than they can actually cast safely. Most mages are smart enough to never use any spells they cannot control, unless they're under duress (or just insane). This extends across magic sphere boundaries as well.

Thus, most Water mages are perfectly knowledgeable about Fire spells, and vice versa. The reason Water mages don't cast Fire spells is that they lack the experience and familiarity of the other sphere.

Now, what does that mean within the NES?

For nations, I'll be determining an individual Arcane unit's ability based on their strength. For each sphere, there are four levels: Ignorant, Beginner, Advanced, and Mastered. I'm not using the FFH labels here because I've already used them for some unit names, and I'm trying to eliminate confusion. You can invest a level of quality in a specific sphere for every five points of strength. Some units will get extra "bonus" levels; however, none of those exist just yet.

For a simple example, say you have a strength 12 Adept unit. You'll be allowed two levels. Let's assume you invest one of them into Earth. Your second level can either turn it into an Advanced Earth user, or give it a second sphere to use - it could become an Earth/Nature Beginner user.

What's better to do? Good question. I don't know. You may want a more flexible, but less experienced mage corps; on the other hand, being truly skilled in one magic sphere could be useful too. That's your choice to make.

As for spells: I'll be rather open to anything, really. Remember my general rules above, and if you've played the mod, you'll have a good baseline idea of what each level can do. If you haven't, I'll simply reiterate that you can't go wrong if you ask me, and that creativity will let you get away with a lot. Good rules of thumb: Beginners can only use the sphere in a "big" way, with much preparation, meaning that in a real-time battle situation they're slightly less than useful. They can still do a lot, but it will probably have to occur before the fighting actually starts. Advanced users can use the sphere without preparation, so they can actually fight in battles actively. Masters can summon, and perform the really "tricky" stuff.

On the character/story-writing level: Remember my general explanation of what I see magic to be in On Magic, part I. If you're unsure, ask.

About the spheres: this is lore-related information; I'll try to post it here in a day or two, when I have time to copy-paste it from somewhere. If I'm really motivated, I may also post the "default" spells that FFH provides for the spheres.

One last thing: there may be other limitations on magic that I haven't thought through yet. For instance, use of the Ice sphere will most likely be limited, and Chaos mages will probably have some special things involved with them as well. Some of the less... "compatable"... spheres might not be allowed for the saem unit.

NPC'S:

Spoiler :

On the Kuriotates:

Spoiler :

On the Amurites:

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On the Clan of Embers:

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On the Sidar:

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On the Lanun:

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On the Luichirp:

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Very little is known about this nation of inventors. The Luichirp aren't as insular as the Sidar, but their location does a good job of isolating them anyway.

What is known is that the Luichirp use golems for most menial tasks, and thus they are able to focus themselves on other diversions. Some of them choose to while away in lives of pleasure, but some of them instead to become artists, magicians, or inventors. Thus, a constant stream of knickknacks, thingamajigs, doodads and the like flow out from their lands to the rest of Erebus. Most of them are carried by the Lanun, but the Summer Elves have a cordial relationship with the tinkers as well.

The Clan of Embers and Khazad, however, do not recieve any of this bounty. The orcs would not appreciate it; the Khazad are simply never offered it, for reasons known only to the Luichirp.

On a larger level, the government of the Luichirp is completely run by a small number of competing families. Theoretically, the government is a pure monarchy, but in reality it is more of an oligarchy. The Ministers to the Grand Dwarf hold at least as much power as the Grand Dwarf himself, and several areas of governance are maintained by single clans. It isn't, however, an oppressive or even particularly corrupt rule - the families see it as more of a game than anything, and the generally want to help the nation instead of just gain power.

Of course, a talk on the Luichirp would not be complete with a discussion of golems. No other nation quite understands the theory behind how they work, much less know how to make them, but every nation is jealous of them. Some suppose that the dwarves themselves possess some special quality, since golems that are removed from Luichirp lands and without a Luichirp to tend them become inanimate within days. Either way, golems do all menial tasks for their masters, from farming to fishing, general labor to fighting. In combat, they are terrifying, since the only real way to stop one is to remove all it's motive parts - and even then, the pieces will still be moving and trying to fulfill their duty. Attempts to remove the enchantment on them prove to be... unpleasent for the mage that tries, so even magic users resort to blasting them apart.

On the Sheiam:

Spoiler :

On "The Wall":

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On Races:

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Erebus is full of many conscious races, some of which are quite secretive, and some that are quite rare. This only covers the four "main" ones, with a special side-note on the Kuriotates.

Men are, by far, the most umbiqious of the Big Four. They extend everywhere, including within the traditional "elven" and "dwarven" nations. In these places, they tend to stick to themselves, with minimal interbreeding. Still, they are as loyal as anyone is to the nation who's borders they lie in.

Men don't have any particular advantages, really. They are rather unique in that they can, in theory anyway, breed with any race that started with a human base - which pretty much excludes only the dragons. However, that, uh, "talent" is pretty rarely used, and the resulting halfbreed takes after the non-human parent in ability and becomes indistinguishable from a fullbreed.

Elves are most dense within the forests of eastern Erebus, although they can also be found in several other forests as well. In theory, every elf has sworn to one of the two Crowns; in practice, the ones outside of the Umbrawood and connected forests are essentially neutral, and follow the orders of whatever nation they lie within.

Dwarves are much more centralized. They do, supposedly, exist in large numbers in their underground homes - no one not of dwarvish blood has ever confirmed this, though. They are only really found within the valleys passes that streach from Duck Point to the Zephyr Jungle, and come in two main "flavors". The Khar'zhad are those that claim to have risen from the Underholme, and are slightly smaller and lighter-skinned. The Khar'te say they have always been Surfacedwellers, and are larger, darker, and generally stronger. While the Khazad are composed of only Khar'zhad, the Luichirp contain both types - although the Khar'te are a strong majority. There is no small amount of friction between the two groups, as well as some between Khazad Khar'zhad and Luichirp Khar'zhad.

The final group, orcs, are reviled by all others. Luckily, the orcs hate back just as much. However, there is a small problem with labeling them a fourth race - they are virtually identical to a human. A newborn orc looks the same; a child orc looks the same; even teens and young adults look the same.

Now, a casual observer would look at a fully-grown orc and say, "what the hells are you talking about?" This is probably due to the boney protrusions that stick out of their body, and the generally greenish or orange coloration. Those who undertake some magical study of this, however, have found that these are easily created artificially, or even accidentally through application of rogue magic. The question is not likely to ever be sastifactorily answered, though, since no one has ever lived long enough to investigate an orc and prove it.

There are other races, more than half a dozen living ones at last count. However, they are quite marginalized (either voluntarily or otherwise) through most of Erebus. The exception to that is, of course, the Kuriotates. Most of the minor races hold no small amount of power there, and two are especially prominent: the Lamia and the centaurs. These two races have managed to take good control over the military and mages, respectively - although humans, as always, exist there too.

On Trade:

Spoiler :

Economies are ruled by trade, and Erebus is no different. Whether nations are at war or peace, goods and money will continue to move throughout the lands. From trade comes taxes, and from taxes comes the gold nations dearly love to spend.

Most trade on Erebus is carried over water, since it's much faster, cheaper, and generally safer that way. There are a couple landlocked cities, and these usually survive only because of natural resources (Khazak), tradition (Cevedes), or military reasons (Thariss). Most cities, though, are created because of the trade that goes through them, so they lie on coasts of rivers.

Because of these tendency toward water trade, roads between nations and cities are not very well kept. They exist, but more closely resemble cart-paths than properly engineered roads. A few nations have managed to create decent roadways through their nations, but these as a rule do not extend past their own borders and usually don't last much longer than those nations do. There are a couple of exceptions. (Let's see how many of you actually read these...) Two of the old Patrian highways yet exist: one that rises from the sands of the Sand Desert and heads north, close to Cevedes, to Centaur's Battle - and the second, which goes from Fallenvale to the Zephyr Jungle (and, coincidentally, is the major travel way through Khazad lands). These have survived the Age of Ice miraculously well, and could serve as a basis for a new road-based trading empire or, perhaps, routes of conquest. Roads make armies move faster, as well.

However, for now, trade comes mostly from ships, which are all pretty much controlled by the Lanun. That makes them powerful allies, or terrible enemies - or it would if the Lanun could bother to unify at all. They almost always prefer to stay neutral in wars and continue to get money from both sides instead of actively warring.

A note: trade would be more of an effect on your productivity stat than the amount of gold you get per population. I'm going to keep gold/person constant, so worrying about trade only matters to your productivity value. It's not quite to same thing. Anyway, hopefully this gives people some ideas on how to change their productivity, although I also hope it doesn't limit them either.

orangelex44 · Apr 16, 2009

Here's a rough timeline of Erebus:

"AR" stands for Age of Rebirth - the current Age. The exact timing of AR 0 is under some debate; it's generally agreed that the Age of Ice lasted nearly a decade after Mulcarn's death, and that the new Age is actually counted from the establishment of the Second Amurite Council.

"BAR", logically, stands for Before the Age of Rebirth.

I intentionally didn't mention the Sidar or the Sheiam, mostly because little is known about them. I know that my timeline is riddled with lore inconsistencies, but on the whole I think it does a pretty good job of staying close to the mod's timeline.

Before the Third Age :

Spoiler :

The Third Age so far:

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The Magistors :
Yeah, I know it's spelled "Magister". It's a combination of that and "Emperor".

Spoiler :

A rotting throne. A rusted crown. An empty sheath.

This was the grand panoply of the Amurite emperors, better known as the Magistors. All three of them were said to have been Kylorins, though the thought of Kylorin marching toward his unknown doom carrying his sword in hand for two leagues was laughable. Still, tradition was tradition, and even more so among the Amurites.

For nearly a hundred years, the throne had been unsafe to sit in. That was a literal, as well as a metaphorical, statement. That same tradition forbid anyone to replace any part of the throne, and seven hundred years of use and rot meant that it could barely hold itself up, much less a person. The question of whether magic could be used to reinforce the wood had been under debate for decades, and while the argument raged the Magistors sat next to the throne instead of on it.

The rest of the octagonal throne room was allotted out according to ancient families. These were set by tradition, too so two families that were now extinct had entire walls, while one family with thirty members held only enough space for three to attend. Oddly enough, the content of the allotments was not ruled by tradition. This meant that the Magistors dais the least impressive and least comfortable place to be; again, a true metaphor as well as literal truth.

And yet, the Magistor held the crown, which somehow made the Magistor a desired position. So desirous, in fact, that of the 57 Magistors a full two dozen had been assassinated, five overturned by coups, three by civil war, eight by semi-legal votes, and ten by forced resignation. Only seven had died of old age, with crown still in hand.

In hand was again, literal as well as metaphorical. The crown wasnt ever worn, but was rather kept on the Magistors lap or held. No one know if this was through tradition or simple self-preservation. The crown held some sort of magic; no one quite knew what kind, but most claimed that Kylorin himself had enchanted it. Being mages, all the Magistors well knew what unidentifiable magics on an enchanted crown meant: dont ever, ever, ever wear it.

On Kylorin:

Spoiler :

orangelex44 · Apr 16, 2009

Updates:

UPDATE 0 [basically, the timeline from above]
UPDATE 1

Current Power Ranking by Population:

Kuriotates
Svartalfar
Lanun
Luichirp
Ljosolfar
Clan of Embers
Khazad
Amurites
Grigori
Balseraph
Hippus
Bannor
Malakim
Sheiam
Doviello
Sidar

Total Erebus population: 2,094,473
changed by ~30,000

Abaddon · Apr 16, 2009

OraNgES: From Concentrates

Lurking and stealing first posts with intent here boss.

Northen Wolf · Apr 16, 2009

NORTHEN WOLF POSTS, SO MY HEART WOULD BE CONTENT. (Knowing my situation, I'm going to need it).

And enter list of other Stupid comments like first post, n0bs and so on. EDIT: AND angry comment at Abaddon for stealing my first post

Dwarven empire of Khazad reporting for duty

EDIT2

Orange said:
(mod note: your leader is named Bronze Fork? That's hilarious...)

Bronz For'kan

I just twisted English a bit, but is that name OK?

orangelex44 · Apr 16, 2009

Actually, Abaddon, that's a very good witty comment... wish I'd thought of it.

EDIT: @Northen - it's perfectly fine.

Abaddon · Apr 16, 2009

You can still edit your main title should you wish

orangelex44 · Apr 16, 2009

Nah, this way I encourage more people to come up with their own witty comments.

Anyway, everything's been copied to my satisfaction, so.... 1-2-3 - GO!!!

Abaddon · Apr 16, 2009

You could at least change the orangeNES: bit?

TheJopa · Apr 16, 2009

The Bannor

After their exhausting travel through Hell, The Bannor have found their way to the surface. However, they have found out that perils that await them are perhaps even more lethal - Orcs outnumber the Bannor, and are determined to slay them all. Have Bannor gone through all this torture for nothing?

Led by General Matthias Verdad, who holds temporary, but absolute power in all military and civic matters, and even religious, Bannor have only one task - to survive, and form true government later - if there will be later.

orangelex44 · Apr 16, 2009

Thanks. Just the Hippus and Doviello yet to go.

Diamondeye · Apr 16, 2009

Character story said:
"It is a strange feeling, leaving your home. Leaving your family, or what is left of it, behind. For most people, this could be the hardest thing they will ever experience, but not for me. I need some time alone. Time to think, time to breathe air that does not taste of these stall trees, trees that have stood here unchanged since before my father was born, and will stand here untouched when I am long gone. Out where I can feel Tali's winds and Lugus' warmth.

Perhaps, what this journey really is about, is letting go. I cannot find rest anywhere. I have not been able to since my father died. And I blame Rhoanna, the leader of the Hippus! Should our roads ever meet, pray that your horse can outrun mine, although I doubt it. Pray that your swordarm can outfence mine, although I know it cannot. Rhoanna, where ever you are: Pray that we never meet. Leave me alone, and I might leave you alone. Once I have avenged my father...

Will I ever be able to let go?"

O and Orangelex, from the discussionthread, Hippus:

Charles Li said:
Leader Rhoanna
Government: The Council of Clansmen
Formed from the leaders of the Great Clan when Rhoanna convinced them to unite for the glory of all that they stand for, this Council contains many men of many types: Fighters who would be happier on Campaign than on the table; Leaders who would kill for power, and see many ways to achieve it; Merchents who's keen eye on small advantages and new curios, and Herders who just want the keep to themselves. However, Rhoanna is a great at picking the best of the best to advise her in the Council. She would lead for the glory of the Hippus!

merciary · Apr 16, 2009

Putting my post down. I'll send my story soon.

Ekolite · Apr 16, 2009

Subscription post.

orangelex44 · Apr 16, 2009

Thanks, Diamond. Can't believe I missed that...

Once I get another character story or two, I'll post them like the nation leaders.

Immaculate · Apr 16, 2009

is there a doviello? is forestaurio the dove-yellow?

orangelex44 · Apr 16, 2009

Doviello, Immac - no dove-yellow here, no matter how much you persuade... And yes, he is.

orangeNES: Insert Witty Comment Here

Partisan

Partisan

Partisan

Partisan

Partisan

Partisan

Deity

Young Hunter

Partisan

Deity

Partisan

Deity

Šumar

Partisan

So Happy I Could Die

No idea what I'm doing

Deity

Partisan

unerring

Partisan

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