Rhoanna's Rise (Fall from Heaven II: Shadow)

[EverNoob]

This will be my third story, which I really hope will last longer than my second one.

Map: Hemispheres
Size: Standard
Era: Ancient
Speed: Normal
Continent size: Normal
Island size: Islands
Number of Continents: 6
Difficulty: Immortal

All other settings normal.
All victories enabled.​

For those unfamiliar with the Hemispheres map, it's similar to the Big and Small map. I like it because it's a fairly realisitic map and has a number of continents, six in this case, plus random islands here and there. The difference is that Hemispheres ensures that most continents will be farther apart than in Big and Small. On this map naval power and overseas trade is very important.

I will be playing the Hippus under Rhoanna with 11 other random civs. For a total a 12 civs it's pretty crowded for a standard size map.

Table of Contents

Chapter 1: Unification
Chapter 2: The Hippus-Elohim War
Chapter 3: Prosperity
Chapter 4: Time of Change
Chapter 5: Reaching Out to The World
Chapter 6: Acheron the Red Dragon
Chapter 7: Seeds of an Empire
Chapter 8: Bambur's Quest
Chapter 9: The Calm Before the Storm
Chapter 10: The Hippus-Balseraph War - Skirmishes, The Republic of Esus, Shadow of the Hippus
Chapter 11: The Hippus Hegemony
Epilogue​

 

[Ozbenno]

Interesting choice (did you consider the Lanum). Hope it goes better than last time. I've never played the Hippus but they've always struck me as being an interesting race.

 

[RenartRegal]

Mmm, death by cavalry it will be. Well, here's to hoping it'll be death by cavalry.

We're rootin' for ya!

 

[EverNoob]

Rhoanna's Rise

Chapter 1: Unification

Year 0-93

​

[tab][size=+1]B[/size]orn on the great steppes of Erebus, we Hippus are a courageous and proud people. Our legendary prowess in battle is well-known to all races. Which of course begs the question: why were we for so long the least prosperous nation on Erebus? Indeed, why did even the crude and primitive Clan of Embers outshine us? The answer to that question is rather simple, yet it took us centuries to find it. In short, it was our pride that held us back. Like any quality, pride is a double edged-sword. Too little pride breeds cowardice, but too much pride breeds blindness. It was our great pride that divided our tribes and causes us to turn our famed battle prowess onto ourselves as we fought one another. And it would have continued to be so, were it not for a lass by the name of Rhoanna.

She was a girl of fairly modest origin. Though she inherited the leadership of her tribe from her father, her tribe was a minor one and she had yet to prove herself in battle. But what she lacked in strength of arms she more than made up in sharpness of mind. As chieftain of her tribe, she had the right to her place on the Hippus council. It was at a particular council meeting in Altheriol-ta-Mealthiel that the fate of the Hippus was changed forever.

At that meeting Rhoanna openly chastised the other chieftains.

"Look across the western forest at the Elohim! They are so gentle and weak yet they prosper. Have you not asked yourselves why that is so? It is because they do not bicker amongst themselves. While we fight one another ther, the Elohim claim lands that could be ours. That should be ours!"

And so it was by tempting the chieftains with the glory of new conquests that Rhoanna was able to unite the Hippus against the Elohim. But despite the truth of her words, the chieftains refused to give her command of their famed Horselords. On that matter they were adamant. It was unthinkable to cede command of their veteran horseback warriors to someone who had yet to prove herself in battle. Instead she was given the tribe's Untested warriors. Those young men who were to fight on foot until they proved themselves worthy of their own steed, and earn themselves the name of Horselord. Rhoanna smiled.

[IMG=right]http://i264.photobucket.com/albums/ii200/gentil_requin/Hippus/hippusaxeman.jpg[/IMG]
[IMG=left]http://i264.photobucket.com/albums/ii200/gentil_requin/Hippus/bronze_weapons.jpg[/IMG]
Having won the council's approval, she quickly sprang into action. By Year 59 she had built the settlement of Corond Mor to secure the Hippus border against further Elohim expansion. However the greatest testament to her sharpness of mind is her recognition that wars are not won by strength of arms alone. Financial and economic prowess was just as important as battle prowess. It is with that in mind that she developped the Hippus Agriculture and Mining trades to new heights. Thus she was able to field a large number of Axemen equipped with the best Bronze weapons and armor.

Spoiler Turn details :

Year 0

Definitely can't settle here since it's all choked up by forest.

Year 2 - Founding of Altheriol-ta-Mealthiel

Wow. This is a really nice spot! It's hard to make out on the screenshot but right next to the Gold is an Oasis. So with the Financial trait that Oasis produces 3 gold.

Since there's Gold right there I'm heading straight for Mining. The Hippus start with Agriculture already so as soon as the capital hits 2 population I'm gonna start training a Worker.

Year 5 - The Elohim

The Elohim must be very close.

Year 7

Very close.

Year 23

Done mapping Elohim territory. This doesn't look good, the Elohim are choking our expansion. Looks like an Axeman rush is in order. If I were using Tasunke I might go for Horsemen instead, but with Rhoanna Axemen rush is better. Therefore I'm gonna head straight for Bronze Working. But fear not! Once the Axemen have served their purpose, it's gonna be calvary all the way!

Year 27

Switched to Agriculture civic.

Year 37

Building farms.

Year 39

Done researching Mining.

I'm really lucking out this game. First the Gold now the Bronze.

Year 42

The Gold mine is completed.

Year 45 - Our Scout died while exploring lands south of Cahir Abbey.

Year 55 - Finished training a Settler.

Year 59 - Founding of Conrond Mor

Founded the city of Conrond Mor, south of Altheriol-ta-Mealthiel. Just to the east is the Barbarian city of Ahepetr.

Year 64

Done researching Bronze Working.

Started building the Bronze mine and Training Yard in Altheriol-ta-Mealthiel.

Year 73

Done researching Exploration.

Started construction of road from the Bronze mine to Altheriol-ta-Mealthiel.

Now researching Ancient Chants --> Education for City States since I foresee acquiring many new cities soon...

Year 83 - The Fellowship of Leaves

[IMG=left]http://i264.photobucket.com/albums/ii200/gentil_requin/FfH/fellowship_symbol.jpg[/IMG]
The Fellowship of Leaves has been founded in a distant land.


Year 93

A force of 7 Axemen has been rounded up, with more being continuously trained at Altheriol-ta-Mealthiel. The city of Conrond Mor trains Warriors. The Elohim still only have Warriors.

Whoever did the Hippus Axeman model really did a nice job! Very sleek.

 

[Gooblah]

That is frickin' insane!!!!!!!
My god, you fat crosses border! I've never experienced that! Send 2 Warriors north to Slane, to knock off that city; or one Axeman.

 

[Nonobots]

Thanks EverNoob

I really love to read your story, it's very entertaining and interesting, and you give flesh to the FFH background.

The format you use right now is perfect, the story part and all the details are kept separated and each part is very interesting.

Good luck with this one!

 

[EverNoob]

Interesting choice (did you consider the Lanum). Hope it goes better than last time. I've never played the Hippus but they've always struck me as being an interesting race.

The Lanun do seem like a natural choice for this map. It's just I've only played them a couple of times and I still haven't gotten the hang of them. In terms of coastal economy Rhoanna is pretty strong with financial and expansive. It's true that for naval power the Lanun are the best but I plan to avoid having a huge fleet by using the Hippus Mounted Mercenary. I'll setup the Guild of the Nine on different continent so I can recruit them anywhere. Which should cut down the need for ferrying troops around with ships.

Thanks for the encouragement ppl I've setup this game so that an early religious victory is highly unlikely. I just couldn't being myself to disable it though.

 

[EverNoob]

For those who read the turn details, I've put links to specific years in the non-spoiler text itself. Though for the links to work, the spoiler section needs to be open. If anybody knows of a better way to do it I'm open to suggestions.

 

[Rex rgis of Ter]

Out of Curiosity, how do you cut down your screenshots?

 

[EverNoob]

Out of Curiosity, how do you cut down your screenshots?

I use adobe photoshop, I love that software. For large screenshots I reduce them by 80%, though sometimes 90% as well.

 

[ThomAnder]

Is that pearl i see in your starting location screenie?

 

[EverNoob]

I wish It's clam, yeah sorry I forgot to turn on the resource display for that 1st screenshot.

 

[EverNoob]

Chapter 2: The Hippus-Elohim War

Year 93-116

​

[tab][size=+1]T[/size]he young Axemen marched through the Elohim forest earger yet nervous. As Untested warriors, this was to be their first real battle. Everyone knew the old stories about the Elohim warrior monks from the Age of Magic. Rhoanna had assured them that the Elohim had grown soft and weak during the Age of Ice, why else would they insist on remaining peaceful she reasoned.

As the Axemen burst out of the forest toward Cahir Abbey they were momentarily shocked. The city was barely defensible. No wall surrounded the city and sentry guards weren't even posted around the city perimeter. The Elohim were completely unprepared. It would later be learned that on that particular day, all the citizens of Cahir Abbey had been in the great hall attending an oration by the Great Bard Kamen Shandoun. Consequently, Cahir Abbey was easily captured in Year 95.

Spurred by their early success, Rhoanna and her Axemen continued their steady march toward the other Elohim cities as scout reports of their locations came in. Elohim counterattacks were disorganised, and therefore easily repelled.

In Year 113, newly captured cities were given over to individual Hippus tribes to be ruled as separate City States. The Hippus tradition of decentralised governance was thus continued.

The Elohim suffered continued defeats during the whole course of the war. In Year 102 they lost the city of Slane, in Year 108 the city of Inishbofin, and finally in Year 115 the city of Glens of Killybegs. While part of our success can indeed be attributed to the Elohim's lack of military preparedness, the main factor remains Rhoanna's uncanny knowledge of warfare.

Spoiler War Summary. Warning: large image :

The fact that she was continuously victorious is hardly surprising, despite the chieftains' refusal to lend her their Horselords. While all of Erebus know the Hippus for their legendary prowess on horseback, little attention is paid to their infantry. Though lacking the glory of fighting on horseback, the Axemen fulfill no less vital roles in the Hippus armies. Tasks such as bearing the brunt of an enemy charge, or infiltrating the tightly packed streets of cities, are roles uniquely suited to the Hippus Axemen.

In Year 116 a peace treaty was signed where the Elohim were forced to reliquish claim to all their former cities, leaving them with only their last city, Garryvoe. There were two major reasons why Rhoanna chose to spare the Elohim. Firstly, many Hippus were extremely disappointed at how easily the Elohim were overrun. There is no glory in defeating an unworthy opponent after all. And secondly a situation which required immediate attention had arisen. Archeron the Red Dragon had awakened from his long slumber and had taken up residence in the nearby barbarian city of Ahepetr, just east of Conrond Mor.

 

[EverNoob]

Spoiler Turn details :

Year 93 - War on the Elohim

Our 7 Axemen move through the forest toward Cahir Abbey, which is defended by a mere 2 Warriors.

Year 95 - Battle of Cahir Abbey

Reinforcements have arrived and Cahir Abbey is now guarded by 4 Warriors and...a Great Bard!

Cahir Abbey is easily captured. The Elohim have grown soft and weak during the Age of Ice it seems.

Meanwhile, our Warriors intercept Elohim Warriors inside our territory.

Done researching Ancient Chants.

Year 97

We capture Elohim Workers caught outside the shelter of their cities.

Year 100

We locate the city of Glens of Killybegs

Year 102 - Capture of Slane

We capture the city of Slane with a band of 5 Axemen.

Year 103

We locate the city city of Inishbofin.

Year 104 - Elohim Counterattack

The Elohim attempt to take back the Citadel near Cahir Abbey but are easily defeated.

Year 106

The Elohim are also repelled near the vineyards just outside Cahir Abbey.

Year 108 - Capture of Inishbofin

We capture the city of Inishbofin.

Year 113

Our Axemen close in on Glen of Killybegs from different sides.

Done researching Education and now going for Calendar.

We switch to City States to lower the maintenance cost from our new conquests.

Year 114 - Acheron the Red Dragon

Acheron the Red Dragon has made his home in the barbarian city of Ahepetr, just east of Conrond Mor.

Year 115 - Capture of Glens of Killybegs

We capture the city of Glens of Killybegs and locate the city of Garryvoe.

Year 116 - Peace

I think Garryvoe is the Elohim's last city and I don't want to wipe them out. I feel sorry for them...

Here's a summary of the war:

Spoiler Summary of expansion. Warning: large image :

 

[RenartRegal]

O_O I'm surprised the Elohim didn't gear up for a proper defense, but I'm also surprised they built that many cities (for you to take over, but hey). You've got a GREAT start here!

...though good luck with the dragon-slaying. Any plans for that beast?

 

[EverNoob]

O_O I'm surprised the Elohim didn't gear up for a proper defense, but I'm also surprised they built that many cities (for you to take over, but hey). You've got a GREAT start here!

...though good luck with the dragon-slaying. Any plans for that beast?

Yeah that was my first time I've rushed the Elohim like that in an immortal game and I'm surprised they were so wimpy. When it came to axes vs butter, they clearly chose all butter and no axes. They really are hardcore pacifists.

Ahh the dragon, you'll see

 

[Slvynn]

where is hippus cavalry?

 

[Gooblah]

I know slaying Orcus gives the unit his Axe, but what does slaying the Dragon do? Dragon Bones appear, but aside from that?

Well played round. I can't wait for the next update!

 

[Crowqueen]

---can I just ask...

What game is this? a mod? Very nice anyway. Looking forward to the next installment.

 

[r_rolo1]

This is a game played in the Fall from Heaven mod, simply the most downloaded mod for Civ IV ( and IMHO if firaxis sold it Sims like it would cash in a lot of $ ... it it is a magnificent work ).