The Age of Despair

[thomas.berubeg]

Well, life will be calming down for me with applications to college going off the 15th of december, which means i'll have free time, and will start on a project i've been thinking of for a while.
Loosely based on this thread:
http://forums.civfanatics.com/showthread.php?t=264064

30 years have passed. Some see that time as eternity. Others fear what will follow. The way life is now, makes the troubles and constant wars of the Age of Rebirth look feeble and childish. 30 years ago, the wicked Sheaim almost faced extinction. But they had managed to finish their masterplan. 30 years ago, they called forth the infernal forces of hell. Into creation. At first they were underestimated. The forces of hell were wrongfully considered just another Sheaim attempt to twist the forces of magic and materialize creatures unimaginable. That was a mistake. The first mistake of many that were to come. But the last one that we remember, the oldest one that we shall never forget. The mistake that cost us the most. Our future.

Some said the stories of survivors of the devilish scourge were frightful babblings of cowards. Others said the Overlords played with them and spared their lives at the cost of their sanity. Maybe they were both right, who knows.

One after another, the proud nations of Erebus fell. Arrogance, pity, disconcern, all played in favour of the Infernals. It took them only 5 years to conquer their 1st continent. Countless demons swarming from infernal cities. Strange beasts appeared near the gates of the remaining Sheaim settlements. Beasts magical, burning, with horns and teeth everywhere. Another 5 years later they conquered everything. The good guys and the bad guys. The weak and the powerful. The rich and the poor. They didn’t care. The only thing they cared about was the screaming, the pain, the flames. And of course the tormented souls to fuel their blasted crusade to purify creation of all life.

Some say it was our arrogance. That we had become too proud in our achievements. The late Age of Rebirth was a glorious age full of wonders and magic and technology breaktroughs. It was a testimony to the gods that we were starting to become like them, we were going to reach them, become equal. It was a marvel whose shining glory could only be compared to the depth of the pitch black darkness that was about to come.

As the time passed, it started to get obvious that the governments were not going to handle the coming crisis. Some nations had hoped for change of luck by changing the rulers. Other decided to test their luck by keeping the old ones. Some tried to flee. Or hide. In the seas. Under the mountain peaks. In the forests and the jungles. Using magic means. All pitiful attempts, as they soon learned. The demonic forces twisted the sky blue waters of Erebus’s oceans, that the Lanun so loved, into an unholy mass, crimson like blood, and black like darkness made solid. Vessels could no longer sail safely, for the ships of those who were devoured by it, soon returned. But the crew was always different. The Luchuirp and the Khazad joined forces and built underground fortresses. And soon discovered the beauty of the earthquake. From the wrong side, however. Because of the tainted earth, their resources soon withered and dried out and the elemental forces of earth, which unbeknownst to them had become tainted as well, turned against their summoners. The forests and the elves. They couldn’t stop waging war against each other even as they faced extinction. The ancient forests near Evermore and Thariss remembered the elves as a single nation. “They withstood the ice, they withstood fires, they shall protect their children”. But the fire that was about to come was no ordinary fire, for hell had spit these flames out itself. And from those fires, the sky became dark, and day had become as night. And so the sun god lost contact with his faithful Malakim. The Amurites, arcanists till the bitter end, just like the Sidar, sought the cure for the problem in magic and simply hid their cities. The ignorants. Never underestimate a demons thirst for fresh souls and the hellhounds that follow him. The Calabim ended up dry when their “food supplies” were recruited into Hyborem’s legions. When they displayed concern, they found themselves back in the ages past, when they had to scavange for any survivors for any drop of blood they could find. The Bannor had the most experience with fighting demons. However, the demons also had the most experience with fighting the Bannor. The day they built the Mercurian gate was supposed to be the turning point of the war. A shining light that will drive the Infernals where they belong. But it was too late. For every angel that arrived, legions of demons crawled from the pits and portals in their blasted lands. As for Basium himself, lets just say, he went back to Arawn. For good. He took a whole army down, before Hyborem himself had to stand up to him, but at that point, it was more of a theatre play than a real fight. I dare not imagine what Hyborem did with the corpse of his nemesis laying lifeless like a sac under his feet.

As Hyborem’s campaign was successful, some other unimaginable forces were so satisfied with him that they granted him additional powers and he grows in power each passing year. 10 years ago, some surviving outcasts said they heard rumours, that he is summoning more of his demonic kind. Not that they would be necessary, now that Erebus has definitely become a place you don’t want to spend you life in. No idea if it was true, no idea if it was necessary. No idea if the ritual has been finished successfully. No idea if its still not in preparation phase…

With her last breath, the great prophet Cailleach Beara, told Os-Gabella’s torture mistresses the following words. With the last spark of hope, conscience and hopefully clear mind:

„In my thoughts I have seen rings of smoke through the trees
And the voices of those who stand looking
And a new day will dawn for those who stand long
And the forest will echo with laughter“
(Courtesy of Led Zeppelin)

Some say, that there is still hope. Maybe she had a vision that we shall eventually be victorious and the spreading of hell will stop. Maybe we will even press them back to the bottomless pit from which they came from. Or maybe she was just disillusionate and couldn’t stand that much pain any longer. What gives a brink of hope to us is the fact, that all those who participated in the torture were punished with death at Os-Gabellas personal order. And a very slow death to be more precise.

No-one knows anything nowadays. Survivors try hard to find food to salvage for their bodies, not to find food for their hope. Contact beyond the handful of fortresses is practically non existent. No-one dares to enter the burning lands nor the haunted forests. No-one even knows if any of the fortresses still stand.

Civilizations:
Infernal: AI only, immensly powerful. Hero: Hyborem

Kraz-Te-Kahn: Dwarves Driven from the underhome by the corrupting influence of hell down into thier hidden caverns. Leader: ?
Braduk Alliance: Ragged Alliance of the Orcs and the Bannor Remnant, who have put thier differences behind them to work for a common end. Brigid the Shining
Illians: Auric still seeks godhood Leader: Auric Ulvin
Elven Courts: With the Death of Faeryl Viconia and Arendel Phaedra, and the Institution of Thessa as a queen acceptable to both courts, the elves live in an uneasy peace. Leader: Thessa
Alliance of the Free People: As Hell spread over the plains of the Hippus, Rhoanna sought the Help of the Pirate King Falamar in transporting her people to a place they could live free from the Infernal. They settled on a string of islands in the sea, and live happily and peacefuly together. Leader: Falmarson. Hero: Grigori Adventurer Mechanic
The Repentant: Sheim survivors that realise now that their previous leaders - those that knew that they were trying to destroy creation - betrayed them, and that they now have a debt to the World. They have turned away from the use of planar gates and pyre zombies, but they do bring their expertise in matters Arcane with them. they have also absordbed some of the former Elohim Empire. Leader: Bar Duros
Keelyn's Playground: Deomns have always loved Keelyn, her pets secreting her away from the main infernal attack on Jubilee. she took refuge out, far away from the infernal lands, and lives with her group of demon freinds, ready to retake her land. Hero: Giggles
Laroth's Dominion: Sidar that have become ghouls or spectres and are ruled by Laroth, having left the Underworld after gaining control of the Death sphere by destroying the God of Death. The Sidar now devour the souls of their victims, which join the armies of Laroth. Leader: laroth


Religions:
Viel - Faith of the infernal and thier sycophants
Order - The Faith of the Braduk Alliance.
Runes of Kilmorph - Follwed by the Dwarven Exiles
Cult of Dragons - The gods have clearly forsaken us..
White Hand - In a choice between freezing the world and seeing it burn...
Octopus Overlords - The free people seek to wake Danalin
Fellowship of Esus - A corrupted faith practiced by the Elven courts

Explorable Lairs (ruins of old cities and improvments):
While there is a great chance of very bad results (the world is hell after all) there is also the possiblity of finding some old units from old civs: Amurite wizards in thier hidden conclave, Barnaxus with a few golems, werewolves, adventurers, elohim, Orthus with some orcs, and many others.

Terrain:
All FFH Hell terrain
Haunted Forests instead of Forests
Bogs instead of Marches
Randomly Shifting dunes of ash
Poisoned seas.

Hell will be very hard to live on... much harder than in FFH. Nightmares won't be peaceful animals, just waiting to be ridden, they will have to be defeated in combat before joining thier captor... etc...

I need more ideas for civs, almost anything will work as long as they are logical

 

[thomas.berubeg]

Reserved for later use

 

[Skitters]

how about an Elohim-Sheaim confederation? The Sheaim would be survivors that realise now that their previous leaders - those that knew that they were trying to destroy creation - betrayed them, and that they now have a debt to the World. They have turned away from the use of planar gates and pyre zombies, but they do bring their expertise in matters Arcane with them.

The Elohim meanwhile now realise that they were not nearly pro-active enough. In co-horts with Sheaim Mages, they believe they have discovered a series of rituals that will help undermine the Infernals....

 

[thomas.berubeg]

Hmm... interesting.

 

[Saytr]

For the Amurites and Sidar-
In ages past the Sidar would have been revolted by the necromantic art they now parcticed. Now they saw it necessary. With the help of the Overlord of the Amurites, Dain,believed that hope and survival lay in the past, the land of Patria. Led by Laroth, who was granted life by Arwan as terms of a truce, the Remnants of Patria seek to revive the 21 mages of Patria and find Kylorin.

You could have the Cult of the Dragon as a civ (Kuriorates+Sheaim minority+ refugees from many nations)

 

[darkwatcher]

2 ideas
- mercurians and the grigori, they decided to settle their diferences and strike back through the mercurian gate
-kuriotates and malakim, they retreated to te desert where eurabatretes lit a permanetly burning wall of fire that was so light the infernals couldn't bear to get near it

 

[cyther]

I like this idea, will enjoy seeing how it works out.

 

[FireBlaze]

How about like a confederacy of lesser demons that thought that what they were doing was wrong, and escaped from hyborem to help out the reminants of other people in their struggle for survival.

 

[skallben]

The Caravan

Malakim refugees were used to live in deserts and thus the shock of the changes was not as severe as to other peoples. For several years the renegades wandered the broken lands, hiding, utilizing guerilla tactics for survival. They met survivors from different empires, races and religions - all welcome among the Malakim guerilla caravan. Allthough different in appearance and creed, they all spoke of the same thing; lands untouched by hell. Slowly the legend of "The Promised Lands" was on everyones tongue, morale and hope started to grow. Even through all the setbacks and hellish terrors they were driven and passionate because they now had a cause.

What made the Caravan so unique was the rapid movement and advanced scouting tactics. Every great general knows what logistics and recon means to success in combat and here the Caravan had another advantage; not one but several men and women are fit to take a leading role in combat thus never depending on a single man. Out of combat, hierarchy is unsignificant and that is the way it had to be to unite the group. These features combined meant that the Caravan found other renegade groups almost impossible to spot to most. One day, or was it night - these days you cannot tell; a couple of trees was spotted behind a rock formation. Tropical trees that contained water, the Caravan made camp in the protection of the rock formation and discovered a cave. After a while they heard loud noises from the cave...it was a conversation. Inside they found a unit of Grigori Dragonslayers having a wild debate with a Mercurian Repentant Angel.

- We have seen Basium retreat and the Mercurian gate is impossible to reach. You ARE trapped, angel. Join us and you shall see mortals fight like you never thought possible!

They all joined forces. A week later something even more extraordinary took place as a scout returned with news; a group of Bannor Paladins have kept a group of demons at bay for two days and even though they had taken down a Balor the wounds and exhaustion was getting to them. The Caravan liberated them but realized it was too easy, it looked like they came out of thin air, the assassins. The Svartalfar group explained that they followed the Caravan for days before deciding if they were worthy an alliance. While Esus really doesn't teach much about loyalty, all know that an alliance with demons didn't work well for the Sheaim.

On the road towards an uncertain future, an incredible sight it is, the Caravan. Combining knowledge and experience, the group that makes the Caravan is not a large force but it is elusive, unpredictable and constantly learning and improving. The courage of the Grigori Dragonslayers, the experience of the Bannor Paladins, the Malakims knowledge of the land, the covert tactics of the Svartalfar Assassins and the undeniable presence of an Angel. In combat, moving like a school of fish in perfect harmony - leadership changed naturally, depending on the challenge and the enviroment.
---------------------------

Two notes:
I'm writing in my secondary language. Feel free to fix grammatics/spelling.
My knowledge on FFH is based on reading the pedia, so it's not as extensive as I'd like.

 

[thomas.berubeg]

How about like a confederacy of lesser demons that thought that what they were doing was wrong, and escaped from hyborem to help out the reminants of other people in their struggle for survival.

Under Keelyn

The Caravan

Malakim refugees were used to live in deserts and thus the shock of the changes was not as severe as to other peoples. For several years the renegades wandered the broken lands, hiding, utilizing guerilla tactics for survival. They met survivors from different empires, races and religions - all welcome among the Malakim guerilla caravan. Allthough different in appearance and creed, they all spoke of the same thing; lands untouched by hell. Slowly the legend of "The Promised Lands" was on everyones tongue, morale and hope started to grow. Even through all the setbacks and hellish terrors they were driven and passionate because they now had a cause.

What made the Caravan so unique was the rapid movement and advanced scouting tactics. Every great general knows what logistics and recon means to success in combat and here the Caravan had another advantage; not one but several men and women are fit to take a leading role in combat thus never depending on a single man. Out of combat, hierarchy is unsignificant and that is the way it had to be to unite the group. These features combined meant that the Caravan found other renegade groups almost impossible to spot to most. One day, or was it night - these days you cannot tell; a couple of trees was spotted behind a rock formation. Tropical trees that contained water, the Caravan made camp in the protection of the rock formation and discovered a cave. After a while they heard loud noises from the cave...it was a conversation. Inside they found a unit of Grigori Dragonslayers having a wild debate with a Mercurian Repentant Angel.

- We have seen Basium retreat and the Mercurian gate is impossible to reach. You ARE trapped, angel. Join us and you shall see mortals fight like you never thought possible!

They all joined forces. A week later something even more extraordinary took place as a scout returned with news; a group of Bannor Paladins have kept a group of demons at bay for two days and even though they had taken down a Balor the wounds and exhaustion was getting to them. The Caravan liberated them but realized it was too easy, it looked like they came out of thin air, the assassins. The Svartalfar group explained that they followed the Caravan for days before deciding if they were worthy an alliance. While Esus really doesn't teach much about loyalty, all know that an alliance with demons didn't work well for the Sheaim.

On the road towards an uncertain future, an incredible sight it is, the Caravan. Combining knowledge and experience, the group that makes the Caravan is not a large force but it is elusive, unpredictable and constantly learning and improving. The courage of the Grigori Dragonslayers, the experience of the Bannor Paladins, the Malakims knowledge of the land, the covert tactics of the Svartalfar Assassins and the undeniable presence of an Angel. In combat, moving like a school of fish in perfect harmony - leadership changed naturally, depending on the challenge and the enviroment.
---------------------------

Two notes:
I'm writing in my secondary language. Feel free to fix grammatics/spelling.
My knowledge on FFH is based on reading the pedia, so it's not as extensive as I'd like.

I really like this idea, but i don't think it works as a civ, mainly because it seems like they would be mostly nomadic (and no one's been able to devise a way to have moving cities... if the nomadic city mod is developed, then this will be in as soon as i can put it)... i'll probably put it in as something else (hero or unit, possibly...)

 

[skallben]

I really like this idea, but i don't think it works as a civ, mainly because it seems like they would be mostly nomadic (and no one's been able to devise a way to have moving cities... if the nomadic city mod is developed, then this will be in as soon as i can put it)... i'll probably put it in as something else (hero or unit, possibly...)

Whatever you like cappy
It was just fun writing it (I'm at home having a nasty cold, being veeery bored). Tbh I didn't think about how to translate the concept into the game. Maybe make use of the quest system? Or have some unique lair combined with heroes and artifacts. I guess the Caravan could just serve as flavour on different parts of the map to give the feeling that former foes have united against a greater evil or something like that. Maybe they finally got entrenched, hiding in a defensive guerilla war? Given it's nature you could pretty much give them whatever attributes you like

 

[thomas.berubeg]

They could technically be the barbs... but give everyone except the Infernal the Barbarian trait...

 

[Vehem]

They could technically be the barbs... but give everyone except the Infernal the Barbarian trait...

That's actually a very nice idea for a unique mechanic for the mod - the Barbarians as "disorganized good guys", fighting the evil-superciv. Could have a lot of fun with that one, and it gives the Infernals a steady stream of foolish mortals to challenge them (which also allows their units to level).

 

[skallben]

Hehe, that sounds fun!

 

[thomas.berubeg]

Honestly, the thing i'm having the most trouble developing right now is the tech tree...

(i'm taking all modders advice and writing everything down before begining to mod, and i have most things thought of, but i'm stuck on the tech tree)

 

[Khai]

Why don't you finish the Arda mod first?

 

[thomas.berubeg]

because that's much more work and effort, and I'de rather do this now... (and, since my crash, i've lost everything i've had for the Arda mod for the third time... and i'm kind of tired of redoing the same work...)

Once this is done, i'll do the Arda mod

 

[Justicar333]

The Crimson Guild

Once mighty, the vampires who ruled the Kingdom of Calibim had one true weakness. Their entire society was based upon the ideal of a constant food supply. They tried to drive back the infernals, but too late. Their food supply dwindled, as the Calibim peasantry choked on the ashses of their cursed crop lands. Soon it wasn't just demons, but civil war as vampire's battled over ever more scarce resources. Some say Alexis and Flauros fled, others that they were slain by the demons. And some say their own subjects tore them limb from limb in a blood hungry rage.

No one thought much, few missed them. But rumours began to circulate. Caravans, towns, sometimes whole villages were taken by mysterious raiders. Slavers they said, who left none but the fallen defenders behind, stripped of their belongings, and sometimes half eaten. Strangely, they seemed to mostly attack at night. Only in the last ten years did the perpetrators make themselves known. The surviving vampires had united under a new leader, forming one last clan.

Their new leader realized he needed the humans for more than just cattle. And so instead of Alexi's iron grip, the Crimson Guild was a loose knit confederation that relied on a class system. Made up mostly of the survivng vampires, and the Dovelio. The Vampires sat at the top, but their loyal human companions could hold high rank. Making the bulk of the millitary and goverment. A vicious raider people, that preyed on others. Temporarily allying with the strong while enslaving anyone who couldn't defend themselves.

The Dovelio gained a measure of social structure from the Calibim refugees. Powerful captains that made their pack all the more deadly. The Calibim gained loyal subjects that didn't care what happened to the people they took captive. So the vampires ate them.. well the pack would do the same thing when food was scarce. For respect and guidance, the Dovellio would glady throw themselves at their foes.

It was an acceptable arrangement, untill they completed their real goal. Finding some arcane path to push back the hell creep, so that they food supply could flourish once again.

(This sounded more simple in my head, shouldn't have wrote it at 3 am. xD Basically, Calibim/Dovellio with a emphasis on slavery and slightly more arcane than physical vampires. The two cultures mixing to make a type of bandit kingdom.)

 

[Grey Fox]

I don't know if you need many more civs than those you listed. The others could just have been wiped out of maybe incorporated into the Infernal civ as demonic versions of their former selves. Demonic vampires, rawr

 

[thomas.berubeg]

Thank you Justicar333, that'll be good.

Grey Fox, I'm planning on having alot of the old units pop up through events, or as slaves to the infernals