The Age of Despair

[Psychic_Llamas]

Industrious and Charismatic for Barnaxus perhaps, or even a new trait, Hardy. all units (regardless of living or not) get the Hardy promotion which give +20% defence on all terrain types and (if hell terrain will reduce heal rates or some other nasty thing) the hardy promotion should counter it.

 

[Giga-Gigan]

Here is that list that was wanted...

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.
Leader: Brigid the Shining
Hero:

Illians:
Auric still seeks godhood
Leader: Auric Ulvin
Hero:

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
Hero:

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 peacefully 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
Hero:

Keelyn's Playground:
Demons 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.
Leader: Keelyn
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
Hero:

Remnants of Patria:
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.
Leader: Laroth
Hero:

The Caravan:
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.
Leader: Shifts
Hero: An angel (I presume)

The Crimson Guild:
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.
Leader:
Hero:

Kuriotates:
How about bringing back the Kuriotites(sp) but instead of that snot nosed little boy. Let the Dragon be the actual leader and the head of the Cult of the Dragon. They already represent an eclectic mix of different races, yet now more than ever they need each other to survive. Instead of wanting peace and big cities they are secretly preparing for a final battle with Hyborem.
Leader: Eurabaties(sp)
Hero: Eurabaties(sp)

The Arcane swords:
a combination of Amurites (personal bias, they just have to be there), Sidar and Grigori. Basicly a civilization of stealthy warrior mages.
Amurites struggle for being powerful mages bent on research of the arcane. Sidar focus on combined power and non-interference and fight the undead. And Grigori focus on individual interest for the benefit of the whole...
This lore of theirs seems very close to each other to me.
Leader:
Hero:

The Possessed: (Comment by Giga-Gigan I think we need an obvious vassal civ.)
basically: Arcane mageocracy very similar to amurites except that spell casters use twisted forms of their magic, and instead of humans, deamons and possessed (mortals enslaved in their own minds, with a deamon in the front seat) make up the core of the population. leader would be a deamonic minor leader like Duke Sallos or such. would obviously be allied to hyborem.
Leader: Duke Sallos
Hero:

The Escapees:
with the coming of the deamon hordes and subsequent possessing of their civilisation, some amurite fled before the onslaught, and having witnessed first hand what the deamons could do with their magic they vowed to never again use the wicked craft. thus turning their substantial powers to acomplish the exact opposite of their life long dream. The Escapees focus strongly on anti-magic and anti-deamon, with magic UUs that have 'spells' that negate other spells and such. in addition to the amurite refugees we could incorporate Sidar refugees who escaped from Laroths undead enslavement and renounced their immortality. these would be strongly anti-undead.
Leader:
Hero:

The Horsemen (of The Apocalypse):
Basically, when the demons came calling some of the Hippus tribes decided to join Hyborem instead of perishing, betraying their own kind. The Horsemen now serve in hyborem's armies.
Mechanically, similiar to the Hippus but starting with a nightmare from the palace instead of a horse resource. Fits the theme of the Hippus always doing whatever is in their best interest.
Leader:
Hero:

Grigori:
(Comment by Giga-Gigan) What I gather from the post is that the civ without the aid of Cassiel, decends into an anti-religious force.
Leader:
Hero:

Luchuip: (definitely needs a new name in my opinion)
What I'm picturing is a Luichurp Empire led by a neutral Baranxes. And an empire made up exclusively of golems. Who knows the politics of what is essentially a mechanized empire? I imagine a rather ruthless society who cares more about meeting quotas and expanding then fighting the Infernal.
Leader: Barnaxus
Hero: The Mithril Golem

 

[Giga-Gigan]

Oh, I was thinking charismatic too for some reason. However it makes so little sense that I'm tempted to say it makes anti-sense. I mean happiness isn't an issue, since golems don't feel happiness, and they don't need xp since their golems!

 

[Psychic_Llamas]

Oh, I was thinking charismatic too for some reason. However it makes so little sense that I'm tempted to say it makes anti-sense. I mean happiness isn't an issue, since golems don't feel happiness, and they don't need xp since their golems!

my thoughts exactly. i think Barnaxus would need a unique trait though, none of the others really suit him...

 

[Grey Fox]

An entire nation of golems would either be without purpose, or work very hard for whatever their last orders where IMO. Barnaxus can think and learn but I don't see him as one who would formulate his own plans or have his own purpose. I think even Barnaxus require orders to function properly.

It would be cool if Auric could regain ability to make ice golems or whatever it was he made Barnaxus make for him in the age of ice if he conquers them.

 

[Ekolite]

An entire nation of golems would either be without purpose, or work very hard for whatever their last orders where IMO. Barnaxus can think and learn but I don't see him as one who would formulate his own plans or have his own purpose. I think even Barnaxus require orders to function properly.

It would be cool if Auric could regain ability to make ice golems or whatever it was he made Barnaxus make for him in the age of ice if he conquers them.

I think you can assume that golem technolegy would have progressed somewhat by the time the Age of Despair hits. The dwarves would be constantly studying Barnaxus and other ways to improve golem-kind. Barnaxus can presumably already command and ''teach'' (to a certain degree) the other the golems. Isn't that what the Empower promotions they gain fropm him represent?

You could make his new trait allow population to be built with hammers rather then grow naturally with food. Preferably the cost would increase each time. Don't forget that he will need the Fallow trait as well, unless you want to tie Fallow in with the other trait which would make sense.

 

[Psychic_Llamas]

You could make his new trait allow population to be built with hammers rather then grow naturally with food. Preferably the cost would increase each time. Don't forget that he will need the Fallow trait as well, unless you want to tie Fallow in with the other trait which would make sense.

thats a good idea. it would also be good if captured golem cities were automatically reduced to 1 pop and 1 basic golem unit under control of the golum playerwas spawned per x pop next to the city.

 

[Giga-Gigan]

At Ekolite:
How would one go about implementing pop-increasing via production? Building workers that have the manes function? Or something like how one can build research or wealth? Forcing you to decide between producing war golems or increasing population? Or do you mean that for every production made, it would contribute to the "food bar"?

At Psychic Llamas:
Sort of like partisans from civ 2? That would be cool. In any case I agree that captured golem cities should be reduced to population one when captured.

At Grey Fox:
I kinda imagined that one of the Luchuip gave Barnaxus a desperate order at the climax of Armageddon, something like a last directive. "Barnaxus please keep the dream alive... Don't let... Kradh... Ke-zun... die... (death rattle)" Something vague enough yet clear enough that would lead to the the civilization forming.
Who knows perhaps we can look at him like a faithful dog sitting on the porch waiting for his master to come home, and that it was a simple order to hold fort until Lurchuip reinforcements can come. Only that there are no more Lurchuip, and he is following and order that can never be fulfilled.

Incidentally what should the civilization be called? The Autonomous Empire of Kradh-Ke-zun?

 

[Ekolite]

At Ekolite:
How would one go about implementing pop-increasing via production? Building workers that have the manes function? Or something like how one can build research or wealth? Forcing you to decide between producing war golems or increasing population? Or do you mean that for every production made, it would contribute to the "food bar"?

I was hoping it would be possible to ''build'' population in the same way that you can build units or buildings. RFC has a wonder that increases the population of all your cities by one, maybe similiar code could be used? The idea would be to force a decision between growth and military.

They may need to have special buildings at certain techs that allow them to increase ebyond a certain population, to stop them spiraling out of control. A major tech would be engineering I'd imagine.

 

[cyther]

Also, Question:

does barnaxus have the Spark? he certainly is Sentient, but i don't see how mulcarn could have given him a soul, unless he bound someone else's dead soul to the Golem

Spoiler for the result of Beneath the Heel:

Spoiler :

Auric ignored Tasunke's comment. He was staring reverently at the broken pieces of Barnaxus that Tasunke had laid on the meeting rooms sturdy table. Auric touched each piece carefully, as if they were religious artifact's...Dumannios, Riuros and Anagantios all watched Auric carefully, sensing something deeply significant in the golems shattered parts but unable to tell what..."This is not a golem," Auric began, "he is not powered by gears and dwarven enchantment but by the divine breath of Mulcarn himself. This is the last piece of Mulcarn, that which was untouched by the godslayer."

 

[Grey Fox]

Ekolite: You could make a repeatable ritual which cost is modified by the city size.

 

[thomas.berubeg]

No, as an event, i mean exploring a city ruin to find a city working entirly by golems, who would provide you with some golems.

 

[thomas.berubeg]

Thank you Giga-Gigan.

honestly, many of those seem like they'de be great as events or things you'de find in ity ruins.

 

[thomas.berubeg]

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.
Leader: Brigid the Shining
Hero:

Illians:
Auric still seeks godhood
Leader: Auric Ulvin
Hero:

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
Hero:

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 peacefully 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 (Sirona Reborn)
Hero:

Keelyn's Playground:
Demons 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.
Leader: Keelyn
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
Hero:

All civs that are already In. Mostly working (not sure about Free people Adventure mechanic)

Remnants of Patria:
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.
Leader: Laroth
Hero:

Pretty much a repeat of the Dominion of Laroth, which i prefer. (though the quest to bring back the 21 archmages would be an interesting quest)

The Caravan:
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.
Leader: Shifts
Hero: An angel (I presume)

I rather like this as a barbarian Civilization, at peace with all except infernal and vassals.

The Crimson Guild:
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.
Leader:
Hero:

the could be portrayed as an exploration result ( our explorers have found a society of ruthless barbarians ruled by a secret circle of occult leaders. one of our sages remarked on thier similarity to the calabim of old)

Kuriotates:
How about bringing back the Kuriotites(sp) but instead of that snot nosed little boy. Let the Dragon be the actual leader and the head of the Cult of the Dragon. They already represent an eclectic mix of different races, yet now more than ever they need each other to survive. Instead of wanting peace and big cities they are secretly preparing for a final battle with Hyborem.
Leader: Eurabaties(sp)
Hero: Eurabaties(sp)

Hm... I can't really see Eurobratres surviving Armegeddon. Either he stops it, or it kills him.

however, many exploration results based on the Kuriotates could exist (Centaur cavalry, Lamia, etc)

[/QUOTE]
The Arcane swords:
a combination of Amurites (personal bias, they just have to be there), Sidar and Grigori. Basicly a civilization of stealthy warrior mages.
Amurites struggle for being powerful mages bent on research of the arcane. Sidar focus on combined power and non-interference and fight the undead. And Grigori focus on individual interest for the benefit of the whole...
This lore of theirs seems very close to each other to me.
Leader:
Hero:
[/QUOTE]

Again, a perfect exploration result

The Possessed: (Comment by Giga-Gigan I think we need an obvious vassal civ.)
basically: Arcane mageocracy very similar to amurites except that spell casters use twisted forms of their magic, and instead of humans, deamons and possessed (mortals enslaved in their own minds, with a deamon in the front seat) make up the core of the population. leader would be a deamonic minor leader like Duke Sallos or such. would obviously be allied to hyborem.
Leader: Duke Sallos
Hero:

Works

The Escapees:
with the coming of the deamon hordes and subsequent possessing of their civilisation, some amurite fled before the onslaught, and having witnessed first hand what the deamons could do with their magic they vowed to never again use the wicked craft. thus turning their substantial powers to acomplish the exact opposite of their life long dream. The Escapees focus strongly on anti-magic and anti-deamon, with magic UUs that have 'spells' that negate other spells and such. in addition to the amurite refugees we could incorporate Sidar refugees who escaped from Laroths undead enslavement and renounced their immortality. these would be strongly anti-undead.
Leader:
Hero:

Very similar to Repentant, could be assimilated.

The Horsemen (of The Apocalypse):
Basically, when the demons came calling some of the Hippus tribes decided to join Hyborem instead of perishing, betraying their own kind. The Horsemen now serve in hyborem's armies.
Mechanically, similiar to the Hippus but starting with a nightmare from the palace instead of a horse resource. Fits the theme of the Hippus always doing whatever is in their best interest.
Leader:
Hero:

works

Grigori:
(Comment by Giga-Gigan) What I gather from the post is that the civ without the aid of Cassiel, decends into an anti-religious force.
Leader:
Hero:

Exploration result again?

Luchuip: (definitely needs a new name in my opinion)
What I'm picturing is a Luichurp Empire led by a neutral Baranxes. And an empire made up exclusively of golems. Who knows the politics of what is essentially a mechanized empire? I imagine a rather ruthless society who cares more about meeting quotas and expanding then fighting the Infernal.
Leader: Barnaxus
Hero: The Mithril Golem

See above

 

[MagisterCultuum]

If you want the Sidar to be about Undeath now, I think that Rathaus the Wraith has a nice ring to it for their hero. The current hero Rathus Denmora has done more than anyone to serve Laroth already (even if he didn't realize it), so I can see him returning to gather more souls for the new god of death even after he himself died.



For some reason I picture Barnaxus becoming vassal of Auric once his other masters are slain. He is revered as a relic of Mulcarn, probably enough to be given significant autonomy as he builds up an army of golems (probably including Ice Golems again, but not limited to those as they aren't that practical around hellfire). I'm thinking that spell like Govannon's train spellcasting spell to teach golems Barnaxus's specialized promotions may be better than giving them empower promotions.



I tend to think that there should be at least a few Luonnatar still around, perhaps even as a leader of a civ. Begin unaffected by magic--especially the magic of demons--would surely attract some followers. I'm thinking that a Luonnatar leader would have to have the Magic Resistant trait. Giving Magic Immunity to everyone seems too strong and most people in the civilization would probably lack the devotion to give them complete protection, but expose to the truth and loyalty to an empire that stands for the truth would surely give them some protection. I'm not really sure whether the Luonnatar should thin that it is their duty to purge the world of evil and lead it to enlightenment so that The One may come back safely, or if they would think there is no hope except to wait for The One to come back and destroy the whole world--reasoning that those loyal to him would be safe while the rest would perish. It might actually be interesting if there was a bit of a schism, with one side led by a good luonnatar that wants to redeem the whole world and another led by an evil luonnatar who thinks that helping the demons finish their destruction of Erebus will hasten their salvation. There could also be another neutral isolationist luonnatar sect that believes in predestination and doesn't think that anyone can do anything.


If there is a zelous anti-religious sect of Grigori seeking vengeance for Cassiel's martyrdom, I doubt that they would be any more tolerant towards the Luonnatar than to any other religion. Cassiel never gave them special treatment and was annoyed by their desire to worship anyone, so a common Grigori man would not see any reason to prefer them over other cults.

 

[Giga-Gigan]

At thomas.berubeg: Well if you don't think the Golem Empire wouldn't make for a cool civ, I guess it is your mod. I don't know though, it just seems to be a likely outcome of Armageddon. Seeing how golems aren't effected by the massive amounts of insta-death, I would think that they could become quite the power. Having both their military force, labor force, and leadership capacity in Barnaxus all intact.
Of course I'm not exactly impartial...

At the very least could you move the Hero concept to the Runes of Kilmorph.

 

[thomas.berubeg]

Sure, The Mithril Golem can still be the ROK Hero

 

[MagisterCultuum]

I personally would prefer requiring you to find a Pieces of the Mithril Golem equipment and rebuild it.

 

[thomas.berubeg]

That would be good too... I like that better, actually

 

[Ekolite]

I think the mithril golem would be good as essentially a spaceship available to all ROK civs.