Vehym Vyhdyco: Story of the Al Bhed (Final Fantasy Mod)

[DJ Bonebraker]

Author's Note: This story is done using the current beta version of the Final Fantasy mod, which after almost 5 years of hard work has finally been released. This is my own VERY public way of running this test. Unfortunately, there are many unit graphics that are using placeholders, but at least the mechanics are there for when the graphics become available. Anyways, enjoy the story and give the mod a try

Prologue: Dra Pakehhehk uv dra Aht
The Beginning of the End​

This was it! After 1000 years of battling Sin only to have it reappear after a brief calm period, Yuna, Tidus, Rikku and their friends had finally figured out how to deal a decisive final blow to the monstrous creature and the evil madman, Yu Yevon, who was behind it.

Auron, after charging up his overdrive attack, charges in to deliver the final blow, and the massive hulk begins to collapse as pyreflies stream out. Something is wrong, though: some of the pyreflies begin concentrating into an orb that begins glowing ominously. Auron warns the party to flee back to the airship. As Lulu and Yuna cast barrier spells over the object.

Rikku is the only one to make it inside the airship when the orb, the last lingering malefic hatred of Yu Yevon's vengeance explodes, tossing the airship about like a child's toy. As she makes her way unevenly to the bridge, she hears her father, Cid, shout over the intercom system, "Hang on, kids! Things are going to get rough!"

Arriving on the bridge as fast as she can with the airship bucking furiously around, she hears the engines kick up to maximum power, screaming in protest. Looking out the front windscreen, she exclaims, "What the heck is THAT!?!" Directly in front of the airship, and where the explosion occurred, was a massive maelstrom.

"I ain't got a clue!" her father grunted as he struggled with the controls, "But whatever the hell it is, It's pulling us in even with the engines on full reverse!"
After grunting and cursing a bit more, he looks up and shouts, "Hey Shinra! back off on the power to the engines! We can't break loose, and I want this thing to at least be marginally flyable, if we somehow manage to survive whatever that thing is... I want to crash this thing as gently as possible!"

"Aye-aye sir!" replied Shinra, who was manning the engineering console. His hands flew into a flurry of activity and the screaming roar of the engines subsided into their usual whining drone and the speed with which the airship approached the whirling vortex increased rapidly.

Rikku had already taken the copilot's seat and strapped in by the time her father has passed word to everyone else on the airship to do the same. Less than a minute later, the airship entered the vortex's event horizon.....


Game Info

Final Fantasy Mod public Beta
World Size: Tiny (6 civs)
Difficulty: Monarch
Fiends (barbarians): Raging

Victory conditions and game settings:

Cultural Victory
Domination Victory
Conquest Victory
Space Race Victory

Treasure Hunters (capture the Princess)
Regicide

Faction: Al Bhed

Everything else: Random

 

[DJ Bonebraker]

Chapter 1: Pnyja Haf Funmt
Brave New World​

Pain, and a slow fading in of her vision let Rikku know that she was still alive. The Chorus of groans and coughs that greeted her as she unbuckled herself and slid, literally, out of the co-pilot's chair let her know everyone else was alive and more-or less in one piece. She, however, was continuing to slide down the sharply tilted deck until she was able to grab one of the frames that supported the now-shattered windscreen and look around.

The airship had come to rest in some kind of savannah, leaving a trail of burning wreckage almost a mile long. Climbing down to the ground, Rikku realized that they wer no longer anywhere on the world of Spira... The sky didn't look right, and as far as she knew, there was no place in that world that looked like this, and she'd seen just about all of Spira in her quest to help Yuna defeat Sin for good. Looking back, she could see what was left of the... thing that brought them here, but it was now a small swirling dot that was rapidly shrinking to disappear with a loud POP as she watched it.

Turning to take in the airship, she groaned: There was NO way that thing would EVER fly again! As she sat down to think, she realized they weren't alone: There were groups of other people getting groggily to their feet or sitting around, some of them staring at the airship. With a start, she realized she recognized one of the people in one such group.

Running over waving, Rikku shouted, "Cousin Yunie! Cousin Yunie! You're alive!" Yuna, who was in a discussion with the people in her group looked up startled, then as what she was hearing and seeing registered, she hugged her cousin with tears of joy filling her eyes.

"Oh, Rikku, I though I'd never see any of you alive again!" Yuna looked at the wrecked hulk of the airship and asked, "Did the others make it!?"

Rikku shook her head, "No, I was the only one who got back to the ship in time...." then looking more cheerfully, "but everyone on the ship seems to be okay! What the heck happened anyways?!"

Yuna indicated two of the men and a woman in the group she was with and said, "Well, I was discussing that very thing with those three.... It seems that when Lulu and my barrier magic contained the blast, since there was no place for it to go... It probably was powerful enough to blow up the entire planet... it tore a hole in the, um, I think they called it the 'space-time continuation' or something like that, which brought us all here... Apparently Spira wasn't the only world affected." She waved Rikku over to the rocks they were sitting on and said, "I think they can explain better... The tall skinny guy with the blonde hair and goggles is Cid, like uncle Cid, but different last name, the dark-haired woman in the lab coat is Shera and the tall skinny guy with brown hair and goggles is Hikaro. Guys, meet my cousin Rikku, the trouble-maker."

Cid vigorously shook Rikku's hand and said, "@%# pleased to meet ya!"

Shera curtsied and said, "Howdy, Miss Rikku, nice to meet you."

Hikaro swept his goggle-festooned hat off with a flourish saying, "Pleased to make your acquaintance!" Then, indicating the pair around her neck with a nod, "By the way, nice goggles!"

"Could you guys tell my cousin what happened back there?" Yuna asked.

The three exchanged glances, then Cid said, "Let Hikaro do it... He's better at this $$%& anyways!" Shera nodded in agreement, and all eyes were upon Hikaro.

Sighing, he said, "All right, this is what I can best make of it from my end: I'm not from any of you guys' worlds, but apparently several independant, but simultaneous events across the galaxy caused several massive wormholes to open up, and we got dropped here... I was just driving down the road when a rift in space-time opened up right in front of me and I couldn't stop in time." He pointed over to a strange machina device crashed into a large boulder, "Thankfully I was wearing my seat belt and the air bags worked, or I would have been dead! Of course we're all lucky we ended up on a planet with a breathable atmosphere, or we'd have died anyways."

Cid nodded, "#%$# yeah! We'd just defeated Sephiroth, and Holy smashed that Meteor...."

As Cid was talking, a shadow loomed up behind him and a voice interrupted him, "Who did you just defeat?"

"#$%#$ I know that @%# voice!" Cid snapped as he jumped up with his spear in hand to face the tall stranger with long white hair, "You make a move and I'll @#% skewer you like a #$@-Damn PIG!"

Sephiroth smiled and said, "Ah, that won't be necessary." Cid looked and noticed something different about his old adversary, mostly the lack of the insane "I want to destroy the whole world and become a god" look. "Besides, I brought some old friends."

Stepping from behind him were Tifa and Aeris. "You're ALIVE?!" Cid shouted, "I can't @#%# believe you're actually alive! Last I saw you, that maniac had run his sword through you and you were deader'n a doornail! Glad to see you, too, Tifa! You're both a sight for sore eyes!"

"That's kind of what I'm confused about myself," Aeris grinned, "The best that I can determine is that whatever.... thing happened back there must have kicked me out of the lifestream and into this world. It does feel good to be back, though!"

Rikku, who had been watching the proceedings with her mouth wide open, finally said, "I hate to interrupt the happy reunions here, but," here she indicated the surrounding area, "I think maybe we'd better check to see how everyone else is doing!"

So, they all split up and searched the surrounding area for survivors. Many of the people who had been deposited at the site by the dimensional vortex survived the trip, but there were a few, including three on the Al Bhed airship, who were killed. Yuna performed a sending ceremony for the dead, and the survivors gathered around the fire built outside the crashed airship to discuss the future.

After much debate, it was decided to make Rikku the leader, since she was charismatic, nice and, when not acting too hyper, pretty darn smart. Her father, Cid, and Hikaro Takayama were appointed her chief advisors. Yuffie, a ninja from the same world as Aeris, Tifa, Sephiroth and Cid Highwind, was made the trade adviser (some thought that was a bit of a joke on Rikku's part, since both were known to be accomplished theives). Yuna, being a priestess/summoner, was appointed as Cultural advisor, since as a wise man once put it, "Culture is the force that turns raw power into civilization." Tifa, being a family-type lady, was appointed as Domestic Minister. Sephiroth, who was one tough SOB, was made the Military Adviser, Aeris, who was a nice, friendly and outgoing young lady, was appointed as Foreign Minister and Cid, who despite being one of the most foul-mouthed individuals was also a brilliant scientist, was put in charge of the scientific research.

The first thing on Rikku's agenda was where to establish their first permanent settlement (they'd already decided to cut up the airship for materials), thus they gathered up the survivors into two groups: The first group, made up of all those who had experience as warriors, were organized into a Fighter squad, and the rest into a settler group. Rikku decided to scout off to the North, while the Fighters went South.



Even though they'd gotten dropped into a nice coastal location, Chief Adviser Takayama pointed out that if they moved about 10 miles to the Northeast, they'd have access to a second pod of whales as well as some fine spices in the jungles to the North, while still being able to get at the Rubber trees they spotted from their original position. Once they had built roads to those resources, they could establish a rubber plantation and spice factory in the capitol, allowing the production of trade goods in the city (Treasures are the "flag" in this game and they are produced by buildings that require certain resources in the city radius).

Thus it was decided that the settling party would move, and Rikku would move back to the south to check out a collection of ramshackle huts to the Southwest of the crash site. This was also when the Post-Apocalyptic dating system was started, with the year of the crash being designated as 1 PA.

Rikku travels to the group of huts, finding it to be a village of primitive natives! The natives are friendly and willing to learn, so Rikku teaches them how to grow crops, and recieves 25 gil worth of trade goods for services rendered (which makes Yuffie happy). The Natives then settle down where they are and establish a small farming village (which would provide an important food surplus to the capitol in coming years). (Note: Farming villages are a resource that's generated if you get money from a goody hut, which is my way of having some of the goody huts become "permanent").

Meanwhile (26 PA), the settler group arrives at the designated location and establishes the city of Home, named after the original Al Bhed home city on Spira that was destroyed by the Guado. Cid's science team begins research on Shamanism so that the Al Bhed can build shrines and make people happy, and Tifa orders a Palace to be constructed in the city to provide a place of civic pride as well as organize settler parties in the future (Note: The "capitol" improvement of civilizations in the FF mod is called a "Center of Government... The various palaces generate the various settler units every 20 turns as well as make 1 person happy and generate 2 culture. Palaces cost 0 shields and are the ONLY way to get settlers, aside from goody huts).

In 51 PA, the Palace is complete! Sephiroth begins training another group of Fighters in the palace training grounds.



Rikku continues exploring to the Southwest, while the Fighter group slowly explores to the Southeast. Reports back from the two scouting groups indicate that much of the terrain to the South is a massive mountain range (with a volcano, no less!), hills and a vast desert as far as the eye can see! (thank goodness for auto-produced settlers!).

Several years later (76 PA) Rikku reports back that she's found a good city location on top of a tall mountain.... Even though it's surrounded by desert and mountains, it also would have access to some large kelp beds in the sea for food, pearls for extra gil (money) as well as gems in some nearby hills and a den of Giant Spiders that could some day be tamed for use in battle.

In 101 PA, Yuna proudly announces that due to our cultural achievements, our influence has expanded, and the small Farming village that Rikku visited years before swears its loyalty to the Al Bhed. The Fighter party sends a report back that they've found more pearl beds along the Southeast coast, along with some actual grasslands!

Shortly therafter (126 PA), Rikku LITERALLY makes contact with Grand Vizier Razfahd of the "Empire" of Aht Urhgan.



(Note: I've got king units set up a bit differently in this mod.... Since they're all based on main bosses or heros, I've made them the most powerful units in the game, aside from summoned creatures, and I gave them only the "Defense" AI flag so the AI won't hole them up in their capitol the whole game).

Neither We nor the Aht Urhgans have anything to trade, so no deals are brokered. Establishing an embassy in Whitegate, their capitol, would cost us our entire treasury, so Rikku declines to do so, for now.

In 151 PA, Sephiroth finishes training a fighter party in Home, and starts training another. The newly-trained fighter party is sent South, and once they get close to where Rikku is, she's to return to the capitol, so as to minimize her risk of getting ambushed by fiends (if there are any on this world...)

The fighter exploring to the south sights some border patrols who are wearing Aht Urhgan livery, and report that they think they've found the borders of Whitegate. There's also a small un-affiliated farming village just outside Whitegate's borders.

Thus, with the nation's leader and an intrepid group of Fighters exploring, the year 201 PA and this chapter comes to a close.

Stay tuned next chapter for more exciting adventures of the Al Bhed in their new world.

 

[DJ Bonebraker]

Chapter 2: Aqbmunydeuh
Exploration​

It was the year 226 PA and Hikaro Takayama, Chief Advisor of the Al Bhed federation, was sitting in the Palace at Home, the Al Bhed capitol city going over paperwork. Due to the fact that Rikku, the chieftess of the federation, was off exploring (and for good reason: She was able to move much faster than the Fighter parties they'd sent out), he was the effective ruler of the Al Bhed. Ironically, he was not, ethically speaking, an Al Bhed, but he'd learned the language quick enough.

Currently, he was looking at a rough sketch (calling it a map would have been overly generous to the sketch and insulting to maps everywhere) that Rikku, the rambunctious leader, had sent back detailing two potential good city sites:



He decided that the chieftess has picked some good locations and sent the diagram to Tifa along with a note telling her to send settlers when the next settler party was organized.

Next was a report from Cid Highwind, the Science Adviser, stating that the research on Shamanism was complete. Hikaro sent a memo to Cid telling him to develop some form of Metal Working, and a copy of Cid's report to Yuna, letting her know that she could build Shrines now. (Shrines make 1 person happy, cost 20 shields and require 0 upkeep costs). He rubs his eyes... This was going to be another long day.

A short time later (251 PA), Sephiroth finishes training the next Fighter party, who are ordered to defend Home against any possible fiend attacks or hostile moves by the Aht Urhgans. Tifa begins to organize a group of citizens into a worker party, so that they can build roads out to the spice-bearing trees in the Jungle, the Dinosaur forest outside Home and the rubber tree Jungle.

Rikku sends another report several years later (301 PA) saying that some friendly natives in the nomadic village near the potential 3^rd city site had taught her the secrets of Wood Working, which was passed directly on to Cid, who's first reaction was "Hot DAMN!"

Tifa finishes organizing the Worker party, who she then orders to build a road up to the spices in the Northeast. Yuna begins building a shrine in the city.

For a long period of time, nothing much happens, other than the two fighter parties and Rikku exploring as well as the work on the shrine, but in 451 PA, Cid reports that he's discovered Metal Working, and Hikaro sets him on researching Tribal Council because, "the current government (Despotism) sucks."

Somewhere to the West of the Great Desert, Rikku meets King Edgar Figaro of the Returners, but they have nothing to trade to us, so Rikku continues on her way, and comes upon the borders of the Archadean Empire (and since they have two cities, most likely due to getting a settler from a goody hut, they could actually be considered an empire in comparison to the other factions). The Archadeans, not surprisingly, also have nothing to trade.

A short time later (476 PA), Yuna finishes construction of the Shrine in Home, and Sephiroth then takes control of the city government and begins training a Warrior party.

Some time after that, Yuffie reports to the Chief Adviser's office with a huge grin on her face:



Hikaro congratulates her and tells Tifa to send the workers off to build a road to the Rubber trees as well.

In 551 PA, the first Settler group is organized at the Palace in Home, and they, along with the Fighter party defending Home are sent to the nearer of the two pre-determined city sites, so as to gain access to nearby Kelp beds, Pearls, Gem deposits and Giant Spider dens.

A short time later (576 PA), the first Warrior party is trained and garrisoned in Home to guard it from attack. Tifa then begins organizing another Worker party.

A few years later, Yuna happily reports that, due to Home's cultural achievements, our influence has expanded again, bringing the Giant Spider den into our domain WITHOUT having a city there

In 626 PA, the second Worker party is trained and leaves Home to build a road to the Dinosaur forest immediately South of the city. Sephiroth begins training another Warrior party.

A few weeks later, the Star Sibyl of the Federation of Windhurst contacts us offering to trade Warior Code for Wood Working, which Rikku accepts without hesitation. The Windhurstians are two techs ahead of us, but all other factions are at least one tech behind us, and we still have no idea where Windhurst (or Figaro Castle, for that matter) is located....

Bikanel, the second Al Bhed city, which is named after the small Bikanel desert between Home and the mountains, is founded in 650 PA. The governor begins immediate construction of a Shrine to offer thanks for a safe journey. Thanks to the new technology, Sephiroth switches the training program in Home to start training some Archers (Best defensive unit for the ancient age).

In addition, Yuffie is only too happy to report that the workers have finished building their road to the Rubber trees.



And thus, this chapter ends on a high note, with the Al Bhed federation expanding and resources flowing into the capitol.

 

[DJ Bonebraker]

Is anybody reading this?

Anyways,

Chapter 3: Fiends yht Aqbyhceuh
Fiends and Expansion​

It is the Year 662 PA, and Chief Advisor Hikaro Takayama was going over the latest reports. Tifa's latest missive was a mixed bag: The village of Bikanel was growing very slowly due to a lack of readily available food, and work on the shrine was progressing at an agonizingly slow pace, due to the fact that the citizens were forced to spend most of their time fishing the coastal waters and tending the terrace farms in the village for what meager food they could get. The "catch 22" of the situation was that if they could finish the shrine, then the village could expand its influence and be able to safely work the nearby kelp and pearl beds, which would significantly boost the village's food output and revenue; a very frustrating situation, to say the least. Still, nothing to do but wait it out.

The rest of the report, on the other hand was quite good: One of the worker parties had finished a road to the dinosaurs in the forest just South of Home. When the Al Bhed researched the technology for Animal Domestication, they'd be able to tame the beasts for war and other purposes. Hikaro goes to Tifa (who is in her bar in the basement of the Center of Government) and congratulates her on her infrastructural improvements and tells her to have the workers build a road to the native's farming village. That would not only give the farmer's a better way to get their goods into Home's Markets, but also make the citizens even more loyal to the federation.

A short time later (698 PA), Sephiroth comes sauntering into the Chief Advisor's office and informs Hikaro that the first Archer party has completed training. Hikaro congratulates him and tells him to begin training another group of archers. Hikaro then drafts a letter requesting Rikku return to Home, since one of the fighter parties is nearing her position.

(710 PA) Rikku, on her way back to the capitol, sends a message that she's found another source of Rubber near another potiential city site that would also have access to exotic fruits (bonus resource) and a second source of Dinosaurs. The Warrior party finally arrives in Bikanel to take command of the village's defenses.

In 722 PA, word reaches the Al Bhed that the Federation of Windhurst has begun work on a great project called the "Iifa Tree" (Free granaries in all cities on the same continent), and the Archadeans have founded the City of Mosphoran to the Southeast of their capitol, Archades.

A short time later (734 PA), the group of Figthers, who had been sent out of Bikanel to secure a potential city location, report spotting a den of Fiends (Barb camp) in some ruins to the South of Bikanel!



Immediately after the Fighter party sends its report, a group of Aht Urhgan Fighters and Warriors move into the hills outside the den of fiends, no doubt planning on attacking them. The fiends, however, attack first and the brave Aht Urhgan warriors defeat the frumious Bandersnatches!

746 PA is an eventful year. First of all, Cid Highwind marches into the Chief Advisor's office and announces that research on how to run a Tribal Council is complete.



Hikaro congratulates him and tells Cid to start working on Pottery so that we can eventually irrigate the local terrain. (Note: In this game, you have to research Pottery to be able to Irrigate tiles, Metal Working to Mine tiles, and Wood Working to Clear forests or Jungles) After corresponding back and forth with Chieftess Rikku and getting the go-ahead, Hikaro contacts Tifa and tells her to begin re-organizing the government.

Tifa informs him that it will take quite a while (6 turns ) to get the government re-organized, but Hikaro insists that being able to get more food, trade and production out of the surrounding terrain is well worth it, so the reorganization begins.

Despite the road crews slacking off due to the current disorganization of the government (well, slacking off more than usual), the road linking Bikanel to Home is completed soon after the government reorganization is started. (758 PA)

That same year, the Aht Urhgan forces clear out the fiend den before any of our troops can arrive on the scene.

In 770 PA, Aht Urhgan finally founds its second city, Al Zahbi, along the Southwest coast, near two fields of corn. (If it weren't for the settlers being auto-produced only, I'd have been tempted to quit at this juncture...)

Not long after, the Fighter party in the North discovers another Fiend den, but is ordered not to attack (Fighters have 1 att, 1 def and 1 movement, while Bandersnatches, the BASIC fiends, have 5 att, 5 def, 2 movement and +2 HP). One of the Bandersnatches moves into the hills below the mountain where the Fighter party is, and the Fighters fortify their camp.

In 806 PA, the Fighter party exploring the Southwest coast spots the borders of a Returner city, finally revealing the location of the Returners to us.

Not long after (818 PA) the period of Anarchy surrounding the reorganization of the government end and the Al Bhed Tribal Council is established. Aeris, the Foreign advisor contacts the Star Sibyl of Windhurst to see if we can make any kind of deal with them. Amazingly, even though they have four techs we don't, they don't have Tribal Council!!!

Aeris and Hikaro jump on that opportunity:

Spoiler :

We manage to get Windhurst to trade Iron Working, Pottery AND Animal Domestication for nothing more than Tribal Council! Aeris quickly contacts all the oter factions, and despite the fact that we're the only ones with Tribal Council, nobody else has anything to trade to us except Razfahd, who sells us his detailed world map in exchange for the newly acquired technology of Iron Working.

The borders of the Returner Alliance, the Federation of Windhurst and most of the rest of the continent are now known to us. Unfortunately, the nearest Chocobos are either in or near enemy territory. Fortunately, we have Giant Spiders and Dinosaurs (which are about as good), and we can now start taming and training Bark Spiders and Deinonychus dinosaurs for combat purposes! The Iron situation is much better: There's an iron deposit in the mountains near one of the potential "future city sites" picked out along the SE coast. It looks like the third city will go there, instead of where we'd initially planned!

With the knowledge gained from Razfahd's map, all exploration parties are recalled to begin securing potential city sites against foreign encroachment.

Cid is told to have his research team look into Masonry, followed by Mathmateics.... We want to build the Tomb of the Unknown King before anyone else can (the Tomb of the Unknown king is much like the Statue of Zeus from the normal game, but it doesn't require any resources to build).

In 830 PA, another settler party has been organized at the Palace in Home, and Tifa sends them South to build a city on the coast near the Iron deposits. Rikku, who has returned to the area, sends a message that she'll secure the city site against Fiend incursions until the settler party gets there.

Meanwhile, as the Fighter party who was exploring the Southwest coast was passing outside Barnheim, the the town's influence suddenly expands and Emperor Gramis Solidor of the Archadean Empire orders them out. Our Fighters are only too happy to do so: They were on their way home after many long years on the road anyways.

A little while later (842 PA), Home organizes another worker party who are sent out to mine the dinosaur forest (you can mine forests and jungles in this mod for extra shields), and Sephiroth begins the daunting task of training our first Deinonychus unit.

In 854 PA, Razfahd "requests" we teach him the secrets of our Tribal Council. Since his army outnumbers us (for now), we give in to his demands.

Not long after (866 PA), to compound our bad luck, we lose a Fighter party attacking a Fiend den. Sephiroth, already in a bad mood from having to sit back while the arrogant bully Razfahd made his outrageous demands, sent out an order that no Fighter parties were to attack ANY fiends under ANY circumstances under pain of pain.

In 878 PA, the settler party arrives and builds the city of Baaj in the coastal hills near the iron deposits. The city governor begins building a shrine. Thankfully, due to the forests nearby, the city is already much more productive than its counterpart, Bikanel. Thus it is, with an expanded territory and a new government, this chapter in the Al Bhed's history comes to a close.

878: Found Baaj on coast near Iron. Start building shrine.

 

[DJ Bonebraker]

....And the obligatory Territory and World maps:

 

[DJ Bonebraker]

Okay, I think I know why nobody's posted any comments so far: I forgot to give any kind of background info about the civs or the mod.... Although it could just be that nobody cares, which wouldn't surprise me one bit.

Chapter 4: Talmeha uv dra Ym Prat
Decline of the Al Bhed​

Hikaro, Chief Advisor for the Al Bhed, and currently the effective ruler, is in a briefing with Tifa Lockheart, the Domestic minister, and Aeris Gainsborough, the Foreign Minister.

The first report is from the Foreign ministry, listing all known civilizations and their charachterstics:

First of all, since they're the closest, geographically speaking, is the Empire of Aht Urhgan. Theoretically, it is ruled by one Queen Nashmerina, but the fact is that the Grand Vizier, Razfahd, is the effective ruler, not unlike Hikaro himself these days.

The Aht Urhgans have a similar style of architecture to the Al Bhed (Mideastern), and are driven towards expansion, have a strong military tradition and are astute traders (Expansionist, Militaristic and Commercialist). They also have a reputation for playing both ends against the middle (Neutral alignment), so they should be carefully watched.

Then there was the Federation of Windhurst, a nation ruled by a council of Mages whose chief was their Star Sibyl, which was the title and name of the high-priestess who ruled the council and the entire federation of Windhurst. The Windhurstian population was also primarily made up of two distinct non-human races: The Taru-Taru and the Mithra. The gnome-like Taru-taru were the race that made up the ruling council (known as the Orastery) as was the Star Sibyl herself. They also had a number of roving shamans and mages who stood in for what the Warriors most races had. The Mithra, a cat-like race known for grace and speed, formed most of their archery corps, with a small amount of humans rounding out their population.

The Windhurstians were also a virtuous race (Good alignment), with a strong religious tradition, along with being expert farmers and seafarers (Religious, Agricultural and Seafaring).

Next on the list is the Archadean Empire... Trouble through and through. Ruled by the ambitious Emperor Gramis Gana Solidor, it would seem, based on what little information Aeris' "diplomats" could ferret out about the world he came from, that he once ruled over a vast Empire that spanned an entire continent. The fact that he used every dirty, under-handed and even outright vile trick to do so did not endear him or his nation to any of the Al Bhed. (Evil Alignment).

The Archadeans, as a whole were very hard working, had a strong military tradition and driven to expand their empire (Industrious, Militaristic and Expansionist). In addition, while most of their citizens were human, they also had significant populations of two other races: The Viera and Bangaa. The Viera are a rabbit-like race with many of the same charachteristics as the Mithra, and they tended to fill the same roles as the Mithra did in Windhurst. Rumor also has it that Viera make up most of their settler parties, due to the fact that they're in tune with nature and can find ideal spots to build villages.

The Bangaa are a lizard-like race, and very hard-working as well as having a high endurance, so not surprisingly, the bangaa make up the vast majority of Archadean worker parties. It also seems that some independant Bangaa made it to this world as well: A large Bagaa Village near Whitegate had pledged its alliegence to the Aht Urhgans early on, and parties of Bangaa trackers could be seen among the ranks of the Aht Urhgan military.

Then there was the Returner Alliance. King Edgar Figaro's people had much in common with the Al Bhed: They were a virtuous group dedicated to fighting against imperialistic oppression on their old world, much like Rikku's Al Bhed (Good Alignment), and a similar event brought them here after they defeated a dastardly villain named Kefka.

The Returners were a practical hard-working and farming folk who understood the value of science (Industrious, Agricultural and Scientific). Hopefully many mutually beneficial trades could be made with them.

The Al Bhed, while human, the majority are a rather distinct race of humans, with distinctive blonde hair and green eyes with a pronounced swirly pattern in their irises. They are also experts with any kind of machinery or "Machina", expert traders and seafarers (Scientific, Commercialist and Seafaring)

That rounded out what was known about the various factions the Al Bhed had met, thus far. The report from Tifa, the Domestic Advisor, was rather grim: The Al Bhed were ranked 3rd overall in land area and 4th in population, not to mention that productivity and military power were somewhere in the gutter. On top of all that, it seemed that the Al Bhed were falling behind in research.

As for the world itself, so far the maps indicated that it was a pretty hot, dry and rocky world, with massive mountain ranges that dwarfed the Himalayas and two enormous deserts that would have swallowed the Sahara whole and still had room for dessert. There was precious little in the way of freshwater lakes, and as far as anyone could see, no major rivers. Scratching out a living on this place was going to be a difficult proposition at best. Thankfully, the seas teemed with abundant life, otherwise the various factions would be looking forward to slowly dying from starvation, for the most part. The Archadeans and Aht Urhgans lucked out: They started near some of the few, precious sources of freshwater, as well as having either abundant grasslands or natural food crops (corn) in the surrounding plains.

The Al Bhed had started out between a rock and a hard place.... LITERALLY, being surrounded as they were by Ancient forests, Mountains and Deserts, with only a few Plains. Thankfully, the Dinosaurs provided the occasional good eating and the natives in the Farming village always managed to coax a surplus of food from the rather dry plains, not to mention that the Whales in the sea also provided a good food source. Hikaro had been heard to mutter something about some Boer Republics starting with worse odds, but nobody knew what that meant.....

The Archer party sent from Home finally reaches Baaj, securing our Southern frontier against fiend attacks. (890 PA)

In 902 PA, Cid announces that we've finished research on Masonry and Hikaro tells him to start researching Mathmatics so we can build the Tomb of the Unknown King. Sephiroth finishes training some Deinonychus dinosaurs in the capitol, and after grabbing some Antidotes (cures poison status effect), begins work on training our first group of Bark Spiders. The Deinonychus are sent to attack fiend camps near where one of our future cities will go.

Tifa sends a report in 914 PA that the road crews have completed a road to the gems that are in (currently) neutral territory. Hikaro tells her to have them extend it to Baaj, so that all Al Bhed cities will be connected.

A short time later (926 PA), Rikku finally returns to Home and resumes her duties as ruler of the Al Bhed, although it was some time before she could restrain herself from regaling all her advisors about every adventure she had while exploring this new world. Hikaro is just glad that his workload has been greatly reduced.

(934 PA) Merchants travelling to Home report that Windhurst has not only started building Delkfutt's tower, but they also built the Iifa tree in Windhurst, which will allow the Windhurstian population to grow rapidly (Player's note: Delkfutt's Tower = The Colossus and the Iifa Tree = The Pyramids)



(942 PA) Sephiroth, covered in bandages and smelling of Antidote potions, staggers into the Chieftess' audience chamber announcing that he's successfully trained the first group of tame Bark Spiders. Rikku offers her enthusiastic congratulations and tells him to start training another Archer party (after resting up a bit, of course). The Bark Spiders are also sent to fight the fiends near the proposed city site to the North of the Great Desert.

Bikanel FINALLY completes its shrine in 950 PA. Sephiroth orders the town's governor to start training some archers. That same year, our Deinonychus handlers report seeing a Windhurstian Fighter party get slaughtered trying to clear out a Fiend den in the mountains... You guys should have let US handle that!

(958 PA) Sephiroth reports to Rikku that the latest batch of Archers has completed training in Home, and Rikku has him start training some more Bark Spiders. Sephiroth gives her a dirty look before leaving to carry out his orders. The newly-trained Archer party is sent to Bikanel to defend the town, while the Warrior party in Bikanel is sent to the potential city site to the West to help "deny the line" to any other factions with ideas on settling there.



The Deinonychus party is successful: they clear out the den of fiends and recover 25 Gil worth of treasure. In more good news, Tifa reports back that the road to Baaj is complete, and the workers are extending it up to the Iron deposits in the mountains outside Baaj. Soon we'll be able to train Knights!

(966 PA) The city site to the west (which was marked on earlier maps) has been secured so that we'll still be able to squeeze a settler in there if someone else settles nearby, but we'll need seven total units to completely secure the area.

Later during that same year, Archades founds the village of Kaukula Pass, Aht Urhgan founds the town of Nashmau, right where we were planning to put a future city and effectively cutting off our land route to the Western city site. Windhurst founds the village of Toraimarai to the South of their capitol.

In 974 PA, Baaj completes its Shrine and starts training an Archer party. Later that same year, travelers report that the Returner Alliance has begun building Delkfutt's Tower.

In 982 PA, Bikanel's influence expands, bringing the kelp beds, pearl oyster shoals and gem deposits into its domain, instantly transforming the almost worthless town into a key asset for the Al Bhed. Rikku tells the Governor, in no uncertain terms, to change the production orders to a Gem mine: We can use the revenue boost, not to mention the treasures it produces.

Later in the same year, traveling gem merchants report that the Federation of Windhurst has started building the Besaid Shrine! (Player's Note: Besaid Shrine doubles the happiness of shrines and does not go obsolete)

Cid bursts into Rikku's office and announces that we've finally researched Mathmatics, and Rikku tells him to start on Mysticism. Rikku then calls Aeris in, and makes contact with the Star Sibyl of Windhurst.

Spoiler :

This time, we only get two techs for Mathmatics, but still, Ship Building will allow us to finally build some Galleys to explore the coast and Mysticism will allow us to build the Besaid Shrine, if we can't build the Tomb of the Unknown King first.

Aeris then trades Ship Building to Razfahd for his world Map, which reveals more of the Returner Peninsula and the Federation of Windhurst.

Sephiroth reports that the second batch of Bark Spiders is ready for battle, which are sent to help secure the Western city site.

Rikku then calls up her cousin Yuna and has her start building the Tomb of the Unknown King and tells Cid to change research to Currency, so we can plant a Rubber Plantation and build a Spice Factory in Home.

Thus, despite having re-couped some of the lost ground in technology and one town finally becoming productive, the Al Bhed continue to slide into obscurity with abysmal rankings in production, growth, military power, and population....

 

[Optional]

Wow, what a great way to present your mod, Hikaro! It takes a bit more effort of the reader to follow this story than that of an ordinary game, but it's a great opportunity for interested people to get a feel for it, and you're supplying plenty of pictures and explanations!
Once the reader knows this is a mod, you can even simply state something like: 'Let's research pottery, so we can irrigate!' without further explanation; just let the story flow, because an interested reader doesn't need more words to accept that pottery enables irrigation, that's clearly how it works in this mod.
I'll be following this with interest, gazing at every picture!

 

[DJ Bonebraker]

Thanks for the kind words, Optional.

As a bonus before I start on the next chapter, here's the cast of Characters:



The one who is without identifying text below his portrait is Grand Vizier Razfahd of the Aht Urhgans.

 

[DJ Bonebraker]

Y Muhk Fyo Ib Vnus Rana
A Long Way Up From Here​

In 1006 PA, Yuna, a.k.a. "Cousin Yunie" enters Rikku's office in the palace proclaiming that the borders of Baaj have expanded due to the cultural influence of the village's shrine.

This, of course is a small drop of good news in a sea of disappointments: Windhurst has started building the Tomb of the Unknown King, and the Archadean Empire has started both the Tomb of the Unknown King AND the Besaid Shrine. If we can't build the Tomb of the Unknown King first, it's quite likely we'll have just wasted a LOT of production work...

Not long after (1014), Aeris manages to establish an embassy in Windhurst to track ther progress on the Tomb of the Unknown King (Good factions start the game with the ability to establish embassies, Neutral factions can trade maps right off, and Evil factions are the only ones who can convert units into Fayth for culture (sacrifice)), but don't have enough in the budget to investigate Mhaura, the city actually building the Tomb. Windhurst, however, is near completion of Delfutt's Tower, which may trigger a wonder cascade....

The same year, for unknown reasons, Windhurst declares war on the Archadean Empire!!!



Rikku boldly pronounces, with her chief advisor backing her up, that any war between the two most powerful factions would likely be in our favor.

A third Settler party leaves the Palace in Home and sets out for a spot on the Southeast coast near Baaj. This site has access to wild Sugar cane fields in the hills and Game in the tundra along the coast, not to mention that once the forest has been cleared, some actual grassland, marking that out to be a highly productive town, provided we get there first. The Archer party defending Baaj is sent to secure that city site against fiend incursions.

In the meantime, the blockade on the city site to the West is now complete:



There is now no way in hell any foreign settlers can settle close enough to make building a town there a pointless proposition, let alone snag it from us!

In addition, the worker parties outside Baaj complete the road to the iron deposits in the mountains! Now we can train Knights, but more importantly, the city's production schedule is switched to building an Iron Foundry, which will significantly boost the city's productivity as well as generate treasure shipments from time to time.

Later the same year, the Star Sibyl of Windhurst sends an emissary asking for an alliance against Archades. Even though the offer is very tempting: They'd throw in Writing to sweeten the deal and we already have a significant military presence not far from Mosphoran, which would make a nice addition to the Al Bhed federation, Rikku declines. The Al Bhed have more pressing matters, namely turning the desolate wasteland that most of the nation is into a productive society.

We also receive news from travelling Ironmongers that Windhurst has completed Delkfutt's tower. King Edgar Figaro of the Returners, they said, has switched his project to the Besaid Shrine.

For several years, not much happens, aside from typical day-to-day life in the Al Bhed federation, but in 1038 PA Aeris' "diplomats" pass word to us that the Star Sibyl and Grand Vizier Razfahd have forged a military alliance against the Archadian Empire. Gramis could be in serious trouble now! Still, any war between the larger and more militarily inclined nations was likely to be to our advantage at this point in time.

The Returners begins construction on the Tomb of the Unknown King and the Archadians also switch production on the Tomb, so as to free up one of their more productive cities for training military units.

A while later, in 1046 PA, some spice merchants from Aht Urhgan spend the evening at Tifa's 7th Heaven, the bar in the Palace basement, bragging about how Aht Urhgan has begun work on the Tomb of the Unknown King. Tifa, the Domestic Minister and owner of Tifa's 7th Heaven, passes on the news and her misgivings about us being able to complete the project before our many competitors can.

Windhurst also starts building the Morhen Lighthouse, meaning that they've, once again, gotten ahead of us in technology. Rikku doesn't know whether to laugh or cry at the rotten luck that seems to be hitting the Al Bhed left and right.

To further complicate matters, a Windhurstian Galley is spotted off the coast near the blockaded city site... Looks like there WAS a way around the blockade after all! Thankfully, this exact contingency had been planned on..... All troops in the blockade moved so as to deny the Galley any landing zone for its passengers.

In 1054 PA, the settler party, made up mostly of the small Ronso minority in the Al Bhed federation, found Ronso Village, effectively claiming the entire Southeast coast of the continent for the Al Bhed. The village alderman orders a shrine to be constructed.



Later news that year reports that the Windhurstian Galley, being thwarted by our clever blockade, has decided to sail off towards the Southeast, probably in an attempt to claim the last available coastal spot on the Southeast coast.

So it is with three of the biggest factions at war and things still looking grim, but better, that this chapter comes to a close.

 

[DJ Bonebraker]

...And here's a map of the Al Bhed territories:

Spoiler :

 

[Tani Coyote]

Now you know the pain my stories have to endure...

This is very interesting though, I'm trying my best to understand, as Kingdom Hearts is the closest thing to Final Fantasy I've ever played.

 

[Dumanios]

Nice Story Man!

 

[DJ Bonebraker]

Chapter 6: Dra Fuhtanc
The Wonders​

1062 PA, a group of Bandersnatches appear near the blockade of the 5th city site. Our Deinonychus party has them for lunch.... LITERALLY. The Dinonychus handlers report spotting a den of fiends on the mountains nearby, but are ordered back into position to maintain the blockade...

That site has two groves of Exotic Fruit (the blue pear-looking thingies) in the Ancient Forest, a field of wild Sugar Can in the plains to the south on top of which there is some prime Sake-grade rice in the plains to the Southwest that would allow us to build a Sake Distillery (makes 1 person happy and generates Treasures every 15 turns) in the town once its influence spreads far enough and we can build a road there. In addition, that town, along with Bikanel, will allow us to almost completely control the entire Gulf of Al Bhed, so keeping the competition out was the top priority.

(1078 PA)Foreign Minister Aeris Gainsborough strides into Rikku's office in the Palace at Home and informs her that Winhurstian forces had prevailed over the Archadian Empire at the Battle of Kaukula Pass, which unfortunately also destroyed the small village. The Star Sibyl signs a peace treaty with Emperor Gramis Solidor soon afterwards, bringing that part of the war to a close. The Archadean Empire and Aht Urhgan are still at war, however. Aeris reports that, due to the massive Mosphoran Mountains and Great Desert separating them, little territory was likely to change hands during the conflict.

Rikku thanks Aeris and tells her to keep her posted on any future developments.

In 1086, Bikanel finishes training an Archer party, which is sent to defend Baaj, and starts organizing a Worker party. Tifa reports that the road to Ronso Village is now complete, and all Al Bhed towns are now connected. The workers are sent to mine the hills where the wild sugar cane is growing. The Ronso Village is looking to be very productive already!

Later that year, Emperor Gramis Solidor sends an emissary demanding that we pay the "glorious" Archadian Empire 20 Gil. After consulting with Chief Advisor Hikaro and Military Advisor Sephiroth, she agrees to his demands... The Al Bhed army isn't much to write home about to start with and most of our troops are on blockade duty... The last thing we need right now is a war.

(1094 PA) A little while afterward, Cid comes sauntering into the Chieftess' office and announces that the arduous research into Currency is complete!

Rikku has him start researching Writing, then calls in Aeris and her Chief advisor to do some rapid-fire negotiations:



Currency is traded to Razfahd for Writing and Chocobo Riding. Then Chief Advisor Takayama sells the technology to the Returners for 90 Gil, after which they trade Currency and 50 gil to Windhurst for Literature. Now not only are we caught up in technology, we also have another fall-back wonder we can build: The Temple of the Ancients (Basically the same as the Great Library and it expires with the same tech). On top of that, we can now set up a Spice Factory and Rubber Plantation in Home! (Spice Factory = +50% treasury output, treasure every 15 turns, Rubber Plantation = +25% shields and Treasure every 15 turns).

1102 PA, Baaj finishes building its Iron Foundry, boosting production in the town and sending out Treasures from time to time. The town begins organizing a Worker party. In the capitol, Chief Advisor Takayama realizes that nobody remebered to check on what Cid was researching, so he sends a note ordering Cid to switch research to Philosophy, so we can build Temples and hopefully keep a lid on the malcontents in Home.

Sephiroth informs Rikku and the Chief Advisor that the Blockade troops have spotted a number of Archadian troops heading for Aht Urhgan territory.

In 1110 PA, a momentous occasion for the Al Bhed occurrs:



Somehow, despite the long odds, we manage to finish the Tomb of the Unknown King FIRST! Sephiroth orders a Barracks to be completed in Home before the first Minotaur emerges from the Tomb (The Tomb of the Unknown King produces Minotaur units every 5 turns, which are one of, if not THE most powerful ancient age unit and are only available from the Tomb)... He wants VETERAN Minotaurs, dammit!

Aeris's envoys report that Windhurst and the Returners have changed the cities formerly dedicated to the Tomb of the Unknown King to building the Temple of the Ancients.

On top of THAT good news, the Gem Mine in Bikanel has readied its first Treasure shipment, which the Archer Party grabs and begins hauling to Home.

Later in the year, some drifters report that Windhurst has started building the Da Chao Statue (makes 3 people happy... The same thing as the Mausoleum of Mauselos). .... Looks like we started researching Philosophy too late.

1118 PA, Bikanel sends out a Worker party and begins construction of Al Bhed's first Galley, and the Archer party from Bikanel brings the Treasure shipment into Home, scoring 300 Gil from the various merchants in the city.



We receive news from the same merchants that Windhurst has Completed construction of the Morhen Lighthouse and started on the Temple of the Goddess (Morhen Lighthouse = Great Lighthouse and Temple of the Goddess = Temple of Artemis)

They also mention that Archades have built a new town called Pora-Pora on the ruins of Kaukula Pass.

A few years later (1126 PA), The Archadian Empire starts construction on the Temple of the Ancients. Closer to home, Aht Urhgan founds the town of Wajoam on the Southern coast, taking up the last potential city site to the far Southeast.

(1134 PA)Cid swaggers into Rikku's office a little while later and announces that we've completed research on Philosophy, but everyone else already has it. Rikku tells Cid to start research on Code of Laws, followed by Monarchy... Now that we've got regular treasure shipments it, it would be nice to have a government that could make use of all that extra money to hurry building and troop training projects up. On top of that, we could build the Ru'lude Gardens, which would make the people in the kingdom happy. (Ru'lude Gardens = Hanging Gardens, but does not expire)

Coincidentally, Sephiroth reports that Home has completed construction on its barracks, so Rikku tells "Cousin Yunie" the Cultural Advisor to begin building a Temple in the city, since the number of malcontents has been growing lately.

Baaj also sends out a Worker party and begins training a Bark Spider herd.

Travelers report later on in the year that the Returners have built the Besaid Shrine in Figaro Castle, their capitol, and have started construction on the Da Chao statue.

Travelers in Home report in 1142 that Windhurst has started building The Temple of the Goddess as well as the Da Chao statue and Gramis has started construction of the Temple of the Ancients... Not that he'll likely be able to finish it before the Windhurstians do.

In 1150, the first of what will hopefully be many veteran Minotaurs emerges from the Tomb of the Unknown King. He is sent to Bikanel to both reinforce the town and rapidly transport treasure back to the capitol.

Later on, Scouts for the City Blockade Force in the West report seeing more Archadian troops heading towards Aht Urhgan.

To the South, the Elder of the Ronso Village reports that a Volcano in the Whitegate Mountains just inside Aht Urhgan territory has become active... Due to its location, it could shower ash and lava on the hills oustide Ronso Village, but it was too far away to actually damage the village itself. Tifa informs the local Worker Parties to stand by for possible clean up duty.

1158 PA sees the launch of the Al Bhed's first Galley from Bikanel. The town begins construction on a library, since Rikku and Cid both are tired of us lagging behind in research all the time.

The Temple in Home is finished soon after (1166 PA) and begins setting up a Rubber Plantation.

Razfahd stops by the Capitol later asking for Literature to trade world maps with us. They are rather far behind in technology, so we humor them. They immediately begin bulding the Temple of the Ancients, for all the good it will do them!

King Edgar Figaro of the Returners also comes by asking to exchange world maps and we aggree... Now our knowledge of the Continent, particularly the Returner Peninsula, is more complete.

Meanwhile, the Volcano, Mt. Wajoam, erupts, only covering its immediate slopes with ash and lava flows, much to the relief of Ronso Village's citizens. In a twist of Irony, the eruption DOES bury a native Farming Village outside Whitegate, which loses all productivity until The Aht Urhgans can dig them out.... So much for Razfahd having all the luck!

In 1174, Word reaches us that Windhurst builds the Da Chao statue in Windhurst. Returners change production in Figaro Castle to the Temple of the Goddess. This is bad news: Windhurst has been building wonder after wonder, and somehow STILL managed to beat up on the Archadeans pretty bad! Chief Advisor Takayama once again mutters something about the "Boer Republics" being worse off early on. Tifa thinks he may be getting stressed out by his job.

(1182 PA) Cid announces that we now have a Code of Laws established and we'll hopefully soon have the secrets of running a Monarchy as well. Unfortunatly, Aeris in unable to trade Code of Laws to ANYBODY for ANYTHING!

Tifa reports that Home has completed its Rubber Plantation and Yuna begins construction on a Library. A Settler party has also gathered in the Palace, so they are sent to board the Galley in Bikanel and head over to the closely-guarded city site.

We recieve word from travelling Rubber merchants later in the year that Windhurst has completed the Temple of the Ancients in Mhaura... Now they'll NEVER fall behind in tech... Talk about getting all the luck. Rikku is bound and determined to continue building up the Al Bhed so that we can eventually catch up.

(1190 PA) The Galley arrives and unloads the settler party onto the site for the 5th city, and the blockade (with the exception of the Archer party that is sent to defend the Settlers) is dismantled and ordered to move in to blockade another city site with access to Dinosaurs and Rubber (although the Archadians currently have a colony sitting on the Dinosaurs).

A second Minotaur emerges from the Tomb of the Unknown King in Home and is sent to reinforce Baaj as well as transporting loads of iron (Treasures) from the Iron Foundry there. Ronso Village builds a Shrine and starts on an Archer.

In 1198, Home finishes building the first Library in the Al Bhed Chiefdom, and starts building a Spice Factory. More Importanly, however:



The town of Sanubia is founded on the Mountain picked out as the city site. Sanubia, in an archaic Dialect of Al Bhed, means "Great Desert," and the Great Desert was now known as the Sanubia Desert, much like the Great Northern Desert was now often called the Toraimarai Desert, after the Windhurstian town built in the northern regions. The mayer begins building a shrine.

So it is that this chapter ends with the Al Bhed managing to grab one of the few ancient era wonders NOT taken by the Windhurstians (and from the standpoint of a civilization with relatively few highly-productive cities, one of the most important one, since it generated powerful military units), and despite still lagging behind the Windhurstians in many regards, they have grown to the point where they have achieved second place in most areas, including land area, and things are looking up that this chapter ends.

 

[DJ Bonebraker]

...And of course, the obligatory territory map:

Spoiler :

 

[DJ Bonebraker]

Now you know the pain my stories have to endure...

Not sure what you mean by that...

This is very interesting though, I'm trying my best to understand, as Kingdom Hearts is the closest thing to Final Fantasy I've ever played.

*Points to link in sig* Well, you could download it and try it out yourself

As for Kingdom Hearts, it was made by Square-Enix, and as one of my more sarcastic friends put it, was basically "Final Fantasy: Disney"

Quite a few of the charachters, namely Cid (Highwind), Aeris/Aerith Gainsborough, Yuffie Kisaragi, Sephiroth, Cloud Strife, Tidus, Wakka, Selphie Tilmett, Squall "Leon" Leonhart, and Moogles (although I haven't spotted any in this game, so far), are all straight out of Final Fantasy...

Cloud, Aeris, Yuffie, Cid and Sephiroth were all from Final Fantasy VII, arguably one of the most popular video games in history, and Aeris, Yuffie, Cid, and Sephiroth are also advisors in the FF mod.

 

[Tani Coyote]

Now you know the pain my stories have to endure...

Not sure what you mean by that...

I was referring to how any thread that's overall original tends to get ignored... not only is lurking an issue, but the fact everyone's abandoned Civ 3 for Civ 4...

XD Yes, I believe that is a way to view Kingdom Hearts. I just found it odd how Aeris wasn't dead in KH. But, that's the best part of crossovers, you get to forsake all the previous canon. Hence why Sephiroth isn't a maniac in this mod...

 

[DJ Bonebraker]

I was referring to how any thread that's overall original tends to get ignored... not only is lurking an issue, but the fact everyone's abandoned Civ 3 for Civ 4...

Interesting enough, I had several people tell me that this particular mod was the one thing that would get them back to Civ III Apparently my plan is working, too.

XD Yes, I believe that is a way to view Kingdom Hearts. I just found it odd how Aeris wasn't dead in KH. But, that's the best part of crossovers, you get to forsake all the previous canon. Hence why Sephiroth isn't a maniac in this mod...

Actually, that is a combination of my twisted sense of humor + the fact that I actually kind of felt sorry for Sephiroth: It was his twisted B*****d of a farther who was the TRUE villian of Final Fantasy VII... Killing Hojo was one of the most satisfying moments I had playing any video game (and I made sure my party consisted of Cloud, Red XIII and Vincent Valentine... I.e. The Grudge Match party ).

As for the Twisted sense of humor part.... How else can you explain my having one of video gaming's most notorious thieves as the TRADE advisor

 

[DJ Bonebraker]

Chapter 7: Fa Femm Dneisbr Palyica dra "AI" ec Cdibet
We Will Triumph Because the "AI" is Stupid"​

The year is 1206 PA, over a millenium since the founding of the city of Home at its current location, at the recommendation of the Chief Advisor so that it would have the spice-bearing trees in the Ancient forest well within its sphere of influence, that the Spice Factory in Home was completed. Now the city would have two means of producing much-needed Treasure shipments... Now if only the Al Bhed had a government that could fully take advantage of the massive treasury surplus being generated by all the treasure shipments, but Cid had indicated that research on Monarchy would take a while yet.

In the meantime, Rikku decrees that the city should start building the Temple of the Goddess as a ruse for what it actually was: stockpiling material for the Ru'lude Gardens, which would make people across the Chiefdom happy.

Sometime later (1214 PA), a Bandersnatch rears its ugly head in the Mountains near a designated future city site. Our Bark Spiders messily devour the Bandersnatches, but a significant number are badly injured in the process.

Not long after (1222), the Iron Foundry in Baaj produces a treasure and the Minotaurs helping guard the town haul it towards Home. Sephiroth also recalls the last two reamining Fighter Parties to report to the Barracks in Home for upgrade to Knights.

Later that same year, word reaches Yuna through informal channels that Windhurst has started construction on Alexandria Castle! That means that not only are they ahead in tech, but they also have entered the next era! At least we will still have Monarchy over them!

In 1230 PA, Bikanel completes construction on its local library -the rapidly growing town bears little resemblance to the pathetic village it was not too long ago- and starts building another Galley.

To the South, the Worker parties near Ronso Village clear a small forest, revealing some fertile grasslands, giving Ronso Village some more readily-available food. Ronso Village completes training an Archer and begins assembling a Worker party.

In Home, the Tomb of the Unknown King brings forth another Minotaur, who is sent to board the original Galley along with a Worker party. The Galley is then sent to Sanubia, so the worker can begin construction on a road to bring the Sake grade rice into Sanubia and allow the construction of a Distillery there.

(1238 PA) The Galley reaches Sanubia after a short trip and unloads the Minotaur and Worker party. The Minotaur goes to blockade the potential city site, while the Worker party begins constructing a road to the Sake grade rice fields in the plains to the South.

Aeris sends the latest Spy reports from Arutabaruta, revealing that work on the Temple of the Goddess is almost complete, and Cid confirms that Monarchy is still a while off yet. Rikku, after thinking a bit, has Tifa switch production in Home to a Marketplace: Not only will it give a much-needed boost to revenue, but it will also make more people in the city happy and none of the materials gathered for construction of the wonder will be wasted, either.

Later that year, foreign merchants, who are pleased at the sight of the nearly-finished marketplace, tell Tifa that Sarutabaruta in the Federation of Windhurst has completed the Temple of the Goddess. (and get free temples in all cities they have on this continent until it goes obsolete with Natural Sciences, a.k.a Physics)

The Marketplace in Home, the first in all the Al Bhed chiefdom (and possibly in the world) is completed in 1246 PA, and Sephiroth claims that he can have a new batch of Archers rapidly trained before gathering materials, once again, in preparation for building the Ru'lude Gardens.

Baaj finishes training a group of Bark Spiders, and begins constructing a Galley... might as well take advantage of our Seafaring skills, after all (not to mention this mod's half-priced naval units).

A short time later (1252), Sephiroth reports that the first VETERAN Archer party has completed training, and Tifa has the construction crews in Home begin building a "Town Hall" (which is actually a code word for the Ru'lude Gardens, but we don't have Monarchy yet ). Ronso Village finishes organizing a Worker party and send them out to build a road to link up with the Aht Urhgan gem road that stops at the Al Bhed-Aht Urhgan border between Ronso Village and Whitegate. Bikanel launches the second Galley and begins training a Knight party. The Bark Spiders from Baaj board the newly-launched galley in Bikanel and are transported to Sanubia. There, they debark and move off to secure the city site between Sanubia and the Archadian Empire.

Later in 1252, an Archadian Viera Settler party, guarded by none other than Emperor Gramis Solidor is spotted near the potential city site:



The Blockading troops are ordered to adjust position accordingly.

In 1258 PA, Cid announces that we've completed research on Monarchy and Rikku tells him to start researching Map Making. Production in Home is immediately re-classified as building the Ru'lude Gardens. Monarchy is not to be traded with anyone untill it's certain that we'll be able to complete work on the Ru'lude Gardens first.



When Tifa asks if Rikku wants to re-organize the Tribal Council into a Monarchy right away, she answers in her spunky, straight-forward way, "Are you NUCKIN' FUTZ!?!" Chief Advisor Takayama, remembering the long difficult transition from a Despotism to a Tribal Council heartily aggrees: ONLY when the Ru'lude Gardens is finished shall we begin the revolution... We're NOT going to have the stinking Windhurstians steal yet another wonder from us.

Later on in the year, a Troll (advanced barbarian) is spotted moving in to attack the Archadian Viera Settler party and their escort... Depending on how THAT fight turns out, we may not have to worry about competing with the Archadian Empire for space in that area for much longer.

Closer to home, an Aht Urhgan settler pair is moving in on a potential city site in neutral territory between Bikanel and Whitegate's borders. Bikanel, a rapidly rising star, however, has it's area of influence expand, and we already have an worker in the area building a road as well as an archer securing a potential city site down there, greatly reducing the number of potential city sites for the Aht Urhgans.

The Gem Mine in Bikanel produces another Treasure shipment in 1264, and the Minotaur in Bikanel hauls it to Home, filling the Al Bhed coffers to overflowing. On top of that, the Galley from Sanubia brings the last two Fighter parties to Home, where Sephiroth gives them new weapons and armor, upgrading them to Knights.

While THAT is happening, another Minotaur emerges from the Tomb of the Unknown King The Minotaur is loaded into the Galley along with the veteran Archer.

In the meantime, The Aht Urhgan Settler party decides to found Alzaadal right next to where our Archer was holding position, not only closing up the gap between our borders, but also completing a route between Whitegate and Home. Fat lot of good having a trade route will do either of us: Neither we nor the Aht Urhgans have any surplus resources to trade at this time.

Later that year, the blockading army reports seeing a battle between Archadian and Aht Urhgan forces, which ends up with the Aht Urhgan Archer party being devoured by the Archadian Deinonychuses.

The Archadian Empire's victory celebration is short-lived, however:



Emperor Gramis Solidor, leader of the Archadian Empire, is slain in a battle with a horde of vile, smelly Trolls while valiantly trying to defend the Viera Settler party. Unfortunately, the Trolls slaughter the hapless viera, and as a result of the lost of their leader, the Archadian Empire descends into utter chaos.

In less than six years, due to rampant corruption, civil war and a repeated fiend attacks, the Archadian Empire completely collapses, with nothing but ruins left where its proud cities once stood. Most of the Bangaa who fled the disorder sought refuge in the Bagaa Villages in Windhurst and Aht Urhgan (Bangaa Villages are a resource that allow construction of certain Bangaa units) The Viera and Humans scattered, with a majority of the Viera refugees seeking refuge in the Al Bhed chiefdom, where Rikku welcomed them with open arms.

Even more importantly, the vast, open and highly fertile grasslands of the Archadian Great Plains were now wide open to whoever could claim them first!

So it is, with an overly ambitious emperor's careless actions resulting in the complete destruction of all he worked for, that this chapter ends.

 

[DJ Bonebraker]

Note: The "Wierd Language" I've been using in previous chapter titles is the actual in-game "Al Bhed" language from Final Fantasy X and X-2... Basically it's nothing more than a non-linear cypher that's set up so that vowels (and quasi-vowels) replace only vowels (and quasi-vowels), thus rendering something that looks like a complete foreign language (especially since it would be prounounceable to Arabs or Russians), but is actually just English encyphered...

Chapter 8: Mare Nostra
Our Sea​

In 1270 PA, Tifa Lockheart, the Domestic Advisor, Yuffie Kisaragi, the Trade Advisor, Sephiroth, the Military Advisor and Hikaro Takayama, the Chief Advisor are sitting at the large table in Chieftess Rikku's conference room in the palace.

"Explain that to me again," Rikku says to her Chief Advisor, "I'm not sure I get what you're saying, here..."

Hikaro spreads his hands out and says, "In the world I came from, there was a nation, a small Republic called Venice surrounded by large, powerful monarchies. The reason they survived as long as they did -- 1100 years as a matter of fact -- was by way of a large navy and maintaining almost complete control of the Adriatic Sea, which they referred to as "Mare Nostra", or "Our Sea". As a matter of fact, one of the key factors leading to their decline was the rise of the "Terrafirma" party who cut funding for the Navy, allowing outside powers to take their possessions in the Mediterranean and Adriatic."

Rikku looks at the assembled advisors and says, "So you all think that by concentrating on controlling all the resource-rich regions along the coast of this sea to the Northwest from Sanubia to the Windhurstian border as well as the Gulf of Al Bhed, could be a key strategy to gaining the upper hand, despite the Aht Urhgans controlling everything south of the Home Peninsula?"

Yuffie, often as rambunctious and energetic as Rikku speaks up, "You betcha! I've run some numbers with my accountants, and we figgered that as long as we have harbors in every town along the coast and can keep the sea lanes open, even if the towns're completely surrounded by enemies on land, we can still get good shipments back and forth between them and the towns on the Home Peninsula."

Sephiroth leans forward and adds, "If we have enough ships, we could also set up a naval relay line that could drop a sizable force in even Windhurstian territory within a single year! On top of that, if we blockade the mouth of this sea... I think we shall call it the 'Adriatic Sea' in honor of the Chief Advisor's plan... We can prevent the enemy from landing troops deep inside our territory OR maintaining trade through any city on the coast of the Adriatic or Gulf of Al Bhed so long as our ships maintain the blockade."

Finally, Tifa adds, "The coastal regions along the 'Adriatic' are also rich in resources... The site I picked for the next city, as a matter of fact, will not only have access to large schools of Fish, but also two groves of Cocoa trees on the nearby hills. In addition, the Coastal mountain range will give it a superior defensive position as well."



Rikku, after looking at the map says, "Great idea, guys! I'm definitely for it, even the name for the sea.... Just calling it the 'Northwest Sea' was boring anyways.... Sephiroth, tell the captain of the galley in port here to take that Minotaur, Archer Party and one of the Knight parties up to the spot picked out on that map. The rest of you guys can go back to whatever you were doing before."

The Galley soon leaves port to carry out its new orders. In the meantime, Sanubia completes building its Shrine and begins construction on a Library.

To the West of Sanubia, a group of Trolls that was threatening our troops trying to secure the city site in the Mosphoran Mountains backs off after two groups of Bark Spiders move in to reinforce the Deinonychus party already fortified in the mountains.

Baaj launches its first Galley in 1276 PA and begins construction on a Library. The Galley is sent off to explore the Southeast coast.

Over on the Sanubian side of the continent, two groups of Trolls move in on the Deinonychus/Bark Spider group. To the South, a pack of Bandersnatches is spotted charging towards our Worker party that is building a road to the Sake grade rice fields. A nearby group of Bark Spiders, however, pounces on the mangy canines and sucks the juices out of them, ending that threat to our road-building operations.

In 1282 PA, Cid struts into Rikku's office announcing that we've researched Map Making.



Rikku congratulates him and has him start research on Construction.

In the Mosphoran Mountains outside Sanubia, one group of Bark Spiders gets squished attacking a group of Trolls, but the second group of Bark Spiders has fresh Troll for dinner.

To the South, ANOTHER pack of Bandersnatches moves into position to strike our Worker Party.

Wandering Sake merchants report that the Returners have ALSO started construction on the Alexandria Castle!

A Short time later (1288 PA), the Bark Spiders that wiped out the previous pack of Bandersnatches also devours the new group... Their trainers report that the spiders apparently have developed a taste for the giant wolves.....

Back on the Home Peninsula, Bikanel finishes training a Knight party and begins building a Harbor. The Rubber Plantation in Home produces a Treasure shipment, bringing more Gil into the treasury. The Worker Party outside Sanubia completes the road to the Sake rice, but the town's influence hasn't spread far enough yet to cover the Sake rice fields, and the Worker party moves up to build a road to the Exotic Fruit trees in the ancient forests to the West of Sanubia (Ancient Forests = Jungles, but they have 1 food, 1 shield and 1 trade; Exotic Fruit = Tropical Fruit, a food bonus for Ancient Forests).

In the North, near the proposed city site, a Minotaur, Bark Spider party and Deinonychus party are closing in on a den of fiends to wipe it off the map.

In diplomatic news, Rikku decides that due to the Ru'lude Gardens being completed soon, it SHOULD be safe enough to trade Monarchy to the Returners, so we trade Monarchy to the Returners for Construction, and we enter the Middle Ages! Cid reports that he and the Chief Advisor have had a brainstorm and decide to introduce the concept of Monotheism (Monotheism = our free "Age Up" tech)! We can now train Paladins (Upgrade for our Knights) and build Churches. Quick checks indicate that while the Returners and Windhurstians have Feudalism, neither has Monotheism, so we trade Monotheism to the Windhurstians for Feudalism. Cid is told to set his research priorities on Chivalry: We need to get it so we can build Lord Mi'ihen's Crusaders before the Windhurstians or Returners can steal it from us (Lord Mi'ihen's Crusaders ~ The Knights Templar, but the Crusaders that it produces have 2 movement and slightly different stats as well as completely different looks)

Rikku tells Tifa to plow our entire tax revenue into research to get the technology ASAP.... Even though we'll be running a 6 Gil per year deficit, the income from the semi-regular Treasure shipments will more than cover the difference.

Over by Sanubia, TROLLS now move in to threaten our worker party... The Fiends around here are getting RIDICULOUS!

1294 PA: The Trolls threatening our worker party get chopped to pieces by our veteran Minotaur... Obviously they aren't so tough when picking on someone their own size. In the Nortwest, near the site picked for the 6th city, our Deinonychus party kills the pack of Bandersnatches and loots the fiends' den for 25 Gil worth of treasure.

Sanubia's borders expand, bringing the Sake rice fields into its influence, and the production in the town is changed to a Distillery, which will not only produce Treasure shipments but also make people in the town happy, what with opportunities to "sample" the sake and shouchu being produced.

Another Minotaur emerges from the Tomb of the Unknown King in Home, and is sent to board a Galley near Bikanel that already is carrying a Knight party and Worker party. The Galley weighs anchor and sets course for Sanubia.

Sometime later in the year, Aeris' informants report that the Returners have founded the town of Sabin's Cabin in the Archadian Plains between the ruins of Archades and Barnheim. Amazingly, Edgar thinks it's a good idea to begin construction of the Ru'lude gardens in that newly founded town.

A band of Trolls in the Mosphoran Mountains kills the Warrior party guarding the potential city site there!

In 1300 PA, Rikku authorizes 120 Gil to re-train and re-equip the Knight party in Home to become a Paladin party, the first such unit in all of the Al Bhed Chiefdom. Aeris is also sent to establish Embassies in Figaro Castle and Whitegate, giving us embassies with all the nations we know about.

Later that year, a MASSIVE horde of Trolls moves in to threaten the site we've staked out for the 6th town! Aeris' agents also report that Windhurst has begun construction of the Ru'lude Gardens in Toraimarai!

Aeris's "diplomatic" messages in 1306 PA indicate that there's no way in blue blazes that either Sabin's Cabin OR Toraimarai will have the Ru'lude Gardens finished before Home does.

Later in the year, our veteran Archer party is attacked by two bands of Trolls. Although the brave women in the Archer party manage to slaughter the first band under a constant rain of arrows, enough of the second Troll band makes it through to massacre the Archers before getting driven back by our Knights and Minotaur.

A Windhurstian Goblin Skirmisher shows up nearby after the battle... Hopefully they've been sent to deal with the fiends rampaging through the area...

1312 PA, The Knight party handily slays what's left of the Troll band that massacred our Archers, and soon after, the Goblin Skirmishers from Windhurst kill off the last of the Trolls in the area! The city site is once again secure!

In 1318 PA, the Palace in Home assembles another Settler party, which is loaded onto a waiting Galley. Once all the Settlers are on board, the captain sets course for the chosen city site.

Meanwhile, Ronso Village finishes its Library and begins training our first Gladiators (Gladiators are a middle-of-the-road unit, with equal attack and defense; Less defense than a dedicated defender, but more than a dedicated attacker and less offense than a dedicated attacker but more than a dedicated defenders and costs less than either: I.e. sort of like a medieval version of the Guerrilla)

The Iron Foundry in Baaj also sends out another Treasure shipment that year.

1324 Pa, Another Minotaur emerges from the Tomb of the Unknown King in Home and the Gem Mine in Bikanel produces another Treasure shipment.

In 1330 PA, Bikanel finishes construction on its Harbor and begins training a Gladiator party as well. With the Harbor in the city, Bikanel's food problems are pretty much a thing of the past.

The Distillery in Sanubia is also finished this year, and begins producing fine Sake and Shouchu. Sanubia's mayor then begins construction of a harbor to get the sake to Home as well as the Gems, Spices, Giant Spiders, Dinosaurs and Iron from the Home Peninsula across the Gulf of Al Bhed to Sanubia. It looks like "Mare Nostra" is becoming a reality.

In the North, the Galley reaches its destination, and unloads the settler at the designated city site, while the Galley that was exploring the Southeast coast is sent on a likely suicide mission across the Great Eastern Ocean to see if there's anyone on the other side (or, for that matter, an "other side" in the first place).

A band of Trolls attacks the Minotaur guarding the Sake rice fields and gets slaughtered for its trouble... Those Minotaurs' axes are something else!

In 1336 PA, two momentous events occur:



Home completes the Ru'lude Gardens and starts building a Harbor. Now keeping the citizens of the Al Bhed Chiefdom happy will be much easier. (Ru'lude Gardens makes 3 people in the city that builds it happy and 1 in all other cities on the contienent, and never goes obsolete). Chief Advisor Takayama asks Rikku to delay reorganizing the government until AFTER Baaj and Home complete their harbors, which will be VERY soon.... No need to have nationwide starvation to compound the chaos of reorganization....

In the Nortwest, the town of Mt. Gagazet (named after the tall peak it's sitting on) is founded. The village mayor begins construction of a Shrine to give thanks for the safe journey.... Mare Nostra seems to be doable at this point... only one or two more towns along the coast are needed to gain full control of the entire Adriatic Sea!

In other news, the suicide Galley actually is still afloat and sends back a report that it has sighted shallower waters dead ahead and it may even reach land if the weather holds out. Unfortunately a storm blows in and sinks the Galley soon after they send that report back.

1336: Build Ru’lude Gardens, start on harbor. Baaj Expands. Build Mt. Gagazet on Mt. Gagazet. Start Shrine. Amazingly, suicide Galley still alive. Can see shallower waters. In addition, a Minotaur who was unloaded to guard the city site along the Adriatic between Sanubia and Mt. Gagazet is slain by a band of Trolls.

Thus it is, with the Al Bhed still trailing the never to be sufficiently cursed Windhurstians, but in a much better strategic position, that this chapter ends.

 

[DJ Bonebraker]

Here's the obligatory territory map:

Spoiler :