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Dwarven Gatecrashing Metacorporation: Let’s Play Warlock 2: The Exiled Table o' Contents - Now With Less Broken Links! Races and Mages Chapter 1: The New Old King Chapter 2: Razor-1 Chapter 3: Forty Skeletons on a Dead Man's Plane, o ho ho ho, And a Pack Spiders Chapter 4: Citadel of the Wandering Chapter 5: Stiff Resistance Chapter 6: Taking the Dead World Chapter 7: Like Mages Are Wont To Do Chapter 8: Dead Tension Chapter 9: The Second War of Howling Sorrow Chapter 10: The Tools of War and Peace Chapter 11: The Strange Times of Peace Chapter 12: Dragons of Color Chapter 13: Old Friends Redux Chapter 14: Claiming The Shores Chapter 15: Ancient Secrets, Not So Ancient Foes Chapter 16: The Newly Dead Chapter 17: Rolling Thunder Chapter 18: In Which We Make Progress of the Gate Kind Chapter 19: Intermission Chapter 20: The Changing Tides of War Chapter 21: Ainadra Burns Chapter 22: Gatecrashing Ardania Chapter 23: To Kill a God-Head Epilogue: Last Thoughts and Regrets Who the Hell are you and what is happening? Hello, my name is JcDent and I like short walks on the beach, RTS games and writing video game reviews. Coming hot on the heels of my Warlock: Master of the Arcane review (finished yesterday!), I’m here to do a screenshot LP of its sequel, Warlock 2: The Exiled.  Warlock 2 also offers 200% increase in bloom. What is Warlock 2: The Exiled? W2E (I’m sure nobody refers to it like that) is an 4X turn based strategy game. To put it somewhat bluntly, it’s Civilization, but with magic. I still think that mechanically, it’s a lot easier than Civ, that’s my first LP was called “Baby’s First 4X”. Due to all the DLCs it got over time, I LP’ed a very different game from the one that was published initially. Heroes were introduced, shifting the unit power away from actual units, there was a new race, a new Oblivion crisis-type game mode and so on. All these changes (except for the invasion) were rolled into one package, some sprinkles were added, and we have Warlock 2: The Exiled. Of course, there’s more to the game than that (otherwise I would have said “W2E is a sequel as much as Dark Crusade could be considered one”: *No more unlimited unit upgrades: you actually have to seek additional nodes of resources to kit your army in killing gear. *No more Infinite City Crawl (kind of and can be turned off): every “real” city (there are several types that won’t expand in land, build buildings or train units, claim resources, but will generate income) counts against a limit and crossing that for a longer time might get you a rebellion. Kind of puts a damper on rapid conquests and makes you really work for those upgrade resource nodes. *Actual loving research tree: no more stumbling in the dark hoping you’ll randomly find Elemental Resurrection. *Two new races: Svarts and Plane *New campaign and sandbox modes: did you like going to demiplanes in the original game? Well, now there’s a game mode where you do nothing else but travel a chain of connected demiplanes (shards). It’s Eador with less grinding, Perimeter without Russian sci-fi bullshit! *Probably something else (I think archers can lend some support to melee units now. Whoo, combined arms!) that isn’t as impactful or meaningful. But Mr. JcDent, I play games for the story and campaign! So do I, little trooper. If you want all of the background, one noble man rose to the task and did a very good summary in the last thread: LightWarden posted:It's Civ 5 plus Masters of Magic. Not as much in the way of a tech tree as Civilization, but the spell system is neat, especially if you have the DLC so you can go create artifacts for your raging murdersticks to fight off Armageddon. Thanks, LightWarden! Anyways, the last game mode introduced in Master of the Arcane and closest thing it ever had to a plot or campaign was the Dremer invasion. Fleshy gates start appearing (and exploding) all over Ardania, along with Dremers, mindless, yet very powerful invaders from an outer plane. You try to stem the tide (Dremer gates corrupt landscape around them, which then heals Dremer units, and, if not destroyed in time, the gates explode, destroying surrounding terrain) and eventually counter-invade the Dremer world. There, you exploit unit routines heroically kill Dremargor, the Prime Dremer and win the game. Canonically, Miralbus the Hat was the one to slay the beast. Jc-Canon states that Lich King V did that while Miralbus was engaged in a petty border conflict with Sol de Torvega and had corruption covering about 70% of his realm. However, W2E explains that while you were working to stop the end of the world, some rear end in a top hat Greta Mage was working on the spell of Unity that would basically make him on with the magic of Ardania (it’s one of the Victory conditions that get turned off in Dremers). Usurping basically all the power, he subjugated, killed or drove off the Great Mages of Ardania. The exiles found themselves traveling the shards, the demiplane-lite remains of worlds that Dremers actually managed to conquer. Of course, with Great Mage status comes great ambition, so many of them aim to return to Ardania, punish traitors and kill the everloving crap out of the United One. But first you have to find Ardania. Let the dimension hopping, gate crashing adventures begin! What gatecrashing adventures?  I’ll be playing the most regular Exiled campaign. I won’t change difficulty nor monster spawns, because it’s already ridiculous in this game. Witness the numbers:  This is most likely the developer’s way to work around the fact that AI in this game is rock stupid. I mean really really dense. It’s not uncommon for one to gently caress up own economy so much that they can’t really expand past their own shard. They’re also really bad at dealing with the more powerful monster spawns (and this game has plenty of those), it’s almost sad.  Anyways, huge world (big is best and I never play Battlefield matches that are smaller than 64), will able to show many pretty shards and all that, maybe even get all temple units). If audience wants it, I can play against 5 mages, it's not like they're any threat. I believe I’m in a position to update once every two days and my aim is to “git er done” ‘till October, rather than taking a year, a month and ten days like the last time. How about some voting? This just in: the race is not up for vote. The vanilla races have NOTHING new to then, so it would be extremely boring for me. Planestriders are kind of lame (my W2E campaign was done with them), so we’ll be taking Svarts, the best race. You, however, have about a day to vote for which Great Mage I’ll play. The information about them will be given below. It’s really a question of fluff and I’ll try to roleplay a the chosen mage to my best capability. The race will still be Svarts, tho! Spoilers! I’m under the impression that people would like to be surprised by what units Svarts actually have, so please, only discuss them after I build them. I’m also asking you to refrain from spoiling the plot of the campaign! Discussion on the events of previous games and especially lore is welcome, because I only ever managed to play Majesty 2 till that one level with dragon. Mods? W2E supports mods and from the looks of it isn't that hard to mod (then again, I'm not modeler nor programmer, so that's my asspulltise talking). If you have any that you fancy, I can testdrive them in separate, non canon posts – or maybe see how they go after the main LP. This would probably be best considering fan made races (which I expect are unbalanced as all hell). If you would to port Imperial Guard from Dawn of War to the game, I’d be eternally thankful. JcDent fucked around with this message at 04:39 on Sep 28, 2014 |
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Jul 31, 2014 03:50
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What about the Races and Great Mages? Well, the choice of the Great Mage is mostly cosmetic one (you can totally make one with any stats, perks or starting benefits you want) and your gameplay is mostly determined by your race. Here are all the race and the mages traditionally associated with them. Humans  Human rogues are all females, alert Ms. Sarkesian Your bog standard fantasy homo sapiens. Like all of the races introduced in the first game, they’re unchanged and have no new units. Humans excel in gold production, and there might be some sense in that. The Majesty series of games was a Randian fantasty kingdom simulator in that you used taxes to hire heroes and incentivize them to maybe go kill something; you didn’t control units directly! In Warlock, human units are still said to belong to the various hero-for-hire guilds (and share the aesthetics of the ones seen in Majesty) so that makes sense. Human units aren’t actually that special, save for the fact that you can have temples (and temple for units) for every god except for Grum Gog. Human Mages Anna the Benign  Anna the Benign took the betrayal of the United One harder than anyone, for she was rumoured to be his close friend. This is why the war with the new god was not her immediate concern. But the United One was not just a Great Mage, he was was creature bereft of morality and feelings. Anna knew this bitter truth from experience. Only with the divine protection of Agrela did Anna manage to survive and save many of her lieges. Now she wanders across the worlds with her people, and dreams of returning to Ardania. Not for revenge, not for fame nor in hope of returning what is lost, but for the sake of those poor souls who still remain there. (from 'Chronicles of New Worlds' written by Master Vardies Teleran) Krel the Kingpin  The emergence of the United One violated the old agreements between the Mages of Ardania and called for new alliances. While some Mages swore allegiance to the new god, and King Lich and Malinalxochi tried to destroy him, Krel was looking for allies to fight against the United One. He has to perform quite a feat -- to convince the god Krolm himself that allies are essential for such a venture. The rest seemed simple. Krel quickly found common ground with Sol de Torvega an Amberon the Dark, who were also forming a coalition against the United One... But the united forces of the three Great Mages, three patron gods and their three armies were not enough. De Torvega was killed, Amberon was captured... In an effort to retain at least part of the allied troops, Helia and Krolm transferred Krel the Kingpin and his men away from Ardania and with one last effect managed to seal the United One inside. However, the leader of the Barbarians is not accustomed to retreating, and he knows that no seal will last forever... With or without allies, Krel intends to return one day and win! (from 'Chronicles of New Worlds' written by Master Vardies Teleran) Nefertari  Some of those who managed to escape from Ardania under the rule of the United One were thrown into the world of the Great Desert, and had to wander around for a long time, hoping to find shelter, food, or water. Many only briefly outlived their hope. In the darkest hour of despair, when all the energy dried up, Nefertari, Pearl of the Desert, the heiress of Ancient Truths, appeared before the survivors. She summoned magic and created shelter, food and water for them, asking for only one thing in exchange: to swear an oath of allegiance and become her Warriors. A small price to pay for life and freedom from suffering! So far, we haven't regretted the price, but... There are days when I'm afraid to look into the shining eyes of Nefertari, because in them I see the light of a mind that surpasses my understanding. {from 'Chronicles of New Worlds' written by Master Vardies Teleran) (Her entry is probably the most srs one) Monsters  Goblins are ugly in all colors This is the unlikely mishmash of goblins (and their horrible voice acting), gnomes, werewolf shock troops and siege trolls. I played them in the last LP, which went along the lines “goblins are stupid and expendable, werewolves are awesome”. Besides that, monsters have the highest food production (for goblin spam, I guess), those sweet sweet regenerating/soul damage dealing Werewolves, and are the only ones that can have Grum-Gog temples (but he’s the worst, so it doesn’t matter). Monstrous Mages Xara  If anyone benefitted from the United One besides the United One himself, it was the Head Shaman Ash-Haar the Wisest . In exchange for some services in the past, the United One not only didn't fight against Ash-Haar, but for his 'help and understanding' gave him a great part of his treasures in addition to a cosy, beautiful and inaccessible world on the outskirts of the universe. Ash-Haar accepted the gift, promising never to fight against the United One, and left Ardania, taking his monsters with him. But not all the goblins accepted such an exchange. Ash-Haar's best student, who was always been brutally honest (frankly, more on the brutal side) and short-tempered, became the new Head Priestess of Grum-Gog, and declared that she had no itnention of giving the anscestral lands of monsters to the United One. And believe me, when Xara decides something, even the United One can't dissuade her. (from 'Chronicles of New Worlds' written by Master Vardies Teleran) (In Jc-Canon, Ash-Haar got defeated by Dremers like a chump) Tlalocian  The name of Tlalocian in Koatl language means 'He Who Is Chosen by Tlaloc', but that doesn't answer the question as to who this Tlaloc is. We only know that Tlalocian honors the god Fervus and is a half brother of Malinalxochi , the Snake Queen - the very Malinalxochi who not only refused to submit to the United One, but fiercely attacked him on her own, without the support of the other Mages, and was destroyed by the unprecedented magic force of the new god. Tlalocian, thought he never liked his sister, took her defeat as a personal insult, and wants the United One to pay for it... with his blood and soul. (from 'Chronicles of New Worlds' written by Master Vardies Teleran) (Koatls are Aztec lizards found in Koatl villages and not exactly a part of Monster "race") King Rrat LIV  King Rrat LIV is the eleventh son of the famous Rrat XLII who attempted a desperate escape from Ardania at the first signs of despotism of the United One. After his father's death the throne was rightfully passed to his eldest son Rrat KLIII, and it seemed that the rest of the princes could only receive titled of Dukes or Counts. But Rrat LIV soon managed to outlive all his brothers and so became the King. And attentive reader needs to know only this much about the new king. But even more characteristic is the fact that King Rrat LIV intends to outlive the United One and return his power over Ardanian royal sewers. (from 'Chronicles of New Worlds' written by Master Vardies Teleran) (Snoop-Jim’s is dead, baby, if only so I wouldn’t have to fake jive anymore. In Jc-Canon, King Rrat XLII didn’t really manage to do much and was basically saved by King Lich V and a suicidal werewolf charge. His successor has a much better portrait) Undead  Neruz posted:Ovbiously the way undead reproduce is by having all the skeletons get together in a big crypt and bone These guys are dead minions of necromancers and thus mostly unaffected by whatever ails the living (they’re still vulnerable to stabbings and bashings, and extra vulnerable to life magic). Skellingtons make for nice troops (no unit quotes) and vampires can probably give werewolves a hard time. But the most important thing is that they actual flying ghost ships as siege units. They are awesome, even if I used them to hunt monsters. Undead are best at producing mana (and they need it, since their units consume mana instead of food) and have some interesting temple units (except for Housecarls of Krolm). Undead Mages King Lich VI  King Lich did not like the United One very much even when he was a mere Great Mage, not to mention after his transformation... Witnesses could have written songs about King Lich's fight against the United One, if the latter had left at least one witnes alive. He wanted to destroy the very name of the King Lich so much that he used all his strength to erase the armies of the undead. Thus he actually rendered an invaluable service to the King Lich, for the recently resurrected King Lich VI knows the limits of the United One's power, and now he can give this enemy hell. (from 'Chronicles of New Worlds' written by Master Vardies Teleran) (Aw yeah, the best king with the best art, defeated the Dremer in Jc-Canon, did the same suicide attack, too. Playing him would make sense since I also know/faintly remember the limits of United One’s power) Mallacir  Mallacir, Countess of Karnstein, is a charming girl and a lovely conversation partner whose castle is an absolute must-see. Many of those who come to her dinner parties for the first time wonder why such a young lady has extensive domains in the Death world, why she runs the armies of the undead and is patronized by Krypta. Mallacir answers all questions with a smile, saying that the title and the lands are her inheritance from her great-grandmother, and that she likes everything, although in recent years she's getting bored of the landscape outside the window, and she is thinking about travelling, to see other worlds and be seen, and adding that it's time to move on to dessert... (from 'Chronicles of New Worlds' written by Master Vardies Teleran) Arethi Elves  "Wait a minute, are those... women? I haven't seen one in years!" Arethi Elves in Master of the Arcane were kind of phisophical religious zealots (their “Truth” is undefined, but they don’t believe gods to be actual god beings) and more than likely crusaders. It’s a massive sausage fest since elven women (all of them) left to do their own thing (open casinos or be mercenary archers). As how they breed, well,  Their units are powerful, but more in a glass-cannon-y type of thing, and they are expensive in upkeep. They also have awesome flying ships that almost look like spaceships. Elves specialize in research generation. Elven Mages Dragon Queen  After the United One captured Amberon the Dark, the remaining Arethi Elves were completely overwhelmed by what had happened. They faced a terrible defeat alone, without the Light of Truth and without their Teacher. Who knows what would have happened to them if it hadn't been for the Dragon Queen? Seeing the confusion of the male Elves, she came to them not as a long-standing rival, but as their deliveress. She took the place of Amberon, and using the power of Dragons, withdrew the surviving Elves from Ardania. However, the Dragon Queen wouldn't be called the Dragon Queen has she only thought of saving the Elves and herself. There is an ancient prophecy which says: 'The one who can take away the force of the United God will be able to revive the ancient Dragons of Creation.' Until recently, this prophecy didn't make much sense, but now... All the Dragon Queen needs is to raise an army that can defeat the United One. (from 'Chronicles of New Worlds' written by Master Vardies Teleran) Amberon the Light  What happened to Amberon? Many would like to know the answer to this question. It is known that Amberon the Dark along with Krel the Kingpin and Sol de Torvega tried to attack the United One and suffered defeat. Amberon was captured, and the Dragon Queen withdrew the leaderless Arethi Elves from Ardania. This might have been the end of it, if Amberon hadn't showed up at the Queen's court later. Many of the Arethi Elves immediately returned to his command. But... Amberon has changed. He has changed so much that his courtiers sometimes don't recognize their Lord. The usual severity and intolerance has given way to kindness and understanding, and most importantly, Amberon declared that a new Supreme Truth came to him while he was captive. He saw the light, and from now on he would lead the Arethi Elves to a different and brighter future. (from 'Chronicles of New Worlds' written by Master Vardies Teleran) (Amberon was the first neighbor we had in Master of the Arcana and was the only Mage King Lich had to defeat. That’s what you get for being a lovely neighbor) Planestriders  I can see a very white Raz'Al'Ghoul from here Planestriders are made from leftovers of other races. Well, they’re supposed to be this cool and mysterious (vaguely Eastern and Asian styling) band of remnants of Great King’s army and Incorporeals, and they really want to return to Ardania . I played the W2E campaign with them and was severely disappointed, even if their basic troops are secretly sentient skellingtons (they intone “Servants of his majesty” when selected) and some unit types can walk on water. So much for that  Good loading screen art, tho Strider Mages Miralbus the Hat  Miralbus Card, officially also known as 'The Hat', has more right to hate the United One than anyone. That is because the United One not only diminished Miralbus' victory over Dremagor - the terrible leader of the Dremers - but he also usurped Miralbus' title as the Head of the Council of Great Mages and of Ardania itself. For someone else it could have been a tremendous disaster ending with deep depression, but for the Great Mage who was often named 'The Hat' behind his back, it became just a slight delay on his path to glory and power. Miralbus didn't waste a second mourning lost opportunities, but went travelling through the worlds searching for new allies who could help him in his war against the United One. Soon he encountered the Planestriders - a most curious alliance of races made by the remnants of the army of the Great King and the Incorporeal - whose warriors were just what Miralbus needed. He quickly persuaded the Planestriders that he was best suited to be their leader, and took on the role for mutual benefit - Miralbus got the army he was looking for, and the Planestriders got his word that someday they would return to Ardania, their long lost home. (from 'Chronicles of New Worlds' written by Master Vardies Teleran) (In Jc-Canon Miralbus would offer Alliance, then start a war against Sol de Torvega, thus forcing us to break Alliance. The cycle continued on and on). Rjakh  Rjakh ... Now, after meeting the Incorporeal, I should know much more about him than I did before. I know that he is one of the best Sorcerers of this race, that he is patronised by Lunord himself, and that the experience gained during the dispute over the title of Lord of Ardania allowed Rjakh to take the place of the First Mage of the Planestriders when he returned to his native world. Which, by the way, is where he went just as he learned that one of the Great Ones was about to finish the Unity spell. But the main question remains: why does Rjakh intend to return to Ardania now, when he avoided the battle with the United One before? Did Lunord advise him? Or maybe he understands that the gods will not be able to lock the United One within the boundaries of one world for a long time, and wants to strike first? Or ... I don't know. I can't predict his actions. Sometimes I think that Rjakh is a much more ancient crature than the Gods themselves, but sometimes I feel that there is something strangely familiar in him ... (from 'Chronicles of New Worlds' written by Master Vardies Teleran) (a rethorical question: is naming a race “Incorporeal” worse than coming up with a silly fantasy name for them?) Svarts  Svarts give so little poo poo about anything, their town spawns next to Sea Serpent lair Svarts are dorfs who survived Dremer eating their world. They’re that cool and (supposedly) OP. They’re also the most technological of races with some wild units I only ever heard of, but they’re not slouches in magic either. What, I can have my technology AND magic? Preposterous! Svarts are really, really tough by the looks of it and are good in research. Svart(hy) Mages Es Kaliborn (a.k.a. God-Emperor of Dorfkind)  The rule of the Svarts was never a Great Mage, but he is a great (perhaps the greatest) tactician and strategist. He and his people were able to survive the Dremer invasion known as "the Armageddon" thanks to their unmatched stamina, force, knowledge of metallurgy, and simple incredible stubbornness. Es Kaliborn is the embodiment of these qualities. Once he became mortally ill, but decided not to die for nothing, and chiselled a new body out of living rock. Over time, the mobility of this new shell dimished, so for the last hundred years the 'King-in-Stone' has not left his Platinum throne and is ruling the Svart kingdom through his trusted advisors. (from 'Chronicles of New Worlds' written by Master Vardies Teleran) First Rune Witch  When those not familiar with the customs of the Svarts get an audience with the King-in-Stone, they may decide that there are only a couple of elite guards and a mere Rune Warrior protecting him, and that her sole mission is to serve drinks to visitors. But that's a grave mistake. The full title of this Warrior is the First Rune Witch, Sincere Advisor to His Majesty, Headmistress of the Eternal Guard, Keeper of the Stone Throne, and so on and so forth, and she really knows her rune magic. If the First Rune Witch has to fight with any of the Great Mages, the latter are in big trouble. And her modest attire, the anonymous mask and simple armor of a Rune Warrior, is just a tribute to the tradition. (from 'Chronicles of New Worlds' written by Master Vardies Teleran) (for a very long time I was sure that she had a beard) JcDent fucked around with this message at 04:36 on Jul 31, 2014 |
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Jul 31, 2014 04:19
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I see a lot of Lich fans here. Brings a tear to my eye, it does. Tomorrow, Lich King will rise...again! All hail Lich King VI! Mzbundifund posted:You should really consider kicking the difficulty above normal. It doesn't affect the random monsters or the main plot events, and only gives the anemic AI factions some boosts to help them survive against the tides of neutrals. Cranking it up to 'Challenging'. Or should I go all the way?
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Aug 1, 2014 02:35
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Chapter 1: The New Old King Not a long time ago, in desert far, far away, there was a mountain. And on one of its slopes was a small cave opening, barely noticeable like that. If some adventurous souls were to came there – either because a wizard in an inn told them so or they thought that every cave was filled with treasure – they could probably notice some faded death glyphs. Whittled away by time and sand, they were barely noticeable, much like the cave. And inside… well, there was nothing noticeable, either. Sand and its pervasive cousin, dust. Some rocks. A pile of tiny rat skeletons where a rat suicide cult sealed their pact. And a stone slab. A stone slab that lifted and fell away with a thud. There was a fain glimmer of steel, for in the alcove behind the slab stood a skeleton in fine armor. His arms were crossed and his eyeholes were empty. If some adventurer had been there and then, and not preoccupied with trying to rob the corpse, he would have noticed that a fain hum could have been heard before the stone slab fell and it was the hum that was growing louder. Louder and louder, until there was a loud whiplash and… nothing happened. Nothing but for two ghostlights that appeared in the skeleton’s eye sockets.  “…HAHAhaha”King Lich V had died fighting the United One back in Ardania and now rose as King Lich VI. He wasn’t the lord master of undeath for nothing and he had many secrets hidden from everyone else. Otherwise he could not keep returning even after enemies demolished his physical form. But since his immortality was assured via a variety of creative and mysterious ways, he could always come back. Even if it took time, and it would indeed take time, since this way of resurrection always rattled his mind. In truth, through all his incarnations, King Lich VI might have forgotten more magic than most of Mage Council ever knew back in Ardania. So he took an inventory of his own mind  “Well, at least I still have my magic”His relief was true. Even after all the resurrections, he still remembered waking up as King Lich III and remembering only home economics and the genealogy of the rebel leader that he had been fighting before one of his deaths. Not the most useful of knowledge. Now, it seemed, his still possessed a little bit of that casting quickening power granted by certain spells he researched while fighting the Dremer threat. He was also quite adept at squeezing that extra bit of mana from the environment – if only he had a functioning mana collector! Shadow bolt was an old stand by spell, almost a cantrip by the ease of casting. And healing… well, the last “round” showed King Lich the value of living subjects. After all, the skeletons filling undead armies were no more than intelligent than furniture that suddenly started moving and attacking villages. Flying bats always left glowing piles of guano everywhere they went and vampires were always brooding about the tragedy of their fate, eternal torment and forsaken love for village girls. The living were more upbeat and made for better company. Except for goblins. “I swear I've had more stimulating and less smelly conversations with zombies”He exited the cave to look around. Desert plains stretched for a bit, but there was a town nearby. And the flat of the axe to the side of the head.  “Alexiri spy! Bring him to Rurik!” Rurik was more akin to a pile of metal with two eyes than a person. King Lich had never seen anyone that heavily armored, and he had had a company of Paladins of Dauros under his command. Still, it was a comparatively short pile of metal with eyes. “A dwarf?” “What’s a dwarf? What are you talking about, skeleton?” “I’m no mere skeleton. Skeletons don’t talk, and I have that on good authority” “Alexiri skeletons talks. Barely and rarely, but they talk when nobody is watching”. “Can they also do this?”The king’s hands were tied, so he launched shadow bolt from his mouth – a neat trick he learned in case he would be reduced to a floating head. Rurik stared at the broken chair for a minute while other dwarf warriors scrambled around, axes drawn. “No, I have never seen one of them cast magic”. “Now do you see? I’m not some skeleton and not a Alexiri spy. Now where am I and who do you serve?”The dwarf laughed bitterly. “Serve? We don’t serve anyone. Not anymore. You are, however, welcome to the company of Svarts on the Burnout shard”And so did Rurik tell the story of Svarts, who faced a Dremer invasion in their own plane, fought hard, but lost eventually. Of course, being an extremely hardy bunch, they managed to survive the shattering of their plane and started to rebuild life among the shards. But it was a very hard life. Every new gate brought new dangers and new powerful monsters to kill. Every new day had to be carved in the rock of distant shards and flesh of alien beasts. And no matter what they did, there was never a new world, only shards left after the passing of the Dremers. Eventually, this started to wear on some of Svarts and they found that they couldn’t really go on. Es Kaliborn, the immobile stone king of the Svarts, made a hard decision: those who didn’t have the will to go on could choose to go into exile, where they wouldn’t weight heavy on the spirits and the supply of other svarts. And so they did. After many perils and trials, particular group ended up on a desert shard. Not having anything really valuable in way of resources, covered in deserts and plagued with flying pests, it was of no interests to any higher power that ruled the shards, and so they settled. “And so we stopped here. Just… stopped. Didn’t even come up with a name for the city. Name is needed for someone who has hope and a need to travel somewhere, to describe where he came from. We… don’t really have purpose anymore, nor plans. We didn’t even need a name” “Interesting”The lich was nursing a small cup of yamshine (the desert wasn’t exactly the best place to brew alcohol, so the Svarts had to make do with one made from local yams) – only out of politeness, for lack of digestive tracts would have meant yamshine stains on his armor – and thinking about what the dwa- svart said. A leaderless people with a strong need of purpose, possessing advanced metallurgy and science, and actually competent in a fight? “I also had a history with the Dremer…”And so did he tell the story about Litchopolis and Lichopolis, about human scribes and werewolves, about stupid elf neighbors, about Dremer appearing, about other Great Mages who were more incompetent than magical, the final victory against Dremargor… “You killed the Dremers?” “More like the one important Dremer. There are some still out there, but they’re not invading anyone. Also, while it was my leadership and magic that got us there, the werewolves were the ones that killed him”And then the story took a darker turn. The tale about the betrayal of the United One, the conquest of Ardania, the subjugation of mages, and is death. “ So here I am. In need of a people and an army to go back home, kill the usurper and… rule some piece of Ardania till some hero messes up again or the Great King returns. Something always happens” “Hmmm. If, say, I convinced others to join you, what are the guarantees that you won’t just use us like goblins”King Lich VI almost smiled – hard to do that without soft tissues or magically animated metal face. “Answer me this: do your people poo poo themselves and eat the product? Have you ever lost a village because the people forgot how to breathe? Does your religion revolve around eating anything and worshiping a god of swamp and diseases?” “No!” “Then you know your answer. Question is, can you convince your people?”Rurik could. Being a veteran and the leader of local militia (svarts might have been hopeless burn outs, but not really actively suicidal), he held some sway over the locals. The fact that there weren’t really opposing leaders also helped. “My axe is yours, King Lich VI. My people will follow you to overthrow the United One or perish along the way” “The Slayer of the Dremers! For King Lich!” “My new subjects! I’m overjoyed to see such dedicated and skillful people under my command. I will not betray your trust! We will take back Ardania or perish, and I’ll perish with you” “But before that…” “…this place need a suitable name!”
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Aug 2, 2014 06:01
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While that wasn't an invitation for a vote (sorry), I'm willing to use the names in the future. As you'll find out in the update (it's lame, I'm sorry, blame dentists), it might be thematically fitting. Another thing: next update will likely be Friday or Saturday, depends how spent I feel after a bit of tourism. Chapter 2: Razor-1  “I named my last capital Lichopolis. Lichgrad is entirely within the accepted realm of Svart city naming, as far as I’m concerned” “Now then, let us make inventory of what you have. I already spotted a small farm from my tower and some sort of stone barracks” “It’s ferrocrete, sir, and it’s called the hall of prospectors. How did you erect the tower, anyway?” “That’s just a great mage procedure. Easy to do if you don’t have a tower, but mages rarely get to repeat it, as few survive the destruction of their original one. Moving the tower is a pain, I can tell you that” “But enough about that. What forces are at our discretion” “Well, we do have a company of Honorable Warriors” "From early childhood every Honourable Svart is prepared to serve in the army, learning tactics and the strategy of war and how to wield one-handed, two-handed, and throwing hatchets, axes, halberds and hammers. Upon coming of age, Honourable Svarts are for the first time dressed in their ancestral armour and sent to the barracks of the Guard. Guardsmen are particularly proud of the fact that even though their equipment with heavy armour, shield and axe is somewhat outdated, this has not affected their military performance. In modern battles Honourable Warriors are dangerous and valuable, just as they were hundreds of years ago." (from "Chronicles of New Worlds" written by Master Vardies Teleran) “Honorable warriors? Are they any good, for all their honor? How are they armed?” “You misunderstand. ‘Honorable warriors’ is their title. In Svart, the name is a filled with meaning and purpose, lord wizard. It’s a very traditional formation formation of troops. Svarts in plate armor with axes and shields. Not a very modern approach but they do” “The ones we have are part of my original band of exiles. I am their captain. We defended the people on our way here, and dangers were many indeed. We took on a few recruits for the few… spare sets armor we had after our trek, but burnouts aren’t really that enthusiastic about anything. Lord”. “You keep calling these troops old fashioned, even though Ardania sees swords and plate armor as all the rage. Well, maybe we’re not using shields as much nowadays, but at goblins still fight with spears that are little better than pointy sticks” "If goblins had been the only forces I had, I might not have won against the Dremer. Luckily, werewolves were there and horrible, reality bending elven sky ships" "So, what would Svarts consider to be a more 'modern' units?" "Being a Prospector is an honourable and interesting occupation. In search of valuable resources and convenient locations for mining, Prospectors often walk thousands of miles without returning home for years. No wonder their motto is 'Prospect and Seek, Find and Mine!'" (from "Chronicles of New Worlds" written by Master Vardies Teleran) “Well, the Prospectors are the most modern forces that came with us. Before the Dremer they used to travel far and wide in search for resources. When Dremer invaded, they were used to scout out gates. The crows helped a lot, but we still needed to arm them for self defense… and harassing Dremer, of course” “So they got these Mark IV crossbows! It’s a good design, very easy to make, sturdy, too. Now the other part…” “The other part is Marksman Sprocket Arm. I don’t really understand how it works – I was a warrior and a leader, not an engineer, lord – but it reloads the crossbow for the Prospector. I really cuts down on training and affords them good mobility” “That is… impressive. I wonder if goblins… No, no, would find a way to get entangled in the crossbow, then the sprocket arm would rip their head off...”. “Sorry, got lost in memories. Send them out to prospect! I need to know exactly what resources do we have at hand” “Well, sir, there’s not much nearby, except for these flying snakes” “Flying… snakes…?” “KILL THEM! KILL THEM ALL! DESTROY EVERY LAST ONE OF THEM! LET NONE SURVIVE!”  “Are you sure that’s a wise idea?” “It's the best one I had all day. Besides, your ‘burnouts’ need to build some morale, yes? Seeing some serpents fall dead will surely lift their spirits. And teach those ship-sinking bastards how to mess with me. "Now leave me, I wish to attend to my study”And oh did he wish to attend his study! Unlike the one he had in Lichopolis, where books and scrolls laid in piles and one could find a random goblin in the stacks, the one in his new home had a well indexed “sprocket library”. It still a long way till Lich managed to use it flawlessly, but even now he was getting better at its use, getting cookbooks instead of spell tomes only three times out of five.  But spells weren’t the only thing that mattered. Ardania still had to be reconquered and plans need to be drafted. But the King Decided to take one step at a time, and set his first goals to be the exploration of Burnout shard and traveling through the gate here. He wasn’t exactly sure who made the gates or how they worked, but Svarts mentioned them a few times and they seemed to be a part of natural order in Shards. Maybe they were similar to magical portals that led to demiplanes in Ardania? Only time and exploration would tell.  And speak of the demon lord…  “Your highness, we bring report through from the gate! We have rediscovered the location of the gates and the bridge to the next shard” “Rediscovered? How could you have forgotten them in the first place?” “Once we had crossed it, there was a crack of thunder and some magical lightning. A stone pillar with stone inscriptions rose in front of it, and ominous sounds could be heard when approaching the brigde. We didn’t dare cross it...nor did have any reason or wish to do so.” “I reasoned that this shard was somehow set as a trap, to catch whoever went inside. A strange and devious thing to do, what with this being a desert, but someone still did it”And so did King Lich leave the tower to examine the pillar. Long and hard did he star at it, silently examining the runes and arcane writing. Rurik and other Honorable Warriors stood in attendance, motionless in their armor despite the heat. Their only moves were to take a swing from the water sack. Eventually King Lich straightened his back. Rurik cleared his throat. “M’lord?” “This gate is indeed cursed and there’s a chance that trying to pass it would curse inhabitants of this place. On the other hand, there’s a good chance it won’t. I think this warrants investigation”. "Is this wise?” “Not entirely. But I’m undead and your people here are almost as good as dead. And I don’t have nearly enough mana to just blast the curse away, nor do I want to give in to that sort of magical extortion.” “If this was Ardania, I’d just throw a goblin. But now, here I go”And so did the tall and gaut figure of King Lich step towards the gate. Soon, he started to feel the push of the magical shield all around him. An eldritch wind picked up and horrible sound rang in his skull. But he persevered, step after step, until the pressure became almost unbearable…and the magical bubble burst in a shower of light and thunder.  “That worked out well, didn’t it? Onward with exploration of the Shard, we’re not crossing it yet” “In all my years of prospecting, I have never seen a bug like that” “Well, orders are to kill it, and maybe ‘prospect’ their nest afterwards. Release arrows!”  After the scarabs had received a good peppering of arrows (bolts, to be more precise). “Well, friends, I think it’s high time we let our crows out!” “Yes, it has been some time since they have seen any action… they’ll love to stretch their wings again” “Ah, the feeling of doing some actual prospecting again… makes you feel younger” "The Crows of the Svart Prospectors are the smartest of all birds. Not only do they know how to find shiny things, such as new deposits of gold or enemy armies, but also report their exact location!" (from "Chronicles of New Worlds" written by Master Vardies Teleran)  “Razor-1, this is Razor-5. Reading bandits at 1 o’clock” “Razor-2 has bandits on 10” “Razor-3 reporting contacts on 8” “Copy that, Razors” A prospector put a bolt through a baby serpent’s head and the creature stopped moving. Anoter one was collecting gold pieces that the snakes had carried to their nests “This action is getting my blood flowing again” “We have the reached the eastern most part of the shard… and there are scarabs here” “The theory that this place is supposed to be a prison has never looked more convincing” "Not even in the desert?” “The desert doesn’t try to bite you” “Per your orders, we have finished the Parabolic mana extractor. We have the extractor dish itself, the mana pipes, the purification station – have to separate some of the prayer and wishful thinking leakage sometimes found in mana – and the Automaton Barrel Station.” “Interesting. What is the rate of deaths and birth defects in workers?” “Er, what? The whole station is manned by four Svarts in well ventilated shielded booths, where they use levers and buttons to control the work.” “Oh, yes, I forgot, a workforce that isn’t expendable and can use tools more complex than spades. I think I will grow to like that” At that moment, a few Svarts approached King Lich VI and presented a small scroll. “Li… I mean, m’lord. We have heard news that prospectors have found something of interest” “We’re speaking, of course, about the pumpkin patch” “So you want to build a shrine to some eldritch god that lives between planes?”The Svarts looked at each other for a second, puzzled:  “What? No…no, m’lord. We just that think building a pumpkin farm would be beneficial to our people” “Especially if we could make pumpkinshine. Yamshine is horrible. I mean, it works if you just want to drink your days away, but pumpkinshine would be something a more motivated Svart would drink” “Please, sir. Don’t give us hope only to leave us with a hopeless drink!” Discussions over the farm and how much of it should be devoted to making in dragged on a little. At the same time, prospectors, fresh out of scarabs to kill, were recording their findings to make a manual on the use of crossbows. One of the most defended of new tenets was the proposal to aim longer and pick targets instead of just loosing a bunch of bolts at the general direction of the enemy.  Other prospectors we’re more concerned with the possibility of getting hit and how to best avoid it. Prospectors naturally wore very light armor, so they were in a good position to advocate speed and cover as the best means of avoiding enemy retaliation. Some even suggested that King Lich would eventually be powerful enough to provide hills for the prospectors to hide in, but such talk was written off as the effects of a bad batch of yamshine.  "No one prepares for resettlement as thoroughly as Svarts. They take with them everything they may need in a new place, including a supply of water and beer, building materials, hammers, picks, marching horns, folding anvils, a couple of bags of charcoal, grindstones and spare handles for axes, repair kits for armour, rune making kits, groundwater detecting devices, polishing paste, towels, and a pocket settler's guide to the worlds." (from "Chronicles of New Worlds" written by Master Vardies Teleran) King Lich couldn’t help but admire the way Svart settlers prepared for their journey. Automaton mules were repaired and loaded with food, water, building materials and tools, navigation equipment and all sorts of other necessary things. A caravan militia was established and armed. Prospectors were hired to scout the road. It seems that having a goal to work towards made even the most apathetic of Svarts work. It was a far cry from monster caravans, where some fat gnome patriarch would suddenly decide that their family is leaving, hitch their wagons with whatever gonkeys (and goblins of similar size and stupidity) were available, tie whatever stuff they had together and set out, followed by a trail goblins who didn’t want to part with their relatives (gonkeys more often than not).  Another difference was that so far, crows were the only semi-disposable troops on hand, and would make the first entry through the un-cursed. “Lichtower, Lichtower, this is Razor-1. Wing is up and ready for gate” “Lichtower, this Talon 1. Wing up, ready to gate” “Rodger that. Razor wing, Talon wing, permission granted, gating is go. Good flying” “Lichtower, this is Razor-1. Translation complete. Razor Wing is OK. One turn till bingo feed. Continuing sweep” “A flap of wings for a crow, a great step towards revenge for a lich”.
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Aug 5, 2014 08:34
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Well, hey, guys, you know I only powerplay if it happens by accident! It just might happen that I'll cover every piece of land with fortress cities and shrines to Krypta or something! Chapter 3: The Land of The Dead and Leaderless   “This is Lichtower, reading you loud and clear” “Rodger that, Lichtower. Ground targets spotted, incoming report” "Monster-eating spiders enjoy a well-deserved reputation as the most dangerous insects of Ardania. Even city walls are no match for their ravenous appetite. In pursuit of prey, these spiders are able to devour entire buildings and everything inside them. -- And not just buildings! There have been cases of these spiders even catching and eating young dragons -- often by tempting them from their lairs with juicy young kittens. Fortunately, spiders themselves are allergic to kittens." From the collected works of His Majesty's Advisor “’Cat-nappers’, tower, we have ‘cat-nappers’!” "The skeletal remains that are used to create these warriors must possess large, sturdy bones and strong ligaments, for not only will they have to hold swords and shields, but must also use them to attack and defend themselves. Armor is less important, for Skeleton Warriors are able to fight even without a skull -- And if they fall to pieces, it is easier to simply raise new ones." - From "Necrarium Tomeus" by Necromaster Barbaross the Deceased. “Also, a possible sighting of ‘green bones’!” "Grey Shadows are perhaps the most legendary soldiers of the Planestriders, both among the inhabitants of the planes, and among the exiles of Ardania. Grey Shadows have a reputation as fast, fearless and noble warriors, ruthless to enemies and fair to their Allies." (from "Chronicles of New Worlds" written by Master Vardies Teleran) “Rodger that, Razor-1, marking neutrals”… “Lichtower, Lichtower, picking up hostiles near objective Alexiri incoming report. Spotted ‘double rogues’, repeat, ‘double rogues’ "Before getting acquainted with the martial arts of the Ardanians, the Incorporeal never fought in melee. They preferred to deal with enemies at a distance, or retreat if they were losing a battle. The art of swordsmanship became a real discovery for the Incorporeal. They were so excited by the idea that they developed special magic that allowed them to pick up material objects, and started to teach the young ones to wield sword and staff." (from "Chronicles of New Worlds" written by Master Vardies Teleran) “Razor-2 says he pinged some ‘kicker clouds’, have to verify that” "When the rear guard of the Great King's army was scattered across dozens of worlds, the soldiers who met the Incorporeal did not have proper healers with them, only an old and senile Goblin Shaman. Unified command of Planestriders had to hastily look for new healers. As an experiment, they offered the Shaman to teach Minotaurs the subtleties of herb eating. The result exceeded expectations. Although Minotaurs could not fully understand the 'I heal what I eat' principle and relied more on their gnarled clubs in the diagnosis, the experiment was recognised as successful. Since then, very few Planestriders become sick because very few want to be treated." (from "Chronicles of New Worlds" written by Master Vardies Teleran) “Support element ‘chiro’ spotted. End report. Continuing sweep” “King Lich, I bring reports… reports that might be of great interest to you”The lich was lost in thought and the Svart’s entrance startled him a little. Surprising, considering the amount of metal armor that most Honorable Warriors insisted on wearing. “Huh? And what would that be?” “After you opened the portal, we received a stream of refugees… Mostly the ones that were following our trail and got stuck there when it closed. Some are those that were following these refugees. It is a certain trail of misery. Anyway, these people carry rumours” “What rumours?” “Well, none can say for sure where they heard about it, but it appears that your United One… well, he’s spreading his influence the Shards. To be more precise, using four lieutenants to look for other great mages” “This likely proves my theory that there is a way back to Ardania… and a way to kill him” “Really? Why?” “There must be a reason why the United One is sending his lackeys to catch me instead of coming here personally. And those are likely some of mages he managed to convert to his cause, who, as my war with Dremer taught me, need some sort of... anchor to teleport forces in locations unvisited by their troops” “Great mages… I saw the power and splendor of the counsel when I fought the Dremer. I doubt that being slaves of United One made them any more dangerous”. “We didn’t have great mages and we survived the Dremer. What made your mages call the themselves great?” “Hubris, probably. They did wield great magical power, either through inheritance of learning. But that doesn’t mean they were good at war or good at being rulers. For all their power, they were still with petty, mortal origins” “We named it after Svarlof’s mother, who was very homely and launched us on a quest to escape her terrible visage” “Not that there’s anything wrong with certain petty pleasures” “Lichtower, Lichtower, this is Talon-1” “Reading you loud and clear, Talon-1” “Reporting enemy concentrations, Lichtower” "These creatures are distant relatives of giant forest spiders. In the wild they grow only to the size of a young wolf, but in the cozy warmth of a garbage heap one can discover far larger species, often disguised as the remnants of last night's feast at the local mead hall. Like their wild cousins, spider predators are very poisonous, so be very careful not to take out the garbage unarmed. From the collected works of His Majesty's Advisor “Reading a high concentration of ‘trash-traps’. Possible hostile hole” "Skeletons who survive their first few battles can be given heavier armor and better weapons. However, it is wise to check their bones for small cracks. If they are detected, then be warned that the Veteran Skeleton will likely fall to pieces within a day, two at most." From "Necrarium Tomeus" by Necromaster Barbaross the Deceased “’Double vets’ sighted, repeat, ‘double vets sighted’” “Rodger that, Talon-1. Orders are to continue sweep south. Keep distance from Objective Alexiri” “I read that, command. Sweeping south”. “Couple more flights like that and I’ll get that sweet Fancy Scouting Bauble” "Cut the chatter, Talon-3” “Talon-1, reading multiple hostiles. ‘Trash traps’ and… uuh… ‘green bones’, I think” “Negative on ‘green bones’, Talon-4. Those are simple skeletons, reporting name ‘boned’. Watch the color of the crests” “Lichtower, this is Talon-1. Spotted ‘trash traps’ and ‘boned’. We are bingo feed and RTB” “Rodger that, Talon-1” Honorable Warriors were arrayed to march upon a nest of flying vipers. Trouble was that the vipers remained afloat, spitting flaming balls of acid at the soldiers. Svarts, all combat veterans, knew how to deal with such a situation: their shields were big and strong enough to withstand many an attack. Still, it was an impasse. And there, unnoticed by anyone, a purple streak of light flashed in the sky before turning rapidly and dropping on the swarm of viper. Bulbous eyes boiled and bursts, tender wing dried, wizened and tore away mid flight and boiling acid turned into bile in their throats. The snakes fell from the sky, many dying on impact, survivors left to thrash around in blind pain and fury. “I guess… I guess this solves that problem. Charge!”And charge they did, trampling writhing snakes under their stubby armored boots. Emerging between the nests, they slashed with axes and torches, burning anything they couldn’t smash. The last of serpents were gone from Burnout. “See, this kind of magic also sets ‘great mages’ apart from normal mages. We can make mockery of any kind of distance, and we can usually cast spells more often, as long as we have ample mana” “And unlike most normal mages, we can allow ourselves to study beneficial spells, not only fireballs. Tell me, Rurik, what hedge wizard…”  “…could turn barren desert into a fertile plain?” “This one thing I would have never expected out of a lich” “Doing the unexpected is one way to victory” On a hill strewn with bolt-filled scarab carcasses, one prospector found something blueish and shiny. “Right, lads, this smells of magic. Send it back to the Lich” The glyph was of great curiosity to King Lich VI, and that is why he immediately retreated to his tower for further study. He had only rumors and tales to go by, but with the help of a well indexed library, he managed to pull through. Glyphs were magical crystalized ‘pieces’ of magic that came will pretty stable effects. Crushing one while running a spell through one’s mind would alter the formula, in both good and bad ways, as a certain trade off. Depending on the complexity of the spell, it could bear modifications from one or more glyphs. However, spells weren’t that flexible, and eventually new glyphs would overtake the place of the old ones in the formula. As for the old ones… well, their physical form destroyed and their component part cast out from the spell, they likely returned to the weave of magic.  And while King Lich was pondering glyphs, Svarts were finishing the last buildings of the Honorable Warriors Guild. Bricks were hoisted into place, furnace automatons received last oils, and stills underwent last inspections. In one of the finished halls, an old Svart was pacing in front of a square of new recruits.  “Finally crawled out of your holes, maggots? Going to take the Lich’s gold and fight under the skull banner? That’s fine by me, but you sorry lot will not find this easy! You might have escaped Stone King and the Rune Witch, but you won't escape ME! By Dauros, you will earn your gold and you will never bring shame to the name of Honorable Warriors!” And their numbers would very needed, as Alexiri Witch Doctors crossed over to Burnout! “Alert Lichgrad! Everybody to the defense!” Quickly, the minotaur witches were surrounded by Svarts, peppered with bolts and blasted with shadow bolt. However, Honorable warriors were having a hard time catching up to the beasts…   As such, Witch Doctors still managed to tear into the Prospectors, who barely managed to run away while dragging their wounded. Still, this gave enough time for Honorable Warriors to catch up, organize in the hills near Lichgrad, and overrun the invaders. “You dogs barely avoided having to your job this time, but if I know my maniacal mages, a counter invasion will soon follow, and I’ll make sure you’ll be on the spearhead!” And sure enough, King Lich VI was planning for war. But before that, he did try out the glyph-enhanced spell on Uglin, turning it a little less ugly. “Words cannot express how terrified I am when such a simple spell can change mountain ranges so much” "Lichtower, this is Razor-1. We are sweeping the area, no hostiles yet. We strafed an enemy hole and recovered magical material, over” “Rodger that, Razor-1. Sweep by Objective Alexiri, verify the defense standing” “Lichtower, Lichtower, Alexiri fly-by complete, area seems clear, Objective defended by a company-strength element of ‘double rogues’ “Copy that, Razor-1, notifying command” And so “Operation Alexiri” began, one of the many that would have to bring King Lich VI back to Ardania and the United One to his knees. “Forward, you dogs, to victory!”
JcDent fucked around with this message at 17:18 on Aug 8, 2014 |
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Aug 8, 2014 17:16
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I expect to avoid endgame grind the same way I avoided it last time – via demonic wreckingball Chapter 4: The Citadel of the Wandering  Arrows from the distant walls of Alexiri arced in the sky before raining down upon the marching Svarts. Honorable Warriors raised their shields in defense, but still there were some casualties. Veremoud plucked out an arrow that had found a soft spot in his armor and broke it over his knee before throwing it away. He then fished a healing rune (burns to cauterize the wound, heals tissue damage, aids with hangovers) out of his bag and pressed it hard onto the wound. “How does it feel to bleed for your new Dead King? Carry on, you dogs, you haven't earned your keep yet!” First prospectors crossed over the bridge and huddled tightly in their coats. The shard was dead, dead, dead, with gray ground stretching in every direction and ghastly grey lights dancing wherever land gave way to whatever it is that Shards floated in. A Veteran prospector saw it prudent to rally his men before marching forward “Don't worry, lads, we have already crossed this way once, and now we're back for vengeance, and with the backing of a powerful wizard!” “We will get through this like we got through this one our way to burn out. If nothing else, we Svarts endure!”  "Planestriders are a most unusual race cocktail which could only happen in these worlds. Humans, monsters and the undead of Ardania from those who once joined the last crusade of the Great King, plus the Incorporeal, aborigines of Lunar worlds, magical ethereal creatures... As often is the case, this alliance was concluded in the face of a universal threat when Dremers began to devour worlds. But when they suddenly disappeared, it turned out that Planestriders get along well with each other, and the alliance was sealed forever. The most recognisable warriors of this alliance are those who call themselves Grey Striders. Grey Striders are the vanguard of the army of Planestriders. They tirelessly travel between worlds and are not afraid of horrible monsters, hardships and privations of marches, or even impossible weather conditions. Just like a cat that knows it can crawl anywhere its head fits, Planestriders know they can live where Striders have passed." (from "Chronicles of New Worlds" written by Master Vardies Teleran) “Company, halt!”Grey Striders. The Death That Comes At Night, some Svarts called them. The vanguard of Planestriders everywhere, they stalked the exiled caravan all the way through the dead lands. Always watching from an ashen hill or a dead forest in the horizon. Ever out of reach. Except when they struck at night, to stab and slash with their daggers. Honorable Warriors would drive them off, probably even killing one or two in the process, but more Svarts, usually sentries and those not trained in the art of war, would be found dead. If Veremoud thought he had an axe to grind against his new liege, Grey Striders were the ones he wanted to chop up with said axe.   “Back for more, curs? Didn't get the message the last time?” “Message of an idiot falls on deaf ears. We did kill a few of you even as a band of sorry wretches. Now, it's going to be different”The Strider motioned to the armored teal skull that sneered from the black banners of the Svarts. “Ah, yes, your dead master. He finally gave you a flag, did he? I don't know how that will make a difference from the last time. I know there are no skeletons to support you this time. Time to die, wart!” “For the Stone King or the Dead King, Svarts, chaaarge!”So did the two companies clash. It didn't take long for a horrible tactical mistake to become apparent. Grey Striders were fast, armed and armored light, nible and really good in a forest. Unfortunately, they were fighting on a plain, head to head, against naturally sturdy Svarts, all clad well made armor and maneuvering in a well drilled close formation. It was a massacre. Loudoun managed to escape by hiding under the corpses of his comrades, sneaking away at night to join the defense of Alexiri.  Svarts were jubilant at having crushed their oppressors so decisively, thus paying back for old grudges (even though they weren't that prone to hold grudges). And then, even better news reached their ears: a pumpkin farm was built, which meant one thing – pumpkinshine for everyone. Thus, in high spirits over the future prospect of strong spirits, they marched on Alexiri.  King Lich, who only ever used pumpkinshine to polish his armor (he claimed it helped him maintain his attachment to the world, without which he might slip into lich madness of “all life must end”), was happy over other things. He had quite easily re-learned the spell which made weapons unnaturally cold. “Would you claim it as cold as the touch of death?” “What? No, no. It's just freezing cold, much like the heart of your wife” “That was uncalled for, m'lord. True, but uncalled for” Alexiri was undersiege. The city had been attacked before, something like that was inevitable in shard full of the dead and spiders. But never before had it experienced an assault by a real military force. Veremoud's troops forded the unnamed river (skeleton fish were a little disturbing, but harmless if you didn't carry undead bread) and set themselves up on the west, right on the the former Strider camp. Rurik and his soldiers made camp to the east, after having chased away the 'striders working a smithy. Normally, attacking a city over a river would be disasterous, but, to King Lich's surprise, Svarts had not difficulty with it, employing small metal boats with 'enjinns' to carry them over. They were ready for the siege.   However, they were not ready for Immaterial fighters. Surging through the gates, they tore into Veremoud's company. Blueish shades in intricate leather armor, they were hard to hit and attacked with ferocity and magic. It was a crushing defeat. Svarts barely managed to retreat, dragging their wounded – including Veremioud – with them as they went.  But no matter how dangerous the Immaterial warriors were, they were inexperienced in the field of battle.They had barely started tending to their own dead and wounded (forgetting to retreat back into the city) when an intense barrage of bolts beset them. And under such cover, vegenful Svarts with Rurik at their head took their flank after crossing the river. “For the Exiled King and our people! Charge!”Before the day was done, the only ones left in the field were Svarts, and only tatters of empty leather armor fluttered in the wind...  But the troubles of Veremoud's company weren't over. Suffering from curse laid by the magic warriors, Svarts had to tend to their wounded while magical flames slowly roast them from inside. Soon enough, the only thing left of the company would be a camp full of slumped suits of armor filled with burnt husks. However, Svarts had the support of King Lich, and King Lich still had a healing spell etched in his mind. It wasn't the most powerful one, but it had to be enough. Thus King went into the tower where he would remain for the rest of the siege, tirelessly and continiously casting spells of healing, helping wounded warriors rise to their feet even as they were about to collapse from injury. This was of great help when spiders attacked the caravan ferrying the wounded. With help of the prospectors, Honorable Warriors beat them back, but it was obvious that someone else would have to take care of arachnids. And the healing continued. Svarts only had to endure the continuous searing pain in their. But Svarts, like they say, endure.  Where there's a smith, there's a way.Where there's a smith, there's a way. Where there's a smith...  More fire! We just wanna to go to war todayBut the Lord of the Skull says: "nay, nay, nay!" We're gonna smith all day, all day, all day! Where there's a smith there's a way! Where there's a smith, there's a way!Heave-ho, heave-ho, The lads in the shards are gonna fight We're gonna smith all day and night and more For we are Volundr's men of war. More steel! Where there's a smith, there's a way!We just wanna go to war today...  A most wondrous thing appeared out of the shimmering portal. A long caravan of sprocket donkeys laden with the finest armors straight out of forges of Lichgrad. These were used to replace old and broken pieces, as well as reinforce the paltry protections that Prospectors had. The sprocket donkeys turned back, their bags and chests filled with bent and broken steel that would be melted down and used to forge new weapons and armor.  As Veremoud's men nursed their wounds and waited for reinforcements in a strangely passive spider next (filled with tasty spider eggs seasoned with irony), Rurik turned back to continue the siege of Alexiri. Meanwhile, a batch of fresh recruits appeared and were already tasked with hunting down a pack of skeleton archers that were harrasing the siege camps. Prospectors couldn't deal with them themselves since shooting arrows at what amounted to a walking cage was counter-productive (some argued that bolts would get stuck in ribcages and actually make the skeletons sturdier).  King Lich had to take a break. All the healing was having a detrimental effect on his mind: thoughts about peace and coexistance were getting annyoingly persistent and he had to do something about it. Luckily, researching a spell that increased protection in brawls was just the thing he needed.  The new recruits were having a good time. Skeletons crumpled easily under the blows of their axes and the crypt that was churning them out wasn't that hard to destroy either. Among the ruins they also found the Crossbow of 500 seas, which bore the teethmarks of goblin shaman, suggesting that the artefact had something to do with Grum-gog. They didn't want to linger on the land for too long since it sapped the strength of the living. And the continuous ghastly whispering offering to tell them various secrets of the universe was starting to grate.  Instead, they repositioned to the hills, where they planned to descend on the last company of wandering skeletons.  Dauheimur (Fotress Dauheimur) was established as the first planned fortress city in King Lich's domain. It was to stand guard over the entry to Burnout, guarding supply lines and anyone traveling to and fro. Everything that the city produced went to fortifying the walls and stockpiling weapons, and intelligent Svart planning meant it was fully self sufficient, asking nothing of Lichgrad and giving back only security. Among the facilities in the fortress was healer who treated any exiles wanting to join the people on Burnout as well as quarantine cells. The only problem was that there was no way to establish undead fish-fishing.    And while Dauheimur was built, Veremoud's men destroyed the magic smithy where they built their new camp. Following their example, Rurik's men tore down the Strider camp, piling the tents and poles into huge pires. Before setting them alight, they threw the armor of the magic warriors on top. Such fires burned all night bringing despair to the defenders of Alexiri. “These Svarts will pay for their impudence, I swear this as first ranger” But he didn't. The siege was long and hard, but it came to an end. With catapults of dead wood and bones flinging flaming chunks of spider nests, the walls eventually started to crumble. And try as they might, the striders stood very little chance of holding breaches against sturdy and determined Svarts.  In the end, it was Rurik's company that broke into the city, burning and pillaging along their way of advance. A switf blow of the axe separated the strider castelan's head from his body and the city was declared taken. “M'lord, Rurik said you might want to see this”.King Lich and a procession of Svarts led by some Planestriders (who seemed to bear marks of imprisonment) desecnded into the vaults under the castle. And there it was. A room full of shelves, each filled with row upon row of skulls. Armored skulls with glowing eyes. “Speak” “...” “Sergeant of the assault vanguard? “...” “That...explains why you can talk. I think. What happened here?” “...” “First ranger?” “...” “I see. Rurik?” “Yes?” “Get the men to collect the skulls. Carefully. These striders will help you. Transport them to Lichgrad. And then...” “...burn the city to the ground”
JcDent fucked around with this message at 09:26 on Aug 10, 2014 |
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Aug 10, 2014 08:10
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Alavaria posted:Did they leave the helmets on the skulls, or do these guys have armor plates attached to their skulls. Trick question: it's both I also invite everyone to read deeply into the plot quest text here, because it's going to get even more shittastic as time goes. Chapter 5: Stiff Resistance  “Lichtower, is Talon-1. Provinding recon for the eastern advance“ “Roger that, Talon-1. You see anything?” "I feel that zombies are a disgrace to the idea of pure death. In point of fact, zombies are nothing more than rotting corpses, and, as you know, putrification implies life. However, most warlords disregard this analysis, for the simple reason that zombies are useful. Like all undead creatures, they do not know pain or fear. Plus, zombies benefit from the rotting remains of flesh and muscle, making them stronger than the average skeleton." - From "Necrarium Tomeus" by Necromaster Barbaross the Deceased. “We have seen a company-sized element of ‘zeds’, Lichtower” “Copy that, notifying the troops” A group of Planeswalkers look on to the ruins of Alexiri. Their once proud city was now but piles of smoking brick and wood, torn apart with cold fury only available to the dead and the Svart.  “What are we to do now?” “Our lord decided that your actions would save you, but you still bear great sin. “ “You will build a city, but life will not be easy. Such is the payment what was done here”Planestriders, defeated and dejected, took one last glance at the ruin that used to be their home, and strode on.  Did the spell steel the skin against arrows or did it turn winds against it? King Lich VI could not say, but he was certain of one thing: it was going to be invaluable in further assaults against cities.  Near Dauheimur, the “Graverobbers” and the new recruits were facing off against a band of “veteran” skeletons. The undead were well reinforced with armor and other materials and felt no fear of pain or fleshwound, and thus made a formidable enemy. The new soldiers were fresh and unblooded, but the position favored the Svarts heavily. This looked like this was going to turn into a grind.  Shield shimmered in the sky and exploded into sparks of magic that descended on Rurik’s men. Immediately, they started to feel it’s effects. The shield felt lighter (which took some time getting used to) and more maneuverable. While sparring, it seemed to almost jump to clock the hit. And armor rearranged, ever so subtly, making it more comfortable to wear and the actions more smooth, and fluid. In the upcoming fights against the undead, they’d need all the edge they can get.  “Are you certain that this is wise?” “These people need to learn and to atone for their mistakes. It’s the perfect place for them to live and think about what they have done” “The edge might drive some of them to jump” “Let them. A good man would use it to dispose of outhouse output”.  Zombies – reporting name ‘zeds’ – were horrible enemies. Slow, stinking, as immune to pain as skeletons, but more horrifying for all the decaying flesh. The only way to defeat them was to stand in line and alternate hacking at the enemy in front of you and at the arms grabbing your shield. Still, they were beaten, severely disturbing the river with zombies.  “All right, lads, stay sharp and watch the enemy. Skeletons aren’t exactly intelligent and they aren’t likely to surprise you with new tricks, but you still have to be careful” “I have no clue how magic makes them walk and fight, but we can watch and learn, and so defeat them later on” “A very basic thing is learning to distinguish the rattle of their bones from trees creaking at night. Saved our camp from attack once”  “What kind of machine is this?” “Census tabulation immobilaton” “Immobilaton?” “Like an automaton, but immobile. We use it to count taxes. It is a very precise machine that works wonderfully. Unfortunatelly, it requires very precise input, too” “So I thought we should restart it before your realm expands too much or, Krolm forbid, we run into elven women” “What about elven women?”Rurik looked at King Lich, but it seemed like he was looking through the monarch, like a man who had seen too much and could never forget it. “Loopholes, sire. Oh, the loopholes…” “Nothing but dead around here” “Fitting for a dead world, isn't it?” “Still depressing, Talon-2” Rurik’s men were again in the thick of it. They had barely recovered their axes from the dead (previously undead), when they came under attack. This time, it was spiders. Giant horrible spiders, jumping on Svarts, scattering the lines, spraying web around. The only reason why more were spared from being dragged away was that Svarts, with their armor, were very heavy… and the spiders were never adept at cooperation.  A gust of air blew all the windows in Lichgrad Tower open and scattered small items from shelves and tables. King Lich had barely managed to gather his wits before a booming voice repeated the process.  “Lich! You have displeased our master and so you shall die! I can’t wrap my heads around the fact that your survived His fury the first time, but I will destroy you… Or rather, I will have someone destroy you. Hunting you vermin mages is tiresome, it almost have me headaches”.   “Lord, we are extremely concerned about these dragons” “Extremely, astoundingly so” “Normal dragons are problem, but these have two heads. Two! Do you know what it means?” “It means that they can eat TWO Svarts at a time! TWO!” “Yeah! They need two bites to swallow a human! Disgusting, I know, and terrifying for other human audiences… but they only need gulp for a Svart! That’s not funny!” “Exactly! So if the lord destroyed the dragons before they ate any of our friends… “…or us…” “…could eas Svarlof’s mother, that would be the day…” “…then we’d be ready to contribute generously to your cavernous vaults!” “I shall do everything in my power so that my non-goblin subjects would not be eaten” “Weird guys, this lot” "In the last three years there have appeared eight Grand Stubborn Masters and one acting Grand Stubborn Master in the Order of the Stubborn Knights. This has happened because the chapter of the Order decided to change the rules so that it would not be necessary for the knights to clean the hoofs of their battle donkeys before battles (a rule that had been causing great difficulty during wars). However, according to the traditions of the Order, the Grand Stubborn Master laid his veto on the changes. After discussion, the chapter decided to choose a new Grand Stubborn Master (from the members who support the change), but at first the old Grand Stubborn Master stubbornly refused to return the seals, and then the new one vetoed the changes in the rules, again "in support of established tradition". After assigning in vein seven more Grand Stubborn Masters, the chapter changed the tactics, and proclaimed that henceforth the Order would have one acting - Grand Master. And this has worked well enough, as acting Grand Stubborn Master performs the duties of the head of the Order, but enjoys greater freedom in the enforcement of its traditions. After closing this question the acting Grand Stubborn Master sent all Grand Stubborn Masters on a quest to earn money for the needs of the Order." (From "The Overall Description of Everything" by Master Alfus Bumblegate) “…and that is why you are ready to face the dragon? For money?”  “Money for my order. Frankly, I kind of like the mercenary life, it leads to many more fights, and I found out that I like that more than I like obscure old traditions” “So why stay in the order?” “Obscure old traditions. The others are fine. Protect the weak, guard the innocent, avenge a lady’s honor, that sort of thing. Leads to many fights, too” “You seem to be a man who loves to fight” “I prefer to say that I am in love with my trade” “Silver Silks? I don’t know if I like this name. It goes against our traditions…” “But it is in tune with why we build the city here: to extract silver and maybe work silk out of the spiders” “Also, being ruled by undead kings from another plane is as non-traditional as it gets, so shut your yamhole” “Lichtower, Lichtower, come it”“…” “Lichtower, Lichtower, do you read me?” “...zor-1, I read you. We have contested airspace, comchannels are full of interference” “Copy, anything we can do?” “Negative, Razor-1, Undead Actual is on that. What do you report?” “Lichtower, we have reached the south end of the plane. Multiple ground hostiles, nothing of note to report”. “Belay that, Lichtower. We see… we see some red on red action. Possible neutral city nearby” “Copy that, Razor-1” Ufvaldr stood motionless as he tracked his target. A bit further down the hill was his target: the giant blue spider who was dragging the carcass of a wild domesticated pig. The arachnid was in Svart’s sights, by he wasn’t sure about his shot. Slowly, he picked up a small rock off the ground and arced it at some stones nearby. Spider dropped his prey and turned towards the new sound. “Got you”By the time sprocket arm reached to rearm the crossbow, the spider was already thrashing on the ground with a bolt planted firmly between the eyes.  "This creature is a mere shadow of the powerful ancient dragon Vendral, but even so, this shadow is more than capable of causing the sort of mayhem that would bring a smile to Vendral's terrible face." - From "The Overall Description of Everything" by Master Alfus Bumblegate “Never understood what made them qualify as “Shadows” of Vendral, but probably that’s just another quirk of the living and the dragon, I guess” “Who’s Vendral?” “Ah… An old tale from Ardania. Nothing to worry about”.  "Warriors can be found absolutely everywhere in Ardania, except in those dangerous places where they dare not tread. These heroes are highly valued by their countrymen, and instill fear in the hearts of their enemies. The members of this close-knit brotherhood of noble warriors have proven their valiance in countless battles with all sorts of monsters. It should be mentioned, however, that not everyone is fond by their time-honored tradition of liberating villages of the apparent threats of chickens, pigs and cows." (From "The Overall Description of Everything" by Master Albus Bumblegate" “LICHTOWER, LICHTOWER, this is Razor-1! ‘Potheads’ spotted! I repeat, ‘Potheads’ spotted! It’s…” “Krel” “King Lich... Which was it now?” “The Sixth. “The Sixth. The only skeleton to worship Krolm” “And you’re the only human mage that I’ve seen so far to have survived the Dremer… and the United One” “Yes, it was a close call. I thank for the Dremer. It’s a shame what that bastard did to you” “Even more so since the others were such pushovers. Let’s say we strike a truce? Easier to reach Ardania without getting in each other’s way.” “That is fine by me”.  The advance into the western portion of the shard was going slowly but surely. The new guys were holding their own up north while Veremoud’s men swooped in (as much as Svarts swoop in) from the south. Only Rurik’s men were left to nurse their wounds before rejoining the assault.  “Tell me, sir knight, how do you fight dragons if they’re up in the sky all the time?” “Well, they have to swoop in for the attack see. Huge gouts of soulflame aren’t that easy to control, so they have to do it up close. That’s when you hold your shield high and either ride your donkey fast to make a jump or just make him stand on hind legs and hope your lance can reach the dragon’s belly”. “That is… englightening” “I take it m’lord hasn’t seen cavalry in Ardania?” “No, werewolves don’t ride and goblins misunderstand “mounting” more often than not and then you have a yard full of gonkeys”. “This place is so bleak and the ground wants to kill me dead. This is the worst” That was, of course, not true. The worst thing happened when a fresh batch of Prospectors exited their hall in Lichgrad only to burned to crisp by the rampaging Shadows.   To lesten the impact of morale (and to preserve the strategic alcohol reserves which were drinking due to Silver Silk’s alcohol problem), King Lich used his powers to transform the surroundings of the city into a pleasant grassy meadow. There were even live fishes in the river now. “This is a long way from terrorizing villagers with their own dead” “Halfdan, over there!”Prospectors were supporting the advance of Honorable Warrios and Halfdan already came to be known in his company as a superior marksman. Quick to react, he aimed his crossbow at a distant skeleton and pulled the trigger. The bolt took the undead soldier’s head off.  The last Shadow was fleeing the city, with ser Hugue in pursuit. “Come back here, you cowardly fly lizard!” The lizard did not manage to get very far. It is not likely that one could outrun a shadowbolt.  The dead form of the dragon fell from the sky and landed with a thud. Ser Hugue went in to poke it with his lance before cutting the heads off (can’t be too careful) and returning to his post in Lichgrad.  The satisfaction of surviving the attack from one of United One’s lieutenants was almost palpable. The bag of gold on the doorstep was much more physical.  But the going was still tough, especially on the Western Undead Front…  “We found this map while tearing down Alexiri. The strider managed to destroy most of the details, but we saved most of it”.…and Howling Sorrows wouldn’t be the last shard to fall before the might of King Lich VI
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Aug 13, 2014 13:11
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LightWarden posted:Lore Stuff It's nice to see that the devs are putting so much effort into referencing previous games, at least. Neruz posted:Warlock II has some even crazier heroes; there is at least one hero that is straight up immune to all forms of damage except life and elemental damage, and hes got base 100 elemental resist I sure hope I can get him. My playstyle is, usually, to minimize casualties via artillery and elite units, in every game. Exceptions would probably be "the ablative peasants" in Eador: Masters of the Broken World and peasants in my first ever (and non SA) LP of Medieval. Glazius posted:So in practice how many cities can a shard support? Or do they vary in size? No clue, so as much as you can cram while gaming the distance limitations. Shards are supposed to vary in size: all three so far have been classed as "tiny". I don't remember them getting much bigger later on, tho. Chapter 7: Taking the Land of The Dead   The troops were pushing on the renegade undead forces. The skeletons and “veteran” skeletons were hardy warriors (in part because they didn’t have any soft parts) but under the relentless onslaught of the Svarts they crumpled and re-died. Destroying the mysterious crypts that spawned the restless dead was also of paramount importance. The dwarves wondered if this Shard had been a part of word ruled by the undead before destruction at the claws of Dremers. No matter the truth, they had to kick over gravestones and collapse burial chambers. “Aye, lads, don’t forget lootin’ an’ grave robbin’. Anythin’ shiny or magical goes to the Lich”.  While Svart axes drove the dead back, Svart hammers drove posts and nails down. A new fortress had been established, to keep watch on the largest crossing in the area. It would also support Silver Silks in defense of a narrow pass near the city.   Silver Silks was a city bustling with potential. With only other “real city” to contend with being Regret, it was in a prime position to make a most of the profits in Howling sorrows. It was in a prime transit spot for any sort of passing exiles that wanted to settle in Burnouts (and Burnouts didn’t have clouds like screaming skulls, making it a popular destination). It had a silver mine and a market that sprung up to capitalize on exiles, silver making, as well as a river that ran all the way to the Gate. In short, the wealth placated Svarts unhappy with the name of their city.  And a spell that helped resist elemental magic (originally made by a wizard who liked to roast his meats in a volcanic demiplane) would placate Svarts unhappy with fireballs.  Rurik’s Men had just pillaged and destroyed another cementary. But their work wasn’t done yet – there were still skeletons milling about. Rurik urged his men to chase them down: “Forward, lads, the day isn’t done! There’s killing to be done!” And even more troops were pouring in from training facilities in Lichgrad. “I don’t know what I’m more afraid off beyond the gate: skeletons or Veremoud”  Veremoud was recovering in the new fortress. To aid both him and the people manning the fortress, King Lich transformed the surrounding countryside. Instead of barren planes, hills covered with gently swaying grass rolled as far as eye could see. This didn’t go unnoticed by Sir Hugue, who was traveling south on a mission: “They should have placed the fortress on the hills, not at the foothills” “Vampirium, huh? Well, a knight’s duty is to kill vampires and save damsels. Unless those vampires are in his lord’s employ and damsels are extraplanar invaders”Sir Hugue sighed. “Being a knight in Ardania is confusing”And so he rode past the skeleton roadsign (it was a skeleton holding a plank) and towards the city in the distance.  At the same time, the campaign to take the west of the Shard had come to an end and the Svarts were camping out, dressing their wounds, repairing armor, waiting for reinforcements… …and a supply train full of pumpkinshine to wash away the grime of the fight.  “Lord!” “M’lord!” “Oh no” “M’lord, we should reestablish the tradition of Rune Warriors!” “Yes, Rune Warriors! Not as armored as Honorable Warriors, but clad in Runes!” “Ruuunes!” “Besides, the lads could use some magical assistance on the front, and you can’t be at all places at once!” “Well, we know you can, maybe not cast magic all the time, but…” “We event collected this sack of gold here to incentivize you!” “It’s somewhat smaller since Rune Warriors aren’t dragons nor that great when fighting dragons” “Lichtower to Talon-1, anything to report? “Affirmative, Lichtower. Talon-4 pinged the gate to another shard” “Anything of note, Talon-1?” “Yeah, whoever tries to cross it is hosed” “Can it, Talon-2. Lichtower, the gate is connected to the shard by a narrow strip of land. Hostile land, condition necro” “Rodger that, Talon-2” “Uh, wait, Lichtower, something is coming through…” “Another cursed gate? I am starting to think that Fire Elementals in portals to demiplanes were preferable to this” “Are you going to solve it, my lord?” “Not yet, master smith. Don’t want to risk curses while we’re still pacifying the Shard” Sir Hugue and his donkey, Sir Sumall, had just ridden down another bunch of skeleton troopers. The undead were slow to react to the rider and his compact steed, and thus were easy targets for the lance. Then, a glimpse of shining steel cought Sir Hugue’s eye. His got off his noble steed and went on his knees to sift through the rubble. After throwing away a few skeleton heads that still had some fight in them (and their jaws), he found a shield. An enchanted shield, no less, because it had retained its shining exterior after years of use by skeletons (not really known for cleaning their arms)? His new shield in (on) hand, Sir Hugue continued his one man siege of Vampirium.  It didn’t take long, for the city was defended only by skeletons, and those didn’t appear to be well organized. After slaying the last immediate defender, sir Hugue rode down the streets of Vampirium, but he didn’t find a living soul (or a dead one, for that matter). He felt that the answers he seeks could only be found in the huge manor overlooking the city.  “I hear your last alliance didn’t end well… for Sol and Amberon, at least” “Sol was tired from the fight against Dremer and Miralbus. As for Amberon, well, he was your prisoner” “I really didn’t think that a man who wasted the Arethi was worthy of better jailers than gnomes and goblins” “Still, the gods rescued me. Rescued me and sealed the United one in Ardania, that’s why we have to fight his proxies. And, lest we forget, you had a lot of help from both Helia and Krolm” “I will admit that they did their part” “And now we’ll do ours. Join me, and we’ll crush the United One, together!” “I am weary of alliances… but I will show you a small bit of faith. Let it be, we have an alliance” And while peace was finalized, preparations for other wars were still ongoing. On hall overlooking Lichgrad rose new barracks where drill sergeants (accustomed to command Svarts working with drills) had the unusual task of imparting some of the miner discipline and coordination into Svart exiles, renegades and burnouts that finally decided to join the military.  They used, of course “King Lich VI’s Approved Drill Manual For Svart and Non-Svart Auxiliary Forces”. Printing presses, huge and complex machines of steel and steam, were printing the manuals on best Svartish paper (actually, Planestriders were the ones who developed paper, Svarts just made it sturdier). The covers were all carved from the hide of Shadows of Vendral while the binding was done with large cast iron nails that Volundr forged himself. It was as Svart a book as it could get without being printed entirely on steel. Many copies of the book, loaded on sprocket donkeys, were sent to frontline units, where officers used them to drill their troops who were, at the time, enjoying downtime.   "The Rangers Guild suffered the most damage during the Troubles. Its Guildmeister and all senior masters perished; the Guild's very heart - the Emerald Glade Refuge - was laid waste by fire. Along with its flowing canopies, the guild's most precious possessions were destroyed -- including Ardania's map archive and all manner of prized treatises in cartography. Consequently, the Rangers have been unable to perform their annual land-mapping work. Thus they have been brought low, and are now known simple hunters, while Ardania has been plunged in to the darkness of the unknown." From "The Overall Description of Everything" by Master Alfus Bumblegate. “Lichtower, this is Razor-1” “Come in, Razor-1” “We have spotted Krell’s forces, I repeat, Krell’s forces. They’re taking casualties, a company of ‘wing clippers’ was just wiped out by ‘double vets’ in a necro-marsh. “I read you, Razor-1. What’s the composition of forces?” “I read two companies of ‘pot heads’ and at least one other of ‘clippers’. “Any HQ elements in area?” "You will love Ardania, where you were born; You will never retreat before your enemies; You shall not lie, and will always be true to your words; You will be generous and work for the good of the people; At all times you will be a warrior for good and justice; You will be protector to the weak and the strong alike". (From "the vow of the Chosen Warrior") “Apparently the command element is one hero-class ‘pot head’.  Crows, however, weren’t the only means of gathering information. For example, a new craftsmen district sprang up in Uglin. It produced various Svart goods that were ‘safe’ to export. So not only Svarts, but other people wanted and were able to buy them. At first, there wasn’t much of a maket in outsiders, especially since Planestriders of Regret seemed to be mostly interested in shawing razors and hemp rope. But alliance with Krell opened the opportunity to trade with humans living on another shard.  And traders traveled, talked and watched. They saw Krell’s realm so fortuitously situated in Fading, a land of gentle perpetual autumn, with gentle colors that brought bittersweet calm to one’s heart. Krell had established several cities already. They might have been troubled by bears…  "What Mages lack in personal grooming skills, they more than make up for in explosive potential. The most powerful Mages are one-man wrecking crews, with the ability to flatten a town with just a few spells. Unfortunately, when they start going a bit dotty, they become a real hazard to anyone -- and anything -- that passes their gaze. That is why, in his infinite wisdom, Brashnard created Ardanias first retirement home for Mages. Thick iron walls, comfortable chairs, and exciting social activities for the retired wizards in your family!" (From a brochure discovered among the collected works of His Majesty's Advisor) …but Krell’s people had already established institutions for higher learning and attracted their first mages (who, like a more explosive version of scribes and scholars, were attracted by research funding). And such splendor was hardly surprising, seeing how the shard was blessed with various resources, like pumkins, wild domesticated pig…  …and iron.  Loads and loads…  ...of iron. “I hope the abundance of the stuff doesn’t bring any strange ideas to Krell’s head” But that was far from the mind of sir Hugue Dry Branch who had discovered why Vampirium seemed abandoned… JcDent fucked around with this message at 11:51 on Aug 15, 2014 |
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Aug 15, 2014 11:45
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Drakenel posted:Is warlock 2 worth it or should I go with the first game if I had to choose one? Reception to this game seems overwhelmingly negative, but a lot of it is 'it's just an expansion pack wahhh'. Everything UberJew said is true, but Warlock 2 - while looking expansion packey - is way better than Warlock 1. If you don't play shards mode (and go for the regular as random map campaign), you'll have superior experience to Warlock 1. Unless you want the Dremer invasion and there's no reason for that.
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Aug 15, 2014 17:19
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Drakenel posted:Good to know, thanks both of you. I do enjoy non-space 4x's that aren't civilization. (Though I've a soft spot for Alpha Centauri) and I figure it could be worth a bit of amusement. Slytherin(e?) has released a poor man's Alpha Centauri, can't remember the name (Pandora something). It's edgy as gently caress, so you can LP it, all in honor of upcoming Beyond Earth. Chapter 7: Like Mages Are Wont To Do  With alliance secured, Svart forces began to move into the Southern Plains of Death (surprisingly many places wore the „of death” moniker). Caught between the hammer of the humans and anvil-sized hammers of the Svarts, the undead stood no chance.  Anticipating the crushing defeat of the unaligned undead (who were still a mystery to anyone well versed in Necromatic arts), Krell’s humans established Baytown, their first city outside fading. Situated in an area surrounded by dead swamps and bottomless chasms, it was a much less cheerful place than the name would suggest.  The dead were down to the last skeletons, so King Lich deemed it prudent to finally order something done about the gate. Mainly, sir Hugue was to read the inscription on the nearby monument.  Shock of all shocks, it worked, and the road to the rest of the shards (and, hopefully, Ardania) was open.  Unfortunately, the road itself was mostly tainted by the touch of death, so not entirely suitable for leisurely travel. In truth, it claimed many of the number of exiles that would come through the gates expecting dangers of the more mundane (and stabbable) nature. King Lich VI, however, had already shown himself as paragon of un-lichness, so he turned the death lands into pleasant rolling plains post haste.  Lands of death, however, were still being put to good use… in Regret. “Used to be that Immaterials bathed in pools like that…” “Well, I don’t want them mucking up my mana” And places far removed from areas where ground itself wants to devour your life, Svarts were having their own issues. “Truly these are the lands of life. Look at the size of all that grain” “We’ll need bigger sprocket donkeys to carry it all to the barn!” “Forget the donkeys, how will we manage to drink away all that vodka?” “HEEELP, the pea wine got me!” “Oh, right, that. I’ll get the axe…” “Well, I don’t really have non-living troopers right about now, but Volundr keeps giving me strange looks and talking about Inscrutable Enjinns and steam stacks. Might be useful later on, and why not help an ally? Maybe this will delay the almost inevitable betrayal” “I agree to the trade, Krell. May we all prosper from it”.  Talon flight was the first one tasked with checking out the new gate. “Lichtower, Lichtower, this is Talon-1, doing a line check” “Reading you loud and clear, Talon-1” “Talon wing, translation successful, no casualties. Ground scanning radar indicates a tropical shard, fitting description of “Long Shores” “Rodger, marking “Long Shores”, Talon-1”CRASH “We heard something, Lichtower, everything alright?” “Just technical difficulties, Talon-1. Did not manage to get the quill and the inkpot dropped on the floor. Continue sweep” “Copy that” “Another day in the service” “Talon-2, I’m pretty sure you’re illiterate, so shut your beak” “Talon-2, Talon-3, clear the air, we’re on a mission” “Besides, I’m picking up a reading on a ‘jawsome’. Gonna have to prep the Navy, so it seems”Kari stared, incredulously, at the arrow in his chest. It wasn’t a metal bolt fired by a drunk prospector. It wasn’t a sinister barbed arrow launched a by an Archer of the Plains in ambush. Unhardened iron bodkin point, a simple wood shaft, a goose feather at the end – the most simple of human arrows, and here it was, stealing Kari’s life away. “Ambush!”It was too little, too late. Human warriors with helmets not unlike metal platters fell on the Prospectors, and so did their blades. It was war. “Fervus take them, I knew it!” The response was immediate. Fresh troops that had just clearing the undead threat away from Silver Silks pass were sent to the front. Following them were veteran troops, Rurik’s and Veremoud’s Men, Grave Crushers and others, hardened in previous conflicts. Prospectors were flanking them to provide support. The entire Svart war machine was slowly turning its attention towards Baytown and the traitors.  The push for the Western hills had proven that the healing spell King Lich still remembered wasn’t nearly up to the task of serving the attacking forces well. As luck would have it, the king had started research into a new, more potent spell. “Kindrik’s Re-knitting” would suture wounds and re-set bones, and was very useful in Kindrik’s household, as serfs kept falling off the castle roof while cleaning them.  “M’lord, we’re pushing the enemy the enemy towards Baytown. We’re engaging hunters wherever we can, but the warriors are more difficult, especially with all the quality iron that the enemy has. The troops are also worry about the hero leading the troops.” “Ser Hugue is being retasked as we speak. How about recruitment numbers?” “We’ve increased the number of criers to drump up support, but the amount of new recruits barely changed…” “Ahem”Suddenly, all color drained from Rurik’s face. “Oh no” “My name is Haraldr Brour Invars, and I represent a group of concerned citizens…”What followed was a lengthy and confusing speech about freedom, trade, self determination, tyranny of monarchs and mages, trade, taxes, choice and a mishmash of other things. Apparently, some Svarts took the example of self-governing Fortress cities to heart and decided they wanted to have their own free cities. Trouble was that free cities usually got taken over by monarchs, mages or monsters. So they needed a patron, and while that was distasteful (and contrary to their wishes not to pay taxes), they had to swallow the pill. “…to sum it up, the city will not have obligations to your realm and your realm will not have obligations – nor rights – on the city, except those granted by the Mercenary Charter of Protection, according to which we’ll pay money for services of your armed forces” “And those aren’t taxes?” “No, no, no, no, “payment for services rendered”, a totally different thing” “Rurik, what should we do?” “I’d say we let that coot take what he wants. I know him and he has become a constant problem as of late. We can’t risk upheaval with war on our hands. Let him have the piece of desert that wants”And so the first free city was established.  The front of war was moving. Even though the surrounded Svarts weren't the most experienced of troops…  …they were still Svarts. They’d raise their shields, and charge, and crush anyone before them. Hunters, all but robbed of their advantage in range, were slaughtered easily.  “I must agree, that is a massive fist” “Krolm might not be the patron god of Svarts, but he’s still one our favorite. And the architecture of those devoted to him isn’t very subtle” “So what do those zealots do with an entire city devoted to their god?” “Well, these are devotees to Krolm, lord. They fight, they push a giant wheel, they solve riddles named after metals, they oil muscles, brew beer… basically everything that pleases Krolm” “The added benefit is all of that devotion can be barely contained and condenses on the fist into mana. The zealots have no use for it, so they put it into empty beer barrels and ship it to you” “Isn’t that dangerous for them?” “M’lord, these are people who use fire elementals to roast steaks. I don’t think mana can penetrate their grit”  “These creatures rock on the waves so quietly that you can easily mistake them for harmless sea cows, and unfortunately many people do. A fatal mistake”. (Notes from “Resorts of Other Worlds”, published in “King’s Voice In Exile” “Lichtower, we have noticed ‘floters’ and a reef’. “Rodger that, Talon-1. Keep your distance” “And now there’s a city devoted to Dauros?” “I guess they were inspired by Krolm’s followers. It is a magnificent statue, isn’t it?” “Almost wish we could have those on both sides of the gate, for symmetry”. Sir Hugue had arrived and Svarts – six companies of Honorable Warriors being present – were pushing humans against the mountains. They only needed to crush a what was left on the enemy soldiers.  Unfortunately, magic got in the way. The lands quaked gently as Krell’s magic lowered the mountains and created Regret pass for the hero and surviving Hero guild warriors to beeline into the territories controlled by King Lich. At the same time, wizards were spotted at the south and had to be chased down with extreme prejudice.  With the donkey easily navigating rocky ground, Sir Hugue caught up with the Chosen Warrior in Krell’s employ.  “Won’t you dismount and face me honorably, or have stubborn knights forgotten their wows?” “Vile cur! Don’t you dare speak of honor when actions of your master speak of treason! Defend yourself and die like a man!” “Ha! Be warned: I was an officer in King’s army!” “Then there’s little surprise why the army was lost. Charge!” The clash of heroes didn’t hold King Lich’s attention for long as random patches of ground became frozen for no apparent reason.  “Elpiritster! That damned ghastly fool! Should have known he’d be captured alive” “Rurik, send out the men! We need to dredge that spell out of somewhere and we need to do it now!” The war was trudging on. Yet it was the prospectors who bore the brunt of it. Ambushed by means both physical and magical, a lot of them were no longer in service. The survivors became very adept at spotting ambushes and any far away enemies, always keeping one eye on the horizon.  Not everyone was that lucky. One company of Honorable Warriors charged forward to besiege Baytown. But Baytown was a wretched town surrounded by swamps and marshes. Farms were barely eking out an existence there and peasants remembered the fruitful lands of Fading very fondly. This also made for bad battlefield terrain. Short and heavy, Svarts got bogged down in the mud, barely reaching the outer walls. And then, they didn’t have the strength nor freedom of movement to defend themselves from magic and arrows that fell on them. The swamp quickly claimed their armor clad bodies.  Another armor clad man was raging outside the walls of Dauheimur. Unable to cross the gate and wreak havoc in Burnouts and constantly peppered with arrows from the fortifications (manned by Rurik’s Men after they finished a forced march), he unleashed his rage by assaulting and destroying a Svart settler convoy.  At the same time, King Lich had done seething and come up with a plan to take Baytown. “You think your swamps will protect you and your frog farms? Not for long. Krell isn’t the only one who can twist land around and I’ve been doing for far longer”With a mighty crackle of magic the waters trained, muck turned into fertile soil, trees straightened and grew lush green leaves, and soft green grass spread as far as eye could see. Several companies of Svarts marched on Baytown, because even an open plain was a huge advantage to the disciplined and heavily armored troops.  Lancel was scared. Sir Hugue managed to chase him here, but his avenue of retreat was cut off by a marauding band of skeletons. He tried to lose the pursuing knight in the mountains, but…  …Grand Stubborn Master caught up with him as he tried to ford the river near Silver Silks. A company of hunters tried to provide cover with their arrows, but those just bounced off the plate that covered both knight and steed. “Stand fast, you coward!” And soon, Lanceles could stand no more.  With his hero dead, his forces in Sorrow crushed and his city on the brink of collapse, Krell begged for peace. King Lich, seeing the search of a unique spell a priority, agreed. *** A hooded man in an inn in Inver-on-Linn, cursed and slammed his mug of ale on the table. “drat useless mages, can’t even fight their own king worth a drat…”
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Aug 17, 2014 07:29
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Last time I was playing on normal, and I had one or two fortresses overlooking the gate. Then again, it was on normal, so the enemy mage was his own biggest foe.
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Aug 20, 2014 06:22
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Chapter 8: Dead Tensions  "Runes used by the Svarts differ from, say, Elvish runes. If for the latter runes are just the embodiment of magic spells that require mana, the Svarts grasped the essence of the elements and learned how to make runes that are actual sources of energy. There are hundreds of varieties of such runes. Some make blades sharper, others can strengthen any armour, some reduce the weight of things, or radiate pure light." (from "Chronicles of New Worlds" written by Master Vardies Teleran) A new company was presented before King Lich VI in the square in front of his of his tower. Arrayed in serried ranks, before him stood… women. “Well, that’s something new. I’m more used to singular, well armed messengers of Krolm and angry gnome housewives…”Row upon row of Svart women stood there, clad in leather armor, faces hidden under heavy metal helmets. Their hands firmly gripped poleaxes. And axehead was inscribed with runes that gleamed with sinister fire. “Svart women aren’t your puny human or elf waifs. Svart women are strong, strong in magic of the runes! Some are stronger than others, of course, but even those not as skilled in magic are more than a match for what others can field. So they make axes, inscribe them with runes, and go to war” “Their armor doesn’t look that safe…” “They’re not some squishy human princesses! All a Rune Warrior needs is her runes. See those pouches?”The king indeed saw small pouches hanging off the belts of women. “Rockworm blood mixed with metal dust. They use it to draw runes on the armor. Makes it very strong, before the rune burns off” “Now listen here and listen well: our women can break any line you want, but don’t you dare leave them unsupported. Lord or not, I’ll make you King Lich VII” King Lich paid little mind to Svart’s warnings – he felt certain that he had enough loyalists and magic to protect him – and went on to collect “the incentive” promised for drafting Rune Warriors.  “Cursed skeletons! How did they get a boat?” “Maybe they strapped some skins to some bones…” Ship engineering remained a mystery since the nearby garrison noticed it and sunk the skeletons with ballista fire.  “Lichgrad Herald reports: Our King casts spell on Uglin that will increase crop yelds! What does that mean to local denaturated alcohol production and local drunks? Also: is grain vodka cause of impotence? Experts claim: this is a curse of yamshine spirits!” And while King Lich was working to increase the life quality of his stunty subjects, random spell attacks continued, this time turning patches of ground into desert. This had the unforeseen consequences of sobering up a few drunks, who immediately flooded the usual haunts to restore status quo.  “My lord, the scouts have returned! They have found the spell we were looking for! Well, that and this here war hammer. Not sure where the found that” “So, where is that spell?” “There were some... Complications” “When is it ever easy…” “Er, an ogre came in and kidnapped the witch. Something about unrequited love. Our scouts have tracked it, and it wasn’t hard…” “Oh yes, I know very well how it is with ogres and maidens” “First, we’ll bombard the ogre with spells, and then, we’ll get the witch by force!” If only everything had been that easy. Krells troops had been seen sneaking around the borders and looking for a good way to get inside the lands.  Some even tried to buy silks at the new silk farm, but it was well known that spider silk had magical properties, and as such wasn’t sold to outsiders. There was no diplomatic way to of barring their entry, so King Lich VI was forced to just shuffle troops around, placing them to block avenues of advance and firmly turn the human troops away.  This was especially strange considering that Krell agreed to another Non-Agression treaty. Still, the mage had been treasonous before, attacking while ink was still on the paper.  “Let them come again. This time, there will no mercy for treacherous curs, false knights and breakers of oaths”.  “With my hammer I’ll crush them to pulp and dust!”  “Ladies, draw your runes, fire your axes, we go to war!”So they did. They assaulted the ogre just as he exited his hut. He was a formidable opponent, but the swings of his club only scattered Svart women around, magical proctection absorbing most of the harm. And flaming axes slowly but surely cut the giant down…   “Finally, the spell!” “I’m sorry to report, my liege, but there are complications…”King Lich VI started grinding teeth.  “The witch says that she wants compensation for moral damages, as well as funds to repair her house. That and something about the spell using a proprietary scroll technique, whatever that means” “Sigh… How much does she want to extort from us?” “A thousand pieces of gold?” “A THOUSAND?! Suddenly, I regret you Svarts not having talented torturers…” Howling Sorrows and Burnouts were lands preparing for war. Long Shores, however, were slowly scouted out by crow flights. They had barely left the shore when they ran into trouble:  "It appears that Sea Serpents are distant relatives to the native dragons of Ardania, which have been thought extinct since before the times of the Great Kings." From "The Overall Description of Everything" by Master Alfus Bumblegate. ‘Sausages’…   …and ‘kill swarms’, in addition to ten other kinds of nasty.  Krell’s dismissive attitude didn’t bode well, so preparations were getting done fast.  Like researching “Morlok’s Shield of Overprotection”. While it lacked the total immunity offered by Dauros’ spells, it also didn’t stunt the person who it was cast on. Some over protective mage parents thought it was actually a flaw in the spell, but other, more military minded wizards and witches found it useful in both offense and defense.  Impending war or not, but life went on. A new town was established to capitalize on nearby magical plains as well as whatever could be found in the nearby burrow.  “No, we don’t have the money and won’t have it for a long time, tell her to go away”.  Meanwhile, the trend of free cities far slowly catching up. Thankfully, it was mostly draining away deviants and other social detritus. The new city, situated dangerously close to the edge of the shard, was dedicated to free love, smoking cactus drugs and wild domesticated pig racing.   "Giant turtles are commonly used by Koatls as work animals, but they can easily be turned to unstoppable ravaging war beasts." (From "The Overall Description of Everything" by Master Alfus Bumblegate) “A turtle!” “A giant turtle!” “Leg it, boys!” “Ice, deserts, now plains of life… what’s next?” “Heeelp! A grape wine! Let go, you monstrous… wine! “Oh, right, this again…” “Two can play the mountain killing game.” “Not that I have mountains I really need to lower” “Krolmdamn” “That magic testing area dome… it sure is disturbing to see” “Screw your magic dome, the turtle is upon us, again!” “AAAARGH”And so did the last of Svart Prospectors that had pledged their crossbows to King Lich VI died.  To avenge their deaths, Sir Hugue was sent with orders to slay the beast. The burden of duty laid on his shoulders almost as heavily as the hammer.  “Lads, the war is not far away, I can smell it, you can smell it, and the King can smell it – and he doesn’t even have a nose” “What do we do, knyaz?” “You continue with your practice, lads. And pack in everything you need for healing. Try got get health potions, too. We’ll need everything we could get in the coming war”. “Trust me, you don’t want to find yourself underequipped once blood starts flowing”  “It seems they’re massing mages, and at an alarming rate, too” “One thing you must know about humans is that they’re quite hasty and callous when power is in question. More mage academy students end up as flaming corpses than mages, but it is a fast way to mage wizards” “How about goblins?” “Goblins are too stupid to understand that there might be something wrong about the amount of casualties they get”.  “This might come in useful if that daft ghost starts throwing more dangerous spells around. I don’t expect Dremer to be trouble anymore”.  “Lads, we will take Baytown this time. And mark my words, there will be fighting between those walls. You there, new guy, let me tell you something about fighting inside the city…” Training grounds were established between the Honorable and Rune Warrior guilds. Troops used it for training with heavier gear and more advanced tactics. The plains of life on the way to barracks were used for dangerous amounts of frolicking.   “Rurik, was is the aspiration of a honorable warrior?” “To become part of the Elite Guard” “And not death? I’m relieved” “Dying is for the enemy that faces us with inferior tactics and arms. Why do you ask, lord?” “This war… I feel it is inevitable. And it’s going to be brutal. I want the troops to know that I value their service. Just in case some of them don’t return” “My lord, they’re already honored to serve” “Never the less. Send the word to the veteran formations and get the forges started”  "Troops of Elite Guards are the pride and joy of the Svart army. Only the most experienced and strongest warriors from the Honourable Svarts are recruited into these units, because according to the tradition, in addition to other tasks, the Elite Guards are protecting the King-in-Stone, and therefore, armed only with shields and one-handed axes, they must prevail in a battle against any enemy, no matter what technologies or magic they use." (from "Chronicles of New Worlds" written by Master Vardies Teleran) “Honorable Warriors! You are the backbone and the iron fist of my kingdom. No man nor lich can expect to have troops as devoted and brave as you are. Truly, I am honored by your service and your achievement.” “And I want to show you my gratitude. Elite Guards served the King-in-Stone, but he failed you. I hope to meet your expectations and more. So when you kneel, today, as Honorable Warriors, you rise as Elite Guards!” Mages traveling to Gatehouse were met by sir Hugue.  “Hail, ser knight. What do you want with us this day? Taxes or maybe a document inspection? Or maybe you came to extol the virtues of serving the dead?” “I came for the only tax my lord needs from you” “And what is that?” “Your head” All along the border, Svarts surged from their positions and killed, killed, killed. Warriors and hunters fell under axe, crushed and cleaved into bloody pulp.  Mages were swept away as their spells, hurried out of surprise, failed to found purchase in Svart armor. The front was pushed all over. “I pray I did not doom them all…”
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Aug 20, 2014 16:21
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My apologies, I had a small anniversary to take care of yesterday, and that could have gone better Chapter 9: The Second War of Howling Sorrow  The humble fireball was the first spell that King Lich learned after the start of the war. Unfortunately, that didn‘t change one horrible thing: Rurik‘s Men (sans Rurik), the most veteran company in the realm, was the first one lost in hostilities, a victim of combined mage attack. The King locked himself in the library, ordering everyone to stay away, and promising to emerge only for war sorcery.   "Senior Prospectors have seen so much in their lifetime that for them nothing is impossible. Start a fire under tropical rain, find gold in the desert or win a battle against all odds? Piece of cake!" (from "Chronicles of New Worlds" written by Master Vardies Teleran) With the death of Rurik‘s Men, someone else had to step up and lift the spirits of the people (without the use of spirits). To that end, senior prospectors, most of them retired to tech in Prospector Guild, donned their prospector armor and gear, took their Doppelxbows, and went to war. These were grim men who knew their chances of survival were low, but went non the less.  „Magic Speed! No, I don‘t need to move faster... I need to read faster... think faster... This doesn‘t help... Faster, faster...“ The enemy had been forced back to Baytown. Unfortunately, that enemy consisted of a core of mages, with mages on flanks and mage support at the back. One heroic company, making their camp in the nearby foothills, made daring attempts to strike at the enemy.  The enemy responded by a daring attempt to build a fort right under their noses. Peasants and craftsmen and masons worked day and night, hauling stones, cutting timber, making food, while a company of mages held Svart warriors in check.  Another company of mages was in great trouble. Either by tradition or by rote, mages wore great long coats of fine (and heavy) fabrics, as well as other lavish and colorful luxury clothing. They likely felt the clothing apt recompense for all the hardship in mage academies. Unfotunately, that clothing was less apt for dead marches, and the mages, driven into the swamps by an advance of Svarts that didn’t seem to mind their spells, were bogged down and waiting for their deaths.  Death, however, was busy elsewhere. A field near regret had some curious glistening things scattered about. A monocle there, a prospecting helm there. A Doppelxbow cluched in the hands of a burnt corpse. A prospecting array near a brook, it’s cracked lenses half submerged in the dead water. Climbing hooks standing like a strange skeleton of a metallic beast. Senior prospectors had done their part in holding the line… and paid the price.  “Emerah knew how to fly… No, she had a broom… This war would be faster with Emerah… But she’s dead. Dead, dead, dead. Just like Rurik’s Men…” While King was cursing throwing lightning inside the library, loyal (and still alive) Svarts were pushing on Baytown. One company was nearing a fort that held one of the roads to the Gate of Fading. A little more to the north, ser Hugue had separated mages from Baytown and was leading the siege, along with a few other companies of troops. “Honor Guard! Remember that we’re fighting against treasonous people and to avenge the honor of our fallen! In our righteous bloodlust we should not forget that, and we should not lower ourselves to the level of the enemy! Remember that when walls fall and peasants start begging for mercy!” Mages, cut off from Baytown, had the strangest idea – or at least that what advance scouts could say. They decided to bee line towards the Gate to Burnouts. Much like the previous attempt at invasion, they forgot that Dauheimur was in their way…  And the fight agaist Krell’s forces was taking its toll on the land. Constantly assaulted by spells that either aimed to weaken or strengthen (depends of who was casting) the Svart farces encamped there, the fabric of the plain itself twisted and turned into a poisonous, mana infused landscape. The Honor Guard didn’t seem to mind. Truth be said, enjoyed the fact that going to the loo at night was that much easier with the ambient lighting.  A crack of light pierced the relative darkness of the library. “What... What is happening?”As the light fell on King Lich, he started to hear a distant howling…  “...listen well, m’lord” “I guess this means you and your men are dead” “We are alive in the eternal light of Helia. And she, our mistress, has a task…” “I am at war, among other things, can’t this wait…” “Our mistress helped you win the last war… at the cost of our lives, even. Now, you will help her… Kill the trespasser!” "He is the last dusk. He is the reaper of dreams. He is the silent killer. He is the terror whose wings flap in the knight. He is the Dark Rider." - From the "Servants of truth" by High Keeper Teyaran the Rigorous “I guess… I guess that warrants our attention…” “So, what is this?” “It’s... It’s a mana yard, sir” “I know that, you lanky imbecile. What does it do?” “It collect mana run-off. You know, from mana collectors, and mana pools… basically, any use of mana. Apparently, we’re not very efficient at using it. Every time a great mage casts a spell, a hedge wizard tries to hex someone… a maiden reads a love incantation correctly… there’s a runoff of mana. And so it’s stored here” “Huh. You Planestrider lot might be useful after all. Good thing we didn’t throw you over the edge like we planned” “Thank you…er…what?” There was a hill near Serne Vary, a hill engulfed in tents. There was a reason to this madness, and that reason was that the hill was no hill, but a barrow. A barrow, unlike a crypt, wasn’t likely to raise its inhabitants to make more inhabitants for other crypts. A barrow was well protected from graverobbers and whelps that worshiped Krypta out of rebellious lark. Therefore, barrows held magical secrets and treasures… and there was some profit to be made from that.  Baytown wasn’t in the best position. The mages had gone away to Krolm knows where (and mostly dead due to unhealthy proximity to Svart fortresses). The city was completely surrounded by Svarts from one side and a crazy knight from the other. And what’s worse, the reinforcements they were getting were plain human…  Elspritsters reign of random spells continued. The last one resulted in a cloud of miasma that turned lands near Daurosian into a swamp. Rumors abounded about a fotress in the middle of it, guarded by gnolls and flying serpents and lizardmen, and of Warriors of Dauros fighting wyverns on the edges of the swamp. The worshipers of Dauros remained silent on this matter. Then again, worshipers of Dauros remained eerily silent on many matters.  “Ah, cold wind… I remember freezing a part of Dremer realm… I remember having sent friends there. Likely dead now, just like those poor Svarts” The situation near Baytown was changing from bad to worse… for humans. Svarts, weakened by Krell’s magic, but nearly impervious due to magic of King Lich, made one last assault on the fortress and tore down the walls. Some Guard smuggled pouches of raw magical earth to grow potent tabacco, while one who smuggled some of it in hopes of growing potent yams had his bag confiscated and his pay cut.   Nature might abhor vacuum, but it abhorred unclaimed land even more. Snow Maidens made camp near one of the cities. Unfortunately, their camp was within arrow shot from city walls…  …and Svarts were very angry – wrathful even - at human-like creatures that were likely to shoot other Svarts.  “Raise the land… if only it would raise the dead with it… no, raising the dead is not enough, I need to raise the living. Concentrate, drat it” Dauheimur, coordinating attacks with the garrison of Silver Silks, finally managed to kill the Spirit of Darkness. It fell to the ground that was already covered with corpses of mages, arrows pincushions all of them.  “...go with the sun, my liege” This was it. After gruelling hours of combat and death, and bloodshed, the walls of Baytown were a ruin, and the gates lay broken. They only needed to step in…”  “King Lich promises honorable treatment to anyone who swears allegiance here and know, and serves their new master. Citizens of Baytown need not fear the fate of Alexiri, for your sins are not your own, but of your master”And so they bowed their heads, and swore allegiance. This had the fortunate effect of placing a fort within shooting distance of the gate to fading and a Warrior company cut off from ways to retreat.  There were a few stragglers that had to be hunted down in the hills…  …and one mage, who avoided the death at the hands of Svarts and Spirit of Darkness, who made an arduous treck over the dead plains of Howling Sorrows, who saw his best friend choke on his own blood as a Svart arrow pierced his neck… that made stepped through the gates of Burnouts and was immediately roasted by a ball of fire that came from the tower in the distance. “I wish I had time for proper torture, but this will do”The burn fetal form that used to be a mage could not comment on that.  The last of Snow Maidens fell to the axes of ‘Graverobbers’ (the company bore many names, all of them had something to do with desecrating tombs), their finely made fur coats no match for Svart steel.  The war might have been winding down at this point, but there were other troubles still. For example, two turtles now blocked the entrance to Long Shores.  And another swamp miraculously appeared in the middle of Howling Sorrow. “Let me share some experience with you, lad. If there’s one thing that this campaign under the Skull Banner taught me, is that ground changing under your feet is the last of your worries”.  “Still not what I need… But it will serve, so that I wouldn’t have to raise more friends in the future”.   “M...M’lord knight, might I beg your attention?” “Yes, what is it that you want?” “M’lord, I represent a small silver mining and crafting guild, in the Drassen mines. We’re located in the hills nearby. I…we wanted to show our loyalty to King Lich” “Are you trying to bribe me?” “Bbb-bribe?” The man went white “No, sir, we’re just humble craftsmen. And we want to help, really. Here, if you wouldn’t mind taking a look…”And there it was, a fine silvery sword. Making silver swords wasn’t easy (for one, you can’t just hammer silver till you get a sword) and required great craftsmanship. And silver weapons were very potent, able to cut, easily, many of Ardania’s (and Shards’) fiercest creatures. “Well, this sort of help will be greatly appreciated by all of your king’s subjects” “Our lord says that you will bleed some more before there’s a peace. Take this to your master!”And so the messenger did. However, he kept the kick that sent him flying through the Gate secret.  “I can’t have wildlife troubling my subjects. Something has to be done…”  “Expect axes in your future, foul critter”  Great news came from Gatehouse! Rune Witche’s Guild was established on the highest hill surrounding the city. There was little question as to why they chose this remote city.  Along with Rune Bedchambers (situated on a lower hill), a mana collector and a magic testing area, Gatehouse became home to Gatehouse Academy of Higher Rune and Magic Studies. There was enough mana to supply even the most ambitious of rune experiments… and a zone expecialy built to contain the results of the more volatile ones. Even if magic was not science, it was still possible to observe it scientifically. After all, spells were magical effects with reproducible results, no matter how little sense their source made. And Svarts were extremely interesting in reproducing all sorts of effects in the shape of runes. Rune Witches were training diligently behind those tall walls on the hill… and eventually the most ambitious ones would find their way into King’s employ.  But before that, a new magic tower – a king of miniaturized copy of the one in Lichgrad – was erected near the gate. Its purpose was to sling magical lighting and kill invading troops, a task it did wonderfully.  Another free city was established – and this was the first one outside Burnouts. Svarts, Planestriders and regular humans who felt more in tune with the grim aspects of the world flooded there to share their pain and poetry, and to escape the punches of their peers.  On the other side of the spectrum, Plain of Blood was established in the Fields of Honor, surrounded by swamps and lands of death. Worshippers of Krolm gathered there, to commemorate the deeds of Svarts fallen in the fight against Krell and maybe punch some undead swamp monstrosities into pulp.  “Maybe… maybe I’ll turn Fading into a giant wasteland… But later, later on…” For now, a small and inexplicable invasion had to be turned back. A great opportunity for fresh recruits to bloody the axes.  “I can’t help but feel that we’re doomed, somehow”
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Aug 23, 2014 12:58
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Chapter 10: Tools of War and Peace “War! War still rages in our realm! Or, thanks to the ingenuity of our lord, war stops at our borders!” “The great defensive curtain at Baytown sees enemy advances daily! What pushes them back? Arrows! Magical towers! And good old Svart resolve! Wave after wave of human warriors have perished against the indomitable bulwark of our defenses! “In fact, the enemy is so beaten, they have to push corpses of their fellows over the edge to advance!” “Rurik and Veremoud ensures us that King Lich does everything to stop the enemy. “The loyalty and sacrifice of Rurik’s Men…” “...they say...” “...will not be forgotten!” “And while the enemy toils day and night to undo us, brave Svarts grit their teeth and work for the war effort!” “Uglin, the breadbasket of the empire, sees that our troops are well fed and never lack for drink. Svart farmers use the most advanced farming techniques. Smart planning as well as sprocket donkeys and ploughtomatons make the sweat of on a Svarts brow count for more!” “And the land gives back for all the toil! Fertile ground come from the dead sands, all through the magic of our king! The same magic, combined with Svart effort and mastery, makes pumkins grow large and wheat fields rise tall!” “Wines again! Heeelp!” “So much food! More than Svarts can eat, actually! What do we do with this overflowing bounty?” “We take it to the granary!” “We take it to the granary! Tall and strong Svart granary! Here, foodstuff are distributed via a smart system of carts and pulleys! Look at that wheat go!” “To help with the preservation, local Svarts use ice and snow from those mysterious, frequently appearing patches of land! There’s even talk of asking the king to make the air colder!” “But the air is not the only issue! The fragrant smells of quality Svart foods attracts rats and mice! And who will fight rats and mice?” “Meow!” “That is right: Gib-cats! Gleipnir is the leader of the pack! These hardy felines prowl the granaries, always on the lookout for mice and rats! And they are no mere mousers! Before getting this position, each had to be tested in the Cat-gauntlet!” “Meow!” “You heard it right, folks! Gleipnir is the unsurpassed champion of the Cat-gauntlet! They even had to replace the sprocket mice! Why, he had torn them to pieces!” “And here, on the edge of the shard, a new mill rises! Bigger, more efficient, more productive! Using the most advanced sprocket technology and magic – both rune and regular – it allows four Svarts to the job of twenty men and five mills!” “The grain from the granary come via a new smart invention – sprocket road! Here, a metal track is laid under a mountain. On it – a cart full of wheat! The overseer just pulls a lever – and off it goes, pulled by new high capacity sprocket mules!” “And near the mill, a new industry rises. A new industry that will deliver pumpkins products wherever you are!” “I call this thing a ‘can’, because it CAN preserve food” “But work doesn’t end with food!” “The citizens of Serne Vary work tirelessly to exploit the burrows! Tent after tent rises on the hills north of the city! Svart after Svart goes there to brave the dangers and uncover long lost secrets! What magical artefacts will they find?” “But magic for our King is not the only thing taken from the depths of the graves! Shiny baubles of ancient craftsmanship found by many! Shining magical stones are uncovered! Old pottery still stands intact! All of these things are off little interest for our benevolent king!” “You can still bring magic to your home, say the Svarts in the market! And so stalls upon stall is laden with precious artefacts taken from the burrows! Svarts and other countrymen from all over came to buy something special for their home” “Flowers don’t rightly grow in this place… might as well hang an ancient broadsword over the fireplace” “But the market is not limited to ancient goods! Craftsmen work and toil in their district to produce new jewelry and swords and goblets and many other things – all inspired by these gifts from the past!” “In fact, the goods produced in Serne Vary are so popular, the local Svarts had to build a harbor! Small steamers float in Deadlin lake before making their way up the East Undead River!” “Where do they go? To Silver Silks, of course, the financial heart of the empire! A city established to exploit silver mines and spider silk, it could have hardly gone any other way!” “Not surprising that the first Svart bank has established itself in the city, just on the banks of North Undead river. Financing businesses and holding money for traveling Svarts, it is the most trusted Svart institution in all of the shards” “Loyalty to our liege and our people ensures that Gulleifr and Svagne is the most honest of banks” “I am also extremely afraid of shadowbolts launched by undead mages who have risen from the grave multiple times” “And near the bank – a new mint! Automaton presses are churning out our majesty’s coin” “Nearby North Undead River makes it easy to transport money both to Burnouts and Serne Vary, all important trade centers of the realm” “Even the disgraced Planestriders of Regret are pulling their weight. Mana is put into barrels and even a new magic smithy opened up.” “With such wonders of production under our command, who know what fantastic deeds the realm will accomplish!” For now, the realm was trying to accomplish making a beachhead into the lands of Long Shores. Three full companies of Svart elites lead by Sir Hugue were lining up to breach the gate and kill some turtles.  Espritster’s magical teraformation shenanigans continued. Since they effected a “free city”, King Lich was not extremely concerned with fixing the damage.  Of more concern were the lands between Baytown and Silver Silks. The mountain ranges had been deformed by Krel’s magic and the resulting passes were really uncomfortable since all of them meant fording the river. A plan was drawn up to shift the mountains and make a road from Baytown to Dauheimur, to easy possible future deployments of troops.  Current deployment of troops was enjoying the biggest turtle soup fest they could have ever imagined.  “Try to curse my troops with weakness again, Krel… Just try…” “Cecinia the Saint... Our lord would welcome you to the court, but he is currently ill in spirit and lost in work. Please excuse him. You are ordered to go to Baytown. I am sure the troops will appreciate your healing powers”.  “What the Dremer is happening?” “Deserts now?” “At least the Krolm worshipers are happy. I heard one shouting something about going to beat up leaving dog headed warriors with scythes for hands and crocodiles that shoot beams of light from their heads” “I think they should put less basilisk into their swampshine” “I think whoever is doing this to our realm should just lay off drink. The map makes my head hurt” At least there were small mercies and King Lich took time to refreeze craft and merchant districts. The leading theory as to why they wanted it was that they wanted their surroundings to match the temperature of their hearts.  “If I just can get a system… a system for spells… Maybe I could remember them faster… Faster.” “Wise? Bankrupt seems more likely. Very well, we’ll have peace… until I have to slaughter your mean again” “Death itself?” “’Death itself’ would not be afraid of United One. She’s just a necromantic witch that jumps far above her station” “And her Lich Mirrors?” “They have nothing to do with lichdom and only share the shape with mirrors. They’re portals that are supposed to be scary. In truth… well, no mirror can withstand a Svart axe, can it?” “We’ll see about that, m’lord” Cecinia the Saint was rerouted: with no war to be waged, her healing powers were of little use to hardy Svarts (and skeletons were of little danger). However, her magical skill was required to destroy some of the wayward undead near Dauheimur… an order that she was more than ready to fulfill with... fiery results.  “Unfortunately, we can’t afford any more lords, especially if we want our lands to look at least somewhat uniform” “And your name is unpronounceable”  With the first mirror down (turns out it was very susceptible to axes), some over eager criers started announcing that the mirror threat was over. It was quite far from the truth, since two remained, near Dauheimur and Serne Vary, vexing garrison archers to no end.  Yet even then, an elite company of Honor Guard was chasing skeletons down and causing disruption in flow of merchandise.   “Death..., well, more death to imperialist lich pig!” “What’s this?” “Crush the rebels, lads! Traitors die in infamy!” “And pools of their own blood! Chaaarge!”A hooded figure watched the fratricide from a distant hill, and smiled.  Svart might have been killing Svart far away, but Rune Warriors had more pressing matters. Like hauling a new glyph out of the shards of a “Lich” “Mirror”.  On Long Shores, Honor Guard stood watch on at the sea side, ready to defend the new settlement from any attacks of sea borne monsters. While the original idea was to build a harbor and wrest control of the seas through the more usual means of ships, these were reconsidered in light of King Liche’s previous experiences in Ardania.  There was a theory proposed, one that explained how Snow Maidens got to places that didn’t really have snow. It assumed that the snowy archers were lured by patches of snow left by elemental havoc caused by a certain mage. A more popular theory held that snow maidens were just really, really dense.  Port construction at Solarstrond came under attack by a smaller, less impressive turtle. The attack was beaten off, but even the sturdiest of Svart and engineer felt uneasy about the prospect of going out to the seas held in control by monsters. Luckily, two new options presented themselves.  “Is that a bleedin’ flyin’ ship?” “A bleedin’ HAUNTED flyin’ ship” “I’m really sorry and I promise not to break any more ship-in-bottle bottles with death glyphs carved over them or any sort of arcane and sinister looking containers” "Heretic spells and modern occult technology have enabled undead mages to raise entire naval fleets into the air. It is of great concern that their Flying Galleuses do not fall apart in strong wind, as we had hoped. On the contrary, these ships harness the power of the wind to reach their destination at great speed and they leave trails of death and destruction wherever they go." - From "The Overall Description of Everything" by Master Alfus Bumblegate “Mighty interesting use of spell weave there… This… This might actually work! TO THE FORGE, LADS” *sigh* “Where there’s a smith...” The second option was, of course, teleportation. “Oh, yes!”
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Aug 25, 2014 05:05
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Torrannor posted:
It's an undead ship, so it might be Golddale Duck I The worst thing about terrain splotches is that Fertile Ground comes in 7 hex batches, but other useful terrain (well, Icy) comes in one hex. Kind of hard to do landscaping. And I hate Krell for loving up my mountains. AND ANOTHER THING: while the game doesn't tell you that, at least as far as I have noticed it, but river fording is great old movement point eating bitch. That's why I'm making the new road. Bloodly posted:Ah, Age of Mythology... Anubites are the best unit ever, even if not entirely useful or powerful (unlike tree eating bronze giants or rebuilding automatons) kvx687 posted:8 cities on a five city limit? That's, what, six unrest and 50 gold per turn in upkeep? Might want to switch to the other branch and pick up a few government upgrades. I wanted to show unrest mechanics, as I've never gotten them Huh, didn't know they tax your for it. Well, bummer.
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Aug 25, 2014 10:23
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Chapter 11: The Strange Times Of Peace Finally, the good-ish people of Baytown could breathe a sigh of relief. No more would they sheep wander into the hills to return as half burnt horribly mutated monstrosities. No longer would a wandering cow die while birthing beast headed monstrosities. Magic hills were, once again, hills. However, the lush grasses and getle bushes led to many more teenage trysts, so the benefits were debatable.  “Green Turtles are a newly hatched (50 to 100 years ago) species of Giant Turtle. Due to their young age, Green Turtles are a little smaller in size and have softer teeth and shell. Moreover, their breath is still not as strong as the breath that can prevent you from studying the more mature species up close“ “Hold fast, men! A slightly smaller giant turtle approaches!”  Due to the multitudes of creatures infesting the waters and shores of Long Shores, it was decided that building a fleet was currently unfeasible. Fortunately, mages had all sorts of strange solutions to mundane problems. Such as making a donkey riding knight fly.  “Not even the most horrible critter of the sky is safe from my lance now! Chaaarge!” “TASTE STEEL AND FURY!” “I wonder where did they get that gold… It doesn’t matter, I guess. Come, noble steed, there are more sky-borne villains to kill!” “Billiam? Not even William or Will? I don’t think I want someone like that in our employ. If you’re a hero worthy of a legendary name, you can probably a more graceful one. Now leave me to my research” “I’ll just tell him that the realm can’t support another hero” “That wouldn’t be a lie, either. Where does the money go… I swear, once I’m done, I’ll find the culprit and flay him” “My lord accepts your offers, however, he can’t attend himself. Business of the realm, you understand” “Matters of the realm… yes, of course… you have to take care… of the… realm… yes” “Turtle soup is back on menu, boys” “Yay...”  “I don’t like those soldiers milling about. They should stay away from our lands” “Yet somehow there’s no way to deal with them.” “Lich should have crushed him. *tpfu* For someone who’s mostly bone, he should have more spine!” “You forget yourself. That’s almost treason talk. Step lightly, Veremoud. I don’t want you to end up like those fools from Serne Vary” “This new road is really comfortable, it let me get back home and visit my family. I haven’t seen them in months” “Unfortunately, I remember why I had gone to military” “I saw Snorri’s mum” There were issues larger than seeing Snorri’s mother (but nobody is saying that was a small issue). Like lake Deadlin disappearing, to be replaced by a dry desert wasteland. Row upon row of quality metal boat rusted, stuck in sand banks, unable to move. Where travelers milled about dodging undead seagulls, only decaying docks stood. Whores no longer plied their trade in the wharf, leaving behind well polished boardwalk and scents of suspicious origin. It was a disaster both for the people of Serne Vary, and collectors of ancient knick-knacks everywhere.  “Fist sky monsters, then – sea monsters! Nothing can escape the grasp of the Flying Knight!” “Die, you blood suckers, die!” “Wait… the spell… It’s waning! M’lord, I beseech thee! Grant me flight once more, so I could deal with these pests swiftly!” “DO YOU SEE THIS, my liege! I triumph again” “Even if my heart is troubled over Vampirium…” “Well, then, my noble stallion companion, we will proceed on foot. I think the attentions of our king are more needed elsewhere” “Now then, we must prepare for the jungles, hills and mountains ahead” “Magic Potion Of Smell Most Foul That Killeth Bugs, Beetles And All Sorts of Other Crawlers – check” “Donkey climbing gear – check” “Maps of dubious quality – check…” “Now listen there, lass, I won’t have puss dripping out of my arse for three months because you mages got yerself killed. Here’s some wisdom that they don’t teach you at whatever mage school you go. The best way to avoid getting shot or stabbed…” “...is good magical shield?” “Nay! It’s avoiding getting stabbed or shot in the tha first place. Here, let me show you something…” “AAAAAAAAARGH!” “AYEEEEEEE” “That’s it! GET EVERY LAST BIT OF GOLD! Search every last nook and cranny! Turn over beds, graves and tables! Melt down marriage gifts and dowries! Get money lenders to give what they got – or slay them on the spot for treason! We will find money for that witch! “GET THE LEVIATHAN!” “And find an assassin to kill that deceiving, money grabbing witch. A cheap assassin, we can barely afford hired thugs” “I wish they had given me flight for more than just to report that I saw a giant turtle heading for the port. Giant turtles are the only thing heading for that port anyway”.  “Create artefact… a lot of good that does… It’s not create life, not by any measure, and that would be useful…” “If this is a ghost ship, what do they weight their shots with?” “Guilt?”  "Some say that these tree spirits have existed in Ardania long before the men. Others believe that demonwoods are the creation of Andrevus the Dark Mage. But the one point upon which all are agreed: demonwoods, no matter their history, harbor ferocious hatred towards all other creatures." - From "The Overall Description of Everything" by Master Alfus Bumblegate Sir Hugue Dry Branch was caught between a bear and a hard place. A moving hard place, since demonwood roamed about, like a malevolent tumbleweed, killing and causing destruction wherever it went. Fortunately, Sir Hugue was a very experienced knight armed with enchanted gear and a Great Mage for a patron – and great wish to add some demonic dry branches to his shield.  “A barony will be granted to a righteous servant of the lord… concerning the type of barony, it might be made up of honours and, or manors… manors, thus comprising of following types of land: “Demesne, the part directly controlled by the lord and used for the benefit of his household and dependents, whatever they might be…” “Dependent holdings carrying the obligation that the peasant household supply the lord with specified labour services or a part of its output - or gold in lieu thereof - subject to the custom attached to the holding, as well agreeing to summons to levy in case of invaders from worlds unlike our own…” “That seems specific…” “Free peasant land, without such obligation but otherwise subject to manorial jurisdiction and custom, and owing gold rent fixed at the time of the lease…” “Sound a little arcane, but it might be useful. Some of the Svarts aren’t as loyal as the others… Comes with having subjects that can think for themselves, I suppose…” “Though they could improve cataloguing on this library… Interesting it might be, this is not what I was looking for” A rare kind of person laments when luscious grass springs up in dry wasteland and when fertile chernozem replaces lands that oozed death. Hopefully, that person is a Svart overseer of a mana extractor that used to convert all those death vapors to mana and not a morbid youth or a necromancer. Morbid and moping youth were a great danger in lands where necromancers could be found, and necromancers were a threat anywhere.   “Well, this is a pleasant change of pace. I actually like seeing landscape that’s not just a patchwork of unrelated lands” “Speak for yourself. I was hunting down a lizardman. Wrote a book about a lizard serving wench who was not in control of her passions, dallied with her master, she did. Attrocious piece of writing, that, have to kill him.  “So, you see, this is a very equal proposal. Could you please inform your master?” “Equal it may be, but it’s nonsensical in extreme” “I’m sure his majesty, King Lich VI, will be happy to agree”  "Rune magic of the Svarts is based on the deep knowledge of the essence of minerals and elements. As far as I understand it, certain combinations of elements, applied on metal or stone bases in a special way, create 'force currents' with incredibly powerful vibrations. It turns out, Svart women can feel these vibrations and manage them. That's why all Svart girls sit a special test. Those who show particular talent in managing the power of runes become apprentices of Rune Witches, and others become Rune Warriors." (from "Chronicles of New Worlds" written by Master Vardies Teleran)  “Not much practice to be hand since the lands of death are kind of gone. It is agreed that we need to some on hand burning experience” “With all the money spent on the schools and academies, you are more than welcome to join the ranks of the military” “Thank you. We do expect to have the finest mageweave armor. After all, we have to shelter from the elements, and the rune halls didn’t prepare us for that like military training would” “And I don’t think you can afford to lose such kind of university trained magical talent” “What can we afford these days, with taxes wasted on burghers and mayors and other incompetents and corrupt managers, and plunder being the main influx of money…” “Don’t think us vain, Rurik. These silk robes might look fine, but the glitter is more magical than material. Magic requires the finest of materials, much like any crafting. A Svart knows that better than anyone” “And shamans don’t know anything, foul dirty beasts” “And finally, protection potions. I heard Long Shores are far away from being a pleasure shard”  And so they marched off to conquest, leaving behind them the University of Gatehouse, with its institutes of Runes, Higher Casting, Lower Casting, Caligraphy and Fine Smithy, Svarticulture, it’s halls that stretched for kilometers and wide, well lit auditoriums, vivariums, dissection rooms, hissing and gnashing filled armored basements, observatories that mapped the alien skies, cavernous sprocket libraries, small parks, inns…  And, of course, a magic bazaar that sold alcohol as often as it sold magic. No drinking was allowed on premises since drunk Svarts and a floating bazaar was a dangerous combination indeed.  “Hey, a forest! Haven’t seen those in a while” “How about the ones in Long Shores?” “I refuse to step through any Gate that leads me to a world filled with angry floating gas bags, carnivorous turtles of unusual size and killer mosquitoes”  King Lich VI fell to the ground clutching his skull in his hands. Parchment and books scattered all around. “Argh, my head!” “The Grum-gog is happening…” “I swear it was less painful last time. Must be all the studying. I need some rest, but not now. I am so, so close…”He started collecting the books that now lied on the floor.
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Aug 27, 2014 13:28
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Chapter 12: Dragons of Color Nol Ulcarn was under siege. The city didn‘t put much opposition, so the Honour guard could just swoop in from their camp in the hills, hack at the gates a little, and then retire back for drinks. There was a reason fo that: most of the defending elves have already been killed fighting the monsters in the surrounding area. Correction: there had been a reason for that. A nearby Koatl temple was already destroyed under the relentless advance of Svarts.  And Sir Hugue, never a man to back away from a challange, was currently fighting two giant turles. With a bit of help from his far away mentor, the turtles were losing.  If Svarts hacking at one‘s gates were a problem, a flying ghost ship firing cannons at your walls was an even bigger problem.  “How do they set rocks on fire?” “That be no ordinary rocks and no ordinary flame. These ghosts burn with lust for vengeance!” And more Svarts were teleported in to subdue the wild the continent. “I swear, there’s already moss growing between my armor plates. I hate this place!” Back in Howling Sorrow, human warriors kept flooding through the gates. Dirty and unkempt, armed with whatever bits of steel they could find, they were great in one thing only: numbers. “More enemies means more glory, lads.” “Well, at least our lord says that Krel seems to be in an agreable mood. Maybe we won't have to turn Plains of Blood into actual plains of blood” “Uh-oh” “That turned out alright, so it seems”  Volundr was down on his knees and heaving water. “MY FORGE!” “The order stands: drive deep into Long Shores, tear the shard apart, but find that whirpool!” “I promise to be back with you all soon... so soon” Nor Ulcarn had fallen and Svarts were marching down the streets... and out through the other hate. “You there! Elf!” “Who, me?” “You're the new military governor! Make sure the city stays productive or I'll skin ya!” Svart really had their hands full...of enemies! The lands to the west of the elvish city were craggy and forested, and filled with various monsters.  "Today, my esteemed readers, we shall speak of Trolls. For a long time -- indeed, since the collapse of the Gigantic Midget Tower -- these magnificent monsters were considered extinct. Evidence of this ancient race could only be seen on tapestries or in an exhibit in the Royal Museum, called "The pee stain of the Troll slain by King Marius IV". But to our great suprise Trolls were not so easy to destroy after all. Remnants of species were discovered by Jacques Gnar de Crunch, the naturalist, during the Troubles. Later, Trolls gladly and extensively multiplied (thanks to the infinite wisdom of our Great Mage), and their population is no longer in danger of extinction. Today, like 300 years ago, you can encounter these green giants in any market in Ardania, merrily swinging their clubs about. Trolls stand out from other monsters owning to their size, strenght, the speed at which they heal -- not to mention their unhurried thought processes." From "The Evergreen Ones", an article written by the noble werewolf Wolfus de Crunch. Renegade trolls were mucking about in the hills, quite the sizeable nuisance for any warband in the region.  “Life elementals are not quite as harmless as they seem. Many hunters for their valuable healing substance have proven that it is worse to die from an excess of life in the body than from wounds” And swirling green cloud, usually called life elementals, roamed the countryside, lost in this land of actually living.  “Flogging Peasants, Flaying Nobles And Other Acceptable Means of Conducting Realm Towards Accumulation Of Wealth” “And you say the ghost ship just fished it out of sea? Well, I'll pass it to our king when I can”  “ANOTHER gauntlet of death? Well, isn't that just interesting...” The ghastly ship had reached the edge of the shard. It lingered over the mountain a little before sailing off to harass a leviathan.  A caravan of Svarts was making its way through the jungle. “I hate this place. And sprocket donkeys are all fouled up” “Argh, shut your trap. Our lord wants us to wash the gate with mana, so we will do it” “See? Back to the elf town, boys. There might not be wenches there, but I bet they still have booze” “Flying knight strikes again! Yes, flee, flee, you covardly fish!” “Now then, to look for a bloated corpse, possibly hugging a scroll box to his chest” “No, this is just a hedge wizard and his collection of somewhat magical trinkets he used to sell to dupes” “Ah, here it is!” “Alright, the elves have these puoches. Whenever you're cut, just grind them, mix them with water and apply it to the wound. And whatever you do, don't smoke it” “THE SKY IS MADE OF DIAMONDS” “Krolm give me strength, that idiot smoked it, didn't he? Capture him before he hurts himself” Sir Hugue slept in the shade of the leaves. He wasn't tossing nor turning, yet still he was talking in his dreams. “...If by setting one's heart right every morning and evening, one is able to live as though his body were already dead, he gains freedom in the Way. His whole life will be without blame, and he will succeed in his calling...”His donkey was a lot more silent.   “Your Highness! Now cast the new spell and you will win this duel!” “Like I said: I am the greatest of all!” “Your Highness! You have cast a spell never seen before! That is a true feat even for a Great Mage – now your name will be forever added to Alley of Magic stars!” “Like I said: I am the greatest of all!!!”  “I am very impressed, my colleague! You have shown that there is no end to magic and its spells! Maybe you really do have a chance to defeat the United One. I am looking forward to meeting you in Ardania. And... Good luck!” “LIKE I SAID: I AM THE GREATEST OF ALL!!!” “All right, you lot, disperse, nothing to look at here”Mumbling Svarts left the square where a small wooden stage stood. Only a ring of Honorable warriors and rune warrior auxilia surounded it and three actors: one dressed in dark rags and black planks that poorly imitated King Lich's armor, another colored purple and likely playing Espritster. “By order of Rurik, you are arrested for spreading subversive ideas, staging a play without permission from Guild of Actors, driving a pageant cart while drunk, as well as numerous crimes against writing, theatre and act of acting itself. You may also be charged for insulting the audience's intelligence. What say you?”The acting troupe looked on to the surrounding troops before the one playing King Lich stepped forward... “ I say...”He said while drawing a hidden axe... “DEATH TO THE DEAD USURPER! For freedom!”The whole troupe quite literally jumped the troops that came to arrest them. “Aw Sorrows, to arms!”A Rune Warrior spun her axe and cut down an 'actor' dressed like crude immitation of Veremoud down. “Cut them down, but leave at least one alive! We need to know if someone organized them!And as the Svarts brawled in a melee, a tall shadow flashed a content grin and disappeared into an alleyway. Normally, I don't like to break the flow of LP to say something, especially since my explanations lack finesse and other things that would help not sound like a scrub, but whoever wrote this quest end series of dialogue is a twat that makes your Great Mage sound like a hysterical drooling idiot  Poor immitations or no, King Lich did cast a spell to summon a dragon. “Summoning a dragon... None have done it before... It feels... good” "The rainbow dragons are creatures of legends and myths. To be fair, in search of rare creatures I've been to all the worlds, but I have never seen a Rainbow Dragon. I believe that if they ever existed, they are long extinct. More likely they have always been a product of the rich imaginations of the ancients." (from the travel notes of "Wild Monsters" by famous researcher Sir Atten Vidborough) The Rainbow dragong flapped his wings around, nodded in a approval to see a land free of Dremer and flew off to fight for his first lord in eons.
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Aug 29, 2014 09:01
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You know what's worse than prismatic and chromatic dragons? Klizmatic dragons! Here, a joke for my Lithuanian readers Also, the most shameless of self bumps I consider to have worked fairly hard on this, all to fall on deaf ears and blind eyes https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zySu1w3wUe8 Chapter 13: Old Friends Redux  Knowledge in the hands of the masses is dangerous to everyone, up to and including the masses themselves. They never have the necessary magical training and experience to use the arcane secrets, and as for mundane ones... well, it's really hard to rebel against a lord who can kill half of your revolution with a fireball, then raise them as undead troops to crush the other half. That's why the new Book palace was placed in a mostly isolated location, well, away from the people and their excesses (usually drunken brawls and fires). Keen eyed guards patrolled the perimeter, always walking in threes, trained in proper “is someone there” drills and ready to strike down any luscious woman or friendly drunk that might approach them. Inside the stone walls, Svarts studied various books and scrolls that troops brought back from their conquest. Reading, writing, debating findings and research – all was done inside the palace. These Svarts, of course, lacked for nothing, from axe training range to a still that made pumpkin shine.  The Military academy was placed in a place much more different. Bleak, burnt fields surrounded the tall structure where military minded Svarts were drilled in all matter of military arts. From logistics and fletching to working in concert with mages, everything that had anything to do with going places and killing people was taught in the academy. And considering the amount of fireballs hurled in training, having a pre-burnt area helped.  All that training and knowledge would prove invaluable if Krel proved (again) to be less than trustworthy. While individual companies of men were poorly equipped and trained, the sheer mass of them could prove disastrous, especially if mages regained Krel's confidence.  "As I've already mentioned, the Dragons of Ardania were believed to have been extinct until, during the reign of the last Great King, elves started summoning other dragons from the world of Illis. As I said before, there were two types of these dragons - red and golden. Now, look at the board. "What do we know about Red Dragons? Write this down: the red variety is, as a rule, a little smaller and significantly more aggressive than their gold counterparts. They boast a hide of crimson color, scaly wings and a rather large... "Ok, this isn't funny. Who's drawn this filth on the board?" (From the lecture notes of Professor Fostus the Reader) Sir Hugue was in pursuit of another Demonwood. Naturally, few knights thought that their adventures would include fighting malicious trees, but nothing was certain in Ardania. And plantlife was probably the only aspect of reality that lacked readily available monsters, so whoever fell a demonwood could boast to have killed not only beasts, undead and embodiments of elements, but plants, too. However, not all was well in the hunt. Sir Hugue had just crossed a small clearing while chasing the vicious tree when said clearing burst into flames. A follow up roar announced the culprit: a red dragon! This was turning out to be the best hunt of Sir Hugues life.  Even if it involved rescuing a trapped tax collector. As far as nightly rescues went, tax collectors were at the opposite side of the scale desirability than maiden princesses under a curse.  “Come fight me on the ground, you overgrown flying newt!”But dragons in Ardania (and other worlds) were usually too smart to fight fair, so the red dragon wordlessly declined the invitation.  In return (and out of spite) Sir Hugue destroyed the dragon's nest. Ugly places, those were, always worthy of torch and pitchfork. Usually filled with treasure, too. This one also contained one Chandler von Chauntleroy, a Chanter from Chantry who only spoke in chant. About the only good thing about him was that he had a Wand of Helia.  “Maybe the old bag of bones has a point after all, with that necromancy…” “Haha, you flying fiend! How do you like this? I have conquered thine home and I have conquered the skies! Truly you are no match for my skill and valor!”And so there was one less dragon in the world.  “Noble steed, don’t you think that those sea serpents look dragon-like? Indeed, I think they do, and they might be in league with dragons! We should despatch them post haste!  "Rune Seers. Priestesses who have reached the highest level in creating runes and using their energies. Nothing is impossible for them." (from "Chronicles of New Worlds" written by Master Vardies Teleran) “They say that time in the jungle changed some rune witches. Like they’re not themselves anymore. Odd, you know?” “That’s jungle for you. Hot and damp all the time, not a right place for a Svart. I would go crazy if they stationed me there” “And being on a shard of a dead world is better?” “Well, for one thing, a lot of the new deaders here are me own doing!” Svarts, after some teleportation shenanigans, managed to get to the other side of the mountains. And there they met no one else, but lizardmen!  "Although Koatl Spears are creatures of the lowest rank, they are the backbone of the koatl army. They are perfectly trained to use shields and spears, and their weapons are tipped with obsidian spearheads. Their natural cold and calculating caracter, combined with their total disregard for their own safety, make them very dangerous opponants." -From "The Overall Description of Everything" by Master Alfus Bumblegate Even if one Koatl had been in King Lich’s service way back when, these were independent Koatls (they rarely kept any contact between villages anyway) and they didn’t know better.  “This… this is the last time. Break your word again and mark my word, I will burn Fading to the ground. I’m not going to take cities and I’m not going to resettle. Desert, as far and wide as eye can see”. “Huh... treason? No, no… never…” Simple Koatl spearmen were no match for Svart elite (and rainbow dragon), and the lizardmen died, with their temple falling our around them. However, out of the cellars emerged… a miracle.  "Those of us who have dedicated their lives to serving the goddess of the Sun deserve nothing but praise and admiration. I know perfectly well from my own experience how painful the flame's touch can be, and how torturous its bright light. A werewolf must possess truly inhuman courage and resolution to pass the goddess' test and become a Wolf of Helia. Wolves of Helia are creatures of a transcendental order. The price for losing all humanity seems negligible in comparison to their newly obtained powers." (From "Howling at the Sun", an article by the noble werewolf Wolfus de Crunch.) “Don’t worry, Svart, we serve the same lord, you and I… And I have served him a lifetime ago” “Oh yea? What does the lord hate the most in the world?” “Goblins” “Eh, you seem to be who you say you are. Tag around until we can get his attentions. He’s right busy as of late” Meanwhile, the dragon, taking in his current surroundings, admired just how clear the air was and how he could see for so far. “Might permanently ground us, that one” “making GBS threads on statues and pecking eyes out of corpses ain’t that bad, Talon, or have you forgotten?” With his newfound sight, the dragon spotted two sets of gates, close together like twins. This was sure to be major trade intersection in the future, provided those weren’t dead crystal worlds were acid rained from the sky or some such nonsense.  Nonsense, however, presented itself in the shape of several well dressed - suspiciously well dressed - bandits who aimed their bow at the dragon and demanded money. They looked quite lordly and the dragon decided to defer to his leadership, just in case.  “I dannae why we’re sparing you louts, but orders are orders” “I’m sorry, m’lord, it’s just… well, we have been robbed, all of us, and we got desperate… the man in the green hood” “Man in a green hood? Interesting” With a mighty kick, the door of the hall in Lichgrad flew open. “What in Krolm’s name…” “THIS IN KROLM’S NAME! In his name, you will find these foul goblins and kill them! Or have you forgotten who is your god?”With that said, the barbarian woman turned on the spot and left. “I wonder how often that happens” "These goblins are real professionals. The arrows they shoot always fly like the wind, and always strike their targets. Often enough it's even the target that the Champions were aiming at!" - From the collected works of His Majesty's Advisor But the truth of the matter was that there were goblins infesting the lands, goblins of the most horrible kind: archers devoted to Grum-gog. Like as not, they were here to check out what had happened to the swamps, as Grum-gog favored bog, marshes, and other such foul places. And wherever there’s a foul place, goblins are sure to follow, because only there are they at least marginally accepted.  That would probably explain the location of Stoneclaw. A city in the jungle and nearing some marches, it was a prime spot to be overlooked for settlement. The two neighboring gate were probably how the goblins got there while fleeing places where they weren’t wanted. Having goblins in mind, those places were many.  At the same time, Sir Hugue was checking out the singular gate he had discovered some time ago. The flight spell still held, so he swooped in majestically… “What the stinking hell is this?”...and swooped back in almost as majestically, with sir knight promising himself to explore some other world.  Knowing that the alliance is probably not going to last long, the spies in the employ of mysterious spymasters were quick to piece together an updated picture of Krel’s realm. It seemed that it had been touched, somewhat, by Elspritster’s magic. Other than that, the ground was covered with warcamps, all evies from the people displaced by magical disasters. Without a home to return, they needed a reason to go on, and pulling them into the military was the solution… provided there was no war where they would get slaughtered. The only worrying thing about it all was the one ghost ship.  The city of Stoneclaw was apparently ruled by a mysterious swarms of mosquitoes that buzzed their orders and asked for sacrifices from time to time (Sheimus, the fattest gnome in the city, had already been offered three times and survived each of them, something that could not be said about some of the mosquitoes). Not a pleasant place. Especially considering that there were sea serpents, life elementals and…  a Greater Fire elemental nearby. Well, of course there had to be a greater fire elemental. How would we do without them. In light of such developments, sir Hugue decided to check out another world.  It proved to be a lot more tolerable.  So tolerable that there was even a small, easily wreckable monster lair nearby. Spilling blood of the not-innocent improved sir Hugue’s mood.  Sir Hugue might have been riding around in a pleasant new world, but there was work still to be done in Long Shores. To that end, Wolves and Svarts had been teleported on the coast and were clearing out hostile inhabitants to the north of the continent while the dragon was doing the same with the sea monsters.  Back in Howling Sorrow, the last of the goblins had been beheaded and had his noggin tarred and put on a stick (it was said to ward off spirits - all of them, not just evil ones - since goblins were too stupid for “wardings”). This pleased Krolm mightily and beer was said to be extremely strong that day.  And even if he wasn’t affected by the divine beer, sir Hugue was having fun chasing down bears.   “Yes! Burn, you miserable sea wretches! Nothing can stand against the power of the runes!” That day, mysterious, haunting pouding of hammers could have been heard in the mountains. Some people said that it was the crew of the ghost ship fixing their ghastly vessel and affixing armor - armor of HATE!  But all that paled against the importance of one spell…  One spell that had to bring back those, who had been lost in service to the Lich Crown.  “Welcome back, my loyal subjects, to the land of the living!”
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Aug 31, 2014 14:56
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Well, like I claimed in the OP, Warlock 2 is as much of a sequel as Dark Crusade was, which was released as a stand-alone game: same engine, includes stuff from previous expansions, new campaign, two new factions, etc. But DC was billed as "stand alone expansion pack" since Relic wanted that MP player money (how else would you make them pay for playing the original 5 races?). But that's just my two cents. Chapter 14: Claiming The Shores  With the resurrection spell secure, King Lich VI could once again turn to the governance of the realm. One thing was readily apparent. “Krel still seems to be crazy. Might be something with these human mages. First Miralbus, now this...” And then there were food riots. Food riots happened because of starvation, and starvation was caused by regular riots in Uglin, the breadbasket of the empire. It was unclear what was it exactly that made Svarts riot and what could be done to appease them. So in the mean time, a temporary solution would do: the newly resurrected Rurik's Men would garrison the city.  "One day an Ordained Shaman known as Muzzgol the Seeker paid a visit to Oozegak the Omnivorous and asked him: "If you saw a Monster-Eating Spider in your way, what would you do?" "I eat it", said Oozegak. "What if next you came across a troop of Paladins of Dauros?" "I eat them", was his swift reply. "But what if a Great Mage himself appeared before you?" "I'll bow before him, then gobble him up". Upon hearing these words, Muzzgol cried out: "Truly, you are the Ordained Shaman, not me!"" From "101 conversations with Ordained Shamans". Situation wasn't helped by the fact that troops in Long Shores made a horrible discovery.  “*buuuurp* Hullo! We herd or lord survived, so we traveled, and traveled. Got caught for eating Koatl young. *riiiip* So, thenk you, we are ready to serve” “Why is it that goblins always survive everything, and not the more useful men...”Still, there was a little bit of cosolation in the fact that his Wolves of Helia were back and fighting the good fight. At least someone sensible from the old world!  Speaking of gods and temple warriors, said Wolves uncovered a temple ground in mangroves to the north of Long Shore shards. This proved to be a problem of a dimension previously unknown to King Lich VI: administration. Unlike undead (who only ever needed one human scribe per city to tally skeletons and occasionally feed the bats) and monster kingdoms who existed in a state of somewhat controlled (by strongweremen)chaos, Svarts needed laws, documentation and other things that ate paper and produced headaches. And that administrative issue was made even worse by Planestriders, less pretentious humans and elves, who, without an existing werewolf nobility to scare (and scar) them into submission, where bringing up customs, court decisions and various other conflicts of interest that got in the way of solving the Great Mage conflicts of interest.  Sir Hugue, however, was far removed from such mundane trifles. He was engaged in the high art of crumpling bears and skewering life elementals. “Haha, now this is how a questing knight should live!” “Come one, come all, dragons, come and taste my blade!” “Public opinion manipulation or the high art of telling serfs to serve and peasants to toil because reasons for doing so are many and varied, and better know by you, penned by Master Kefkus von Zema” “This might be of use to my lord, Dauros knows those peasants are always up to no good” “But now... en garde, dragons!” However, he wasn't faced by just dragons...  There were life elementals, and arrows coming from a city, and some wild werewolves, too. Individually, they weren't big threats. But all together, they were too much for sir knight to handle. And so sir Hugue Dry Branch, Grand Stubborn Master, under orders of his distant liege to expand the realm, died fighting monsters in a shard he didn't know the name of. He couldn't have died happier than that.  Svart ships are made using unprecedented technology. Svarts do not use sails, so they build special machines to move oars. Such rowing engines allow their ships to ignore changeable winds, and slowly and steadily approach the target in any weather. Boats, salvaged from the sands of former lake Deadlin, where transported over to long shores, where they were restored in the large dock facilities and put to good use. Like ferrying Svarts from one jungle hell hole to another.  The dockworkers had to hide, however, as rebellious Svarts peppered the docks with bolts before disappearing into the hills. “Death to the tyrant!” They even engaged the first of Krel's troops to enter Long Shores.  Any sort of help was far far away, as the elite units were engaging, among other things, swarms of giant murderous mosquitoes. “I regret ever wanting to cut a mosquito with me axe!” “Skeletons AGAIN? I thought we were out of Howling Sorrow!” “M'lord, we have come to a conclusion” “Spiders are bad” “They really are, especially the giant ones” “And there's even bigger ones... and ones that live in cold climated... and mucosas...” “Yes, they are all very bad. You should kill them. That would make us – US – all very happy” Friendship with Helia was proving to be more and profitable. Wolves of Helia were very welcome and very useful in the fight against, well, everything, but the goddess also had spells that improved the crop growth, something that was of great interest to the starving subjects of King Lich VI.  Meanwhile, giant spiders were engaged by mages of Krel. Apparently, everybody hated spiders, no matter who their were or where they came from.  “Razor-1 to Lichtower. Entering Ashewind Dale. Temperature is critical, we won't be able to remain airborne for long. Transmiting what we can before RTB” “There is a sizeable volcano near the gate, Lichtower, no way to make beachhead. I'm spotting some “double dome” up north.  “Seems to be a friendly city up north...” “Scratch that, Lichtower. Seeing a hostile circling over the city. Attempting to read...” "Now, where was I, before I was interrupted by that obscene drawing on the board? Ah, yes.. Gold Dragons. Like the aforementioned Red Dragons, they arrived from another world, but adapted themselves to this one and ultimately spread out all over Ardania. "Gold Dragons are more intelligent and better educated than the red variety. Among their species one may find plenty of philosophers, poets and brilliant scientists. For this reason it is not wise to regard Red Dragons solely as warrior-beasts, a point of view sadly but widely held by our thick-headed military. "Yes, Perkins? Has the bell rung yet? I'm sorry, I was engrossed in the lecture. Just to remind you, the test on Hymenoptera is tomorrow. Don't be late." (From the lecture notes of Professor Fostus the Reader) “It's a 'golden boy', tower, 'golden boy'! Didn't know any of them remained in Ardania” “This ain't Ardania, boys. Keep your distance, continue sweep”  “Lichtower, I don't know what I'm seeing...” “By Fervus...” “Unidentified hostiles on our twelve... Razor flight is bugging out!” Meanwhile, back in Long Shores, King Lich VI decided to see what the runes could do. Runes of Protection didn't do much, but whenever a nearby warrior was attacked, some part of the damage was reflected by a faint golden glow.   “Eating is the best a man can do, and to eat more, they have to be healthy! Heel, my pretties, heel!” Somewhere, a giant spider laid in its own ichor as a pile of crumpled chitin. And in Lichgrad, fireworks soared as concerned citizens awarded King Lich VI for his triumph against nature's horrible mistakes. Ale and firework helped people forget that while food production was on the up and up, there still wasn't enough to feed all of them.  “M'lord, Silver Silks were the hardest hit by the starvation, as you see. Frozen lands, deserts, dead plains... not the best place to find food. And the fish in the river haven't come any more alive either” “That's why we had to see what buildings needed manning the most” “The undergound storage, for example, is very important. Many people want to keep their items safely locked away. Some of them are quite vile, but I only know that from glimpses. Our contract doesn't let us look” “Regardless, this is why we needed all the hands we have to walk the halls, check the records, all that important stuff” “That why the Jewelry plant is down?” “'fraid so, m'lord. Jewel sprockets, gold automatons... All that is very precise equipment, needs a lot tending and care. Still more profitable than actual craftmen – though we do have a few of those, masters to the last – but constant overwatch, m'lord, we need it” “I see. Well, the food problems will be solved, soon. We have found the riot instigators and they have been tried. Now we're looking for a certain man in a cloak...” The rainbow dragon was graceful. So graceful that he could weave his way around the shots fired by the ghost ship. So nible, so beautiful in flight, so not like the kraken that they were fighting.  “Helia giveth, Helia taketh away. And if Krel crosses me one more time... Well, fading will be more of a desert world than burnouts, I'll see to that”.    And to give Krel an outlet for his energy (and manpower) landbridges were raised from the sea and spells were prepared to lower hills along the way. Hopefully, Krel would funnel his people in Ashewind Dale, and whatever happened there, well...  “Lichtower, this is Talon-1. Spotting another 'double dome'. Also, applying to get this shard to be declared 'the worst shard of all time', over” “I don't think I want a population boom so soon after a major famine... Still, it might come in useful in the future.” “Now, to find that green-clad troublemaker, wherever he is” But before that, there was a new trouble: a freshly captured city full of goblins and gnomes, with no werewolves to speak off and no ingrown fear of King Lich that had been fostered on a long sea voyage. A horrible mess, in other words. “Oh no, I am not going to deal with this illiterate mess again” “Fort Gobbo! Here you will stand and if necessary die in the defense of the realm from invaders of other shards!” “And probably guard the seas. I think that's the only reason why you built defensive walls in the bay” “Well, best of luck. I have cities full of subjects that would understand if I was sending them to death... and wouldn't be sent to death in the first place”  "Veterans are glorious warriors, hardened by dozens of battles. Their distinguished status is only given by those who can make mincemeat of a minotaur in a one-on-one fight -- and devour the entire spit-roasted pig in the merry revelry that follows. A squad of these true-hearted men can take down a dragon, especially if it has been rubbed with Lormidian spices and baked until its scales are glazed." (From "The Overall Description of Everything" by Master Alfus Bumblegate) “Hmpf. I don't like these news. These veterans might spell something bad” “So far, there's only one company and I don't know Krel is paying them” “There might always be more” “Well, we have more and better soldiers. And ours don't stay dead” Speaking of the dead...  “NOT AGAIN! NOOO!”
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Sep 2, 2014 16:25
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I bet it can be modded that instead of dragon, you'd start with one of the flying ships or Flycraft of Order and with the ability (cooldown: 20 turns) to spawn settlers. And heads up: Going to Nagasaki on Monday, so next week might be a little sparse on updates. Saturday will get one and there might be (unlikely) one on Monday, but then I wouldn't post anything till Friday or so. Chapter 15: Ancient Secrets, Not So Ancient Foes  “I hate many foul creatures: thieves, murderers, traitors, mutants, heretics, archers, goblins… But there’s one thing that I hate above them all” “And what is that?” “Flying cravens! I’d wring whatever they have for neck if I could reach them!” On a neighboring world, Krel’s archers were dealing with another universally (as in, in the whole universe) hated threat: sea serpents.   “So that is how it feels to be on the receiving end of a fireball… interesting…” Two newly resurrected prospectors were brawling on the floor in King Lich’s study while the rest of them looked on. “I think I need new army regulations about gambling in antechambers of afterlife” “Alright, you lot, split up, I need to you to garrison cities. Your crossbows and crows will be useful in sniffing out rioters and their ringleaders” One of the greatest mysteries of the universe was the proliferation of leviathans, krakens and other sea borne nasties, as nobody quite understood how they ended up in any source of water bigger than a river. Still, it was an amusing day for garrison archers everywhere. But not in Regret. Nothing was ever amusing in Regret.  “Step aside, noble warriors! Our runes will blast the windbags out of the sky! Taste fire and fury!” “Oh bloody hell, there’s more! Signal the mages! And get the ghost ship here, no way am I putting a boat in untested waters” “Only the dead and the elf stay in this place… truly it is damned!” “And zombies leave the most horrid taste in the mouth” Greater Fire Elemental, great and flaming, loomed in the center of the gently pulsing blue portal. Loomed for a spell… before launching a fireball at the Fort Gobbo and incinerating a few barrack buildings. “In the end of the day, it all comes down to the Elite Guard and his axe” “Ah, meta-teleportation. Rurik, have you ever been teleported?” “Can’t say I have, my lord” “Me neither. Well, not exactly in person… Anyways, it is a wondrous thing, meta-teleportation. Piercing the veil through magic and flinging a company of men, all through strength of will and sharpness of mind” “And some horribly complex incantations, of course” “Wonder what they want with Baytown?” “Relatives? Volcano? Why did Ol’Bones leave it there?” “To spite Regret. Or to have an interesting landmark” “Svarts! By the blessing of Helia, we are protected from all sort of elemental harm! This includes the fiery ravages of Ashwind Dale! We will lead the way and deal with the fiercest enemies!” “And what are we to do?” “You will follow and walk in the green grass that will sprout from lava. I know our lord and I have seen him tame lands far more fierce than this!” “Hold your staves high! Align the runes! Hum the tunes! And whoever misses will get a lashing!” “Yay!” “Don’t think I didn’t hear that, Morrigan, you freak!” “Apparently we’ll need our lord’s help sooner than I expected. Meditate on Helia’s wisdom until the mountain breaks apart as from a miracle” “Our lord is ever hasty and helpful! Charge, my brethren, charge!” Wolves of Helia, no longer truly wolfmen, surged over the broken burning ground, ignoring all the heat like it wasn’t there. In great bounds and leaps did they travel, stopping only to kick apart an imp portal.  “Now, m’lord, I’d wager a guess that your prior subjects were more pliable… or expendable. However, a Svart is no goblin…” “…a fact for which I thank Krolm daily…” “…well, yes. But as you noticed, that comes with certain problems, as thinking subject tend to think for themselves. Useful in a raid, but not that good in running a state” “Es Kaliborn learned that, he did” “Yes, and you were one of the many that taught him that lesson. All we’re saying is that we have compiled a scroll of common ways to endear yourself to your Svart subjects, lord” “A Svart is tought as Adamantium, so you have to beat him as such…” “Yes... No! That’s a not how…” “Alright, lads, keep your eyes peeled! If someone moves outside the walls after curfew – pin them. If you hear a small rock fall after dark – shoot at the opposite side.” “And keep crows circling all day, in groups of three and fire, always within visual distance of each group” “All wings, TAC-A reporting sunrise, I repeat, sunrise. Good snooping, boys” Life elementals might be lively buggers, but they were no match against the rune magic of the Seers. The swirling grey twisters stumbled and disintegrated, only to coalesce somewhere else in a health potion. And so the great wheel of life (elementals) turns again…  Ordained Shamans appeared to be able to weather any storm that raged in their bellies. Somewhat paradoxically, it also translated into an ability to weather actual storms. Or magical storms. This, in turn, made everyone sad, for it was now very unlikely that the Shamans would be blown away by wind, never to be seen (or more importantly, smelled or heard) ever again.  “At least it’s not a crow with a cheese. We’ll wait it out to attack” Archives of Tradition was a place where all the information pertaining to Svart traditions was held. Indexed and well guarded against misguided youths with notions of change and rebellions, it was a very important place that kept Svarts Svart-y and held back the decay of their culture. People employed here did their best to ensure that all the royal subjects were impressed with the importance – and meaning – of all traditions. And, in certain times, they convened to strike out certain traiditions that no longer applied (rarely ever happened) or to enshrine new ones. But even the obsolete ones didn’t disappear, as the notes pertaining to them would be held in deep, secure vaults, and a certain group of attendants would play them out to Svarts of historical inclinations or too young an age to say “no” to their parents.   While ground didn’t shake with King Lich’s every step, it did have to bend to his whim and magical prowess. And at this point, turning a patch of inhospitable, nay, deadly terrain into pleasant meadows was basically routine work.  “Oh no, no more goblins. Tell him to sod off” “Ffffire... my maties…” “I hate ‘double domes’” “Beats flying Wild Weasel runs, Razor-4. That’s how I lost my original wingcrow…”  "Rune Forewomen enjoy great respect among the Svarts, and not only as experienced warriors. They are also known for the fact that their abilities to control the runes are initially not so good, but later grow to be equal to those of Rune Witches. Sometimes the axes and armour of Rune Forewomen are decorated with dozens of runes that they use as virtuously as their weapons." (from "Chronicles of New Worlds" written by Master Vardies Teleran)  “Nobody crosses the gate, you vagabonds. Or else” “Our master might find a use for corpses, even if they are so badly burnt” “Hold your shield steady, lads. Everybody knows that dragon blasts are deflected harmlessly around those who do so” “Only fools caught with their shield down perish… Onundr, what did I just say, you oaf?!”  “Another wyrm pays for its arrogance. Loot the nest and burn it”Wordlessly, the wolves obeyed.  There were some strange, remarkable treasures in the find. A powerful, magical ring and a spell… “This is almost too dangerous… But Helia’s will is my will“ It wasn’t easy, to coat weapons in ‘life’, but it was possible, especially when incantations were helped by Chepleve pictures of intertwining wines. Unfortunately, no such preparatory work could be done on the rainbow dragon, who was the first one to achieve such blessings.  “Strike lightning and slay the beast!” “Into the pot of death I cast thee!” The dragon, battered, burned, bruised and bloodied barely hung in the air.  The last straw was when Elite Guard attacked a group of bears. One of the men struck a bear in the heck, but his grip wasn’t tight while the blow was mighty indeed, which sent the axe flying straight at the dragon’s head. And so it died.  “I am… alive?” “I’m as surprised as you are. Heroes usually get taken away instantly, unless there’s a prophecy or something like that” “Interesting. Well, you have my thanks and I promise to keep the secret of how you got here”King Lich wished ever so badly that he had an eyebrow to raise. “How did I get there?” “You sent vampires and a band of skeletons with your skeleton – I have no idea how one can have ‘spares’ – on a journey through pocket dimensions. One of the vampires was a mage and they found a way into the shards. And they traveled, traveled for a long, sealing gates with spells, before they ended up in Burnouts and placed you in a cave” “They then returned to Howling Sorrow, where they took over a city and called it Vampirium, flying your flag all the while”. “The lead vampire set up spells to raise the dead while others convened on how to deal with lack of food… so they preyed on planestriders, goblins and others.” “That worked until there was a clash over love, longing for home and, again, sustenance. Everyone died in an orgy of violence” “I found all of it in journal that survived in their villa. The last entry read ‘…I hope this meeting put an end to this strife. It is unbefitting of the chosen of King Lich himself’” “Apparently, the spells continued work even after their deaths and some skeletons eventually wondered their way to Alexiri and attacked locals, who saw your banner and assumed all of the dead were in league” “That is… sad. Callorun was a friend, as much as a vampire could be one. It seems that I forgot more than spells in death. I thank you for the story, but please, be silent about the ‘spares’. It’s but one of many methods, and one of many that have not occurred to my… colleagues”  “Speak of undead matters…” “Best ship them back to ser Hugue. Must miss these things somewhat fierce” “Well, as long as WE don’t need to be resurrected…” “Another drake bites the dust! We will conquer this shard, no matter what!” “Aaaaaayeeeeeeeeeeaaa...” “What... What are those things?!” And quick like that, a spell that would eventually help Wolves of Helia hunt down Tormentors was researched. It seemed that they would spend quite a lot of time and effort in this plane.  Barbarians of Krolm, not paying attention to any monsters on the shard, managed to build a temple city in the least hospitable place of the plane. When asked how they got to the free floating piece of shard, they answered:  “We jumped”And nobody asked anything else.  “I wonder where the serpent from that nest went… have to check it out” “Shields of copper and men of clay… I almost wish for Krel to betray us. Oh the disgrace, to be delayed because these so called ‘warriors’ can’t arrange in one file to get to the gate” With wild werewolves dead (and Hugue’s death both avenged and reversed), a dragon felled, and a sea serpent chased away, little remained in the way to stop conquest of Plaguedell.  King Lich VI cracked opened the spell of the mind of the Ancients. Wisdom old beyond measure, collected when magic was young and the world was younger, filled him.  Surges of light shot into his eyeholes, burning bright the knowledge and understanding of spellcasting.  “Yes, this rune is superfluous… This gesture is all wrong… This part is just rubbish, skip that… This all seems so clear, so easy know” “What can stand against this feeling of knowing?” “Terrorizing elves, I see!” “Wait, do those elves actually have… banners?” “WHAT IN KROLM’S NAME”
JcDent fucked around with this message at 16:39 on Sep 4, 2014 |
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Sep 4, 2014 16:36
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I truly appreciate all the praises I get, so keep 'em commin', I guess. I also started thinking about what LP I could possibly do after this. Fallout Tactics, maybe? Chapter 16: The Newly Dead  King Lich furrowed his phantom brow “I remember capturing you... and you going to fight the United one” “Those are things that happened, yes” “I guess this means war, again” “Oh, no, no no no! You had the full right to defeat me. I was a terrible Great Mage and my conduct was unbefiting of a member of the Circle”King Lich thought back to Miralbus the Hat and Sol de Torvega... “Well...” “Really, I should have known better. And you proved yourself to be a better people of my men that I ever was, so...” “Truce?” “Well, if I let Krel get away with that... sure, truce” “Yaaar... Load up... the mother-in-law! Time... time to stink up the place!” Sometimes, there is not time to get boats into place, to load up the troops and ship them where they are needed. And teleportation spells might be out of reach. In that case, a water walking spell is necessary. Casting it lets troop walk on rivers, lakes and seas like on gently springing ground. Trouble is that stormy seas and great waves tend to tire them out due to all the walking.  “Come, servants of light, drive these demons back! For helia!” “Another city? This plane is lousy with goblins... and ogres” “Regardless... we must press on! Forward, Svarts!” Markar was resting his head after a day of wrestling that culminated in a well deserved feast. So he was understandably irate when someone kicked the door of the mead hall open. A shout rang out: “Death to the servans of the usurper!”It was met by silence. Silence and angry glares of hungover barbarians. The rebels didn't achieve much that night.  “Attacking a city devoted to Krolm... don't you see the madness, my people?” “Aye, no Svart worth his axe would be that stupid” “You see? The rabbleraisers think you all simple and dumb, easily lead sheep!” “Exactly. Ol' Bones might be strange and a tad muderous, but he doesn't think us stupid. Think about that” “Yes, think about it. Because if you don't, you might end up attacking his tower in Lichgrad during a lightning storm” Wolves of Helia beset by demons and dragons by all sides, died stoically as only someone who has had his humanity burned out by divine light could. In fact, some of them bore serene smiles: they knew that their mundane master would return them to the fight soon enough.  Plaguedell wasn't a big city to begin with (the disease that gave it name also helped), and, as such, was lightly defended. The ogres had sacked it before, crushing the walls with their mighty tree trunk clubs. Now, the Elite Guard hacked their way through the barricades that filed the gaps. “Phew! This place reeks! What do with it?” “'Burn it down' is the word, that's what we'll do”  “Whoa, no more swamps and jungles? Bugger off, mosquitoes!”Mosquitoes, dejected and defeated, slunk back to their marshes.  King Lich wasn't just preparing lands for settlement: he was also preparing for ruling said settlements. Barons and baronies would be created, baronets established (nobody knew what they were supposed to be doing) and a secret counsel of Svarts was established to look out for evil barons.  "Ghosts are completely useless creatures. And if that were not enough, they take advantage of their incorporeal nature, and play tricks of dubious nature, which often strain the laws of decency. One must admit, however, that ghosts remain excellent soldiers in the army of the undead." - From "Necrarium Tomeus" by Necromaster Barbaross the Deceased. “What is this? An enemy I can't cut with an axe? Preposterous!” “How many ogres are there? Is this some elemental plane of ogres? I'm feeling like a lumber jack... but trees don't bleed and only occasionally try to kill you” Rainbow dragon continued his rampage through the countryside, robbing graves and sacking crypts.  “I wish we met on better circumstances, but the realm never lets one sit idle. And if you try and sit idle, someone who doesn't will make use of it”  "To create a skeleton sniper requires both mastery and patience. First, one must create an oculus visum from rock crystal, one for each sniper. Then one must strengthen the arms with 'live' leather, and the neck with rods of nevril. Due to the high cost of these materials, I recommend that novice necromancers should first train on wooden dummies." - From "Necrarium Tomeus" by Necromaster Barbaross the Deceased. This raid on a crypt was different. Usually, all that was left would be broken tomb stones, skulls scattered in the wind and faint clatter of gold coins and laughter of a dragon. This time there was also company of skeleton marksmen, eyeholing the dragon expectedly. “Now what am I supposed to do with you lot?”     “Well, that was unexpected and silly. Hope that doesn't happen again”It totally can happen again, a few times even. It's horrible  “Lichanium, mylord?” “I have great plans for it, great plans indeed” Wolves of Helia might be immune to the elements and enchantments, but not to teleportation. This let them be redeployed a lot faster. And that was something they really liked.  One day, the greatest farmers of the land gathered for a great grain vault dance near Lichgrad. After a lot of stomping that passed for Svart dancing, drinking began. And with drinking – stories of farm life and agriculture, punctuated by gouts of vomiting. King Lich VI, invited as an honor guest, stayed sober and recorded some of the best stories and warnings and published it as a book on agriculture.  New Garuda, another town filled with goblins, was also burned to the ground.  In retaliation, imitation or just ire, a red dragon tried to burn Fort Gobbo. It was better built than Garuda, and had the benefit of being constructed out of damp logs, so it didn't burn so well. Sir Hugue marched to something that could be called a 'rescue' if anyone ever tried to rescue goblins.  Ice Ring was a strange spell that was created as a protective measure for kidnapping prone princesses and daughters, as well as sons of the more... bard-like inclinations. When triggered, it would freeze everyone around the would be victim. While this froze innocent servants on occasions, it would only become a problem with romantic stablehands, as frozen steeds are harder to replace.  “Wait, this place seems familiar” “Fervus drat it!” “And there's demons,too” "Imps are small, pushy servants of Hell. They are cunning, cruel -- and can be quite persuasive." - From the collected works of His Majesty's Advisor  "Demons are a stronger and more abominable version of their impish kinsmen. They have little interest in mere mischief, but rather prefer genuine terror and total mayhem." - From the collected works of His Majesty's Advisor “What's next, Tormetors? There's still the south east portion of that dead realm unexplored... and probably less painful”  "Note to self: never cross an Elder Vampire, even if it means you'll have to become a vampire yourself and take a dead witch for a wife."- A note in the margins of "Necarium Tomeus", presumably by Necromaster Barbaross the Deceased. “Vampires? Better transport them to fight ogres. Not much blood in zombies and skeletons. Maybe I'll have a talk with them afterwards” Cecinia the Saint had accomplished a new thing. Reading the lines of magic, she could predict where the elements would strike. This, however, was a very rapid premonition, way too quick for her to react. But then she wove an intricate tapestry of magic and spells that would protect those around her from such ravages, even if a little bit.  This was useless, because she was teleported to Ashwind Dale to aid the Wolves with her spells, and Wolves had ample protection from the elemets. Cecinia didn't, so King Lich layered protective enchantments on her, finishing with a spell of invisibility. This was somewhat detrimental to the land, however.  “AAAAAAAAAAAAAAARGH” The barbarian woman looked sad. “It's customary to kick someone over when we make entry” “Please don't. Maybe I'll get some goblins for the next. So, what can I do for the Fahther Of All Men?” “Lord Krolm wants to test your dedication. You have to destroy another band of Archers of Grum-Gog...” “Well, that's easy” “...in Ashwind Dale” “Now that is more challenging” Some people stipulated that Ordained Shamans were so dirty, they fouled up the magic they casted and all that fertile dirt translated into life magic.  “Dukes usually are not as evil as barons or counts, but you still have to keep close eye on them, especially if they're advisors or really ambitious...” The dragon was immensely surprised by the soul searing bolts of magic that came out of nowhere, but didn't really have any ideas on how to deal with that. So he continued to pester the Wolves.  “And who might you be, miss...?” “Mallacir. A pleasure to meet you!”
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Sep 6, 2014 15:03
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No Majesty 2, not again, nooooo! Fallout Tactics: Brotherhood of Steel (of however the punctuation goes) would be screenshots, since the last time I played it (8 years ago?) it was save scumming for the glory of the infantry. Also, I'm back and I'll try to do one tomorrow!
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Sep 11, 2014 12:42
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Tried Age of Wonders III. Writing and facial designs aside, it seems a fun, if unforgiving game. The fact that, depending on movement, an archer unit might fire three times, as well as taking into account the retaliation mechanics, your units can get wiped pretty fast. Then again, most of them seem to only gain levels, and not abilities or transform into better units, so that's something, I guess. Seeing boars charge into castle gates is hilarious while teleporting elven unicorn cavalry is a fun (scary, even) idea that's a huge gently caress YOU to castles. Hope somebody will do Endless Legend LP once it's fully out. Like with many 4x games, I find it more fun as an LP (especially if done in the vein of GalCiv II and Jagged Alliance II LPs) than as game itself. Plus, I guess with forum SA-nsibilities, magic that's literally misunderstood tech would probably go really well. Fallout downloaded, will see if GOG put enough effort into it to make it work. I really appreciate what they did with the series when it was supposed to be removed from the site. Chapter 17: Rolling Thunder  “I am...” “...a lady of somewhat suspect upbringing, claiming the undead as her birthright. Unfortunately, we are at war” “One day, someone needs to get a sage to explain this whole 'mage communication' thing. But at the present... at war?” “Amberon wasn't as kind as to share a plane with the lady, so I had to do something. Coulnd't allow myself to get boxed in dreary small shard. I have claims to enforce, balls to attend...” “...cities to flood with undead masses. Luckily enough, my elves didn't forget their martial trade in my absence. And the shard we clashed on isn't really suited for skeletons and zombies. Lands of life have a detrimental effect, even without the rampant wines” “I hope this doesn't turn out into an another Miralbus-Sol affair” “Oh, I think it's going quite well. I even have a fotress to secure my bridgehead” “Terrible state of affairs, to be fighting in the face of a greater common threat – I now know better than that!” “I hope you do. I see your lands have suffered Espritster's attentions, too” “Mmm, yes, that is what happened. A terrible calamity, spawned worship of the Krypta aspect. I have enough favor to raise armies upon armies of skeletons, but I see no need”  "This machine is a real flying fortress which has everything you need to establish and maintain Order of Dauros on vast uncharted territories. It includes a stronghold of Order, correctional hotel, temple of Dauros and, of course, powerful and lethal armament." (from "Chronicles of New Worlds" written by Master Vardies Teleran) “By the way, would you happen to know anything about some of your subjects flying away in a huge metal ship? It is quite impressive, the floating ziggurat, even if the propulsion system seems a little... primitive in comparison to elven ship” “Haven't seen anything of the sort. All of my Svarts are groundpounders, so to speak. Axes and runes are all they bring to the battlefield. The machinery does wonders back home, though” “I suspected as much. The ship doesn't fly any banners and doesn't seem to be doing anything much. So odd” “Very well. If it pleases you, you may establish embassies and offices in Lichwald. The name is fitting, even if it's coincidental. It used to be Mallacir's outpost on the shard. She does try to take it back, but I'm sure your envoys will be safe” “I'll make diplomatic arrangements, just to be sure” “Oh, please do. This isn't your war in any way” “Yes, I am quite capable of handling the elf myself” “Unfortunately, Elspritster's haphazard spell shooting made for some unpleasant terrain... sometimes strategically so” King Lich didn't really want to answer that, especially when he had to deal with a realm that was half lava, half terrible demons.  ...and now, part gold dragon bones, too.  Somehow, Ashwind Dale made a world where ground oozed death and spectres flew about clawing faces and harmlessly passing through axes a more desirable assigment. “Some more time in these undead marshes and I'll get undead marsh foot” “Careful! If they cut it off, it might reanimate itself. Happened to a spoiled chicken I threw out yesterday” “I'd say that it's still better than the dead faces in the water” When Lichanium was built near the first temple grounds to be found, it was a foregone conclusion that a temple to Krolm would rise there. Anyone who didn't think so were persuaded by giant axes and bulging bicepses. As soon as the word was given, barbarians started collecting bones and skins of fierce beasts, as well hard rocks to build the temple. Some even hunted demonwood, the most evil and likely to kill you source of wood. After that, there was much feasting and drinking. A week passed, and barbarians got to work, easily shifting massive boulders around, lifting logs while grunting and hammering nails with their bare hands. Finally it was completed, the second grandest building in the realm, and certainly the one most drenched in blood, sweat and mead.  “My lord, the fury and muscles of Krolm serve me well. See these Elite Guard?” “I can take their armor and mobilize Krolm's babarbarians to beat it into plates more suitable to our purposes. More fire, more muscle! The great spit in the temple is perfect for it!” “After some truly titanic effort, I can fashion somethinh... somegthing of a metal Svart. A GIANT metal Svart! A giant metal Svart inscribed with runes of magic and Krolm! And with an Inscrutable Engine as its fiery heart!” “And while I'm working, the Elite Guard fight for the right to pilot it! They fight, and I collect their blood and sweat, and mix it with steel...” “The winner is selected to be the Princeps, for he is the principal Svart! I then connect him to the metal man... I'm not even sure how I do it, I just do... and out emerges...”  "Only the most worthy of Honourable Svarts have the opportunity to become drivers of the machines called Exemplars of Strength. These cutting edge devices are the finest examples of unsurpassed Svart technology. They are Svart-looking giant robots capable of breaking through a fortress wall or killing a dragon with one stroke of their iron fists." (from "Chronicles of New Worlds" written by Master Vardies Teleran) “...an Exemplar of Strength! Truly this is the greatest feat of Svart engineering and religious practices! No enemy will withstand it! No more will they tower over us – instead, they'll cower in our shadow!” “I will crush those that stand before me!”Sadly, there aren't any good Exemplar of Strength loading screen shots on the web and I've deleted mine, and I haven't managed to make one spawn in about 15 loads on Warlock. In an unrelated note, I'd totally play Protectorate of Menoth due to my religious leanings, but I really don't fancy Warmachine and their color coded faction magic  “The ground trembled every other heart beat … The sound echoed louder with each beat, and haunted your soul as if doom was approaching … And then I saw it towering in the sky, still miles away. The fear and awe one felt was indescribable. I can only image the sheer terror our enemy felt when they beheld the sight of the Exemplar of Strength” Truly it was an impressive sight: entire companies of Elite Guard replaced by Exemplars, each piloted by a worthy Svart (and envied by companions that he bested to get the post). Barbarians worked day and night, tirelessly making machine after machine that got teleported to the battlefield to receive their commander.  Such power would soon be needed, as various beast, not content to sit in their own shards, started spilling over the gates. Tormentors meant even more trouble than fire elementals.  The small elven settlement stood no chance against the Exemplar. Alone, it could have kicked away or just charged over the walls. However, it was aided by wrath of Krolm, and an ephemeral axe plunged from the sky, destroying the main gate and the barracks, before disappearing into nothingness. “I am Krolm incarnate!” Of course, the city didn't survive it and its people were sent to the one existing Elven settlement.  Even ogres were matched by the unrelenting strength and drive of Exemaplars. Unofficially, there was a bet going on who will knock an ogre's head off with one swoop.  A great map was laid out on a table in the rarely used planning room. Such establishments are more useful to mortal rulers who can't survey their domain by magic means. But this time, the map was special: every discovered shard had been marked on a reproduction of the discovered Strider map. “Experience has shown great mage shards are, concidentally, dead ends, leading to one other shard. So that rules out Burounts, Fading, Amberon's Outland and, Mallacir's Deadmeadows. Maganid is the shard those two are fighting for, and I'm not putting much faith in Ozeron. With Silentium pratically explored, there's one likely option” “Ashwind Dale” “It would stand to reason. After all, we are on legendary quest and legendary always arduous” “Of course. Well, we haven't tested the Exemplars against the tormentors yet... Good thing we have one milling about, not surrounded by friends and lava”  "The history of the Halberdiers' Trade Union began after the Great King marched north and disappeared form the realm of Ardania. When the wars of the Troubles began, the guards who were left to protect the castles of the King and his nobles suddenly realized they were the only remaining representatives of authority -- that they alone formed the line between the protection and plundering of royal property. Of course, the guards couldn't maintain this delecate position indefinitely, and after they were driven from the castles, they gathered in a tavern for the first Union meeting in history. The result of this first meeting was the decision to institute the free guards guild, which would be known as Halberdhall. The guild would offer its services to whoever could afford to pay for them. The idea proved a succes: today, Halberdhall is one of the most esteemed guilds in Ardania; it's wealth and reputation have been so flourished that Halbardiers would be unlikely to return the King's service, in the case of his less-than-entirely-probable return. -- And definitely not for the wages they used to be paid." -From "The Overall Description of Everything" by Master Alfus Bumblegate. “Strange to see Amberon employing humans... expensive human mercenaries, at that” There was one reason why it was possible to enchant weapons with both fire and flame: early mages did a lot of fighting against fire and ice elementals and having a sword for one or other occasion was really wasteful.  Some Svarts were better than the others when it came to handling the Exemplars. As such, they could manage some miraculous feats of speed and maneuverability.  As it would in the wilderness, such speed was very, very useful when saving comrades not enclosed in tonne upon tonne of metal armor.  The sudden appearance of vampires – immature vampires – was mostly blamed on books. Or, more likely, on the idea that children should read books, which lead to parents spending money on books, which in turn lead to some Svarts coming up with the idea to write books specifically for children. Those were horrible more often than not, encouraging, among other things, romances with immature vampires. Luckily enough, an arrow is basically a wooden stake you project out of reach of a vampire.  Unlucky was the fact that sir Hugue was not nearly ready to take on Tormentors.  The merchant spy network informed that Amberon's native plain was quite pleasant and somewhat untouched by spell ravages, except for large bodies of water. But even those weren't a hassle since elves took up boating with gusto.  “I walk into battle to unleash the wailing doom!”Examplars had a peculiar set of collapsible axes that, in conjunction with certain design features, allowed the machine to spin, creating a vortex of blades and slashing anything that came nearby. For example, it easily turned two ogres into mincemeat at once.  Progress was much slower on Ashwind Dale, where Wolves spotted more Tormentors and dragons while on the hunt for heretics of Grum-Gog.  On the homefront, however, it was announced that there should be a hunt for demonwood. Nobody questioned the wisdom of hunting a tree, so King Lich had little else to do but declare the hunt.  Exemplar, freshly fallen when a Tormentor spell managed to find purchase in his armor, was teleported back to the capital and had his Svart revived. Soon, it would join the hunt!  “What is this junk? Why only a shoulder strap? I have more armor than that” “I take you weren't a part of the expedition” “No, sir, we were sired after they established Vampirium... We were hangers-on, joined the baggage train when they passed us. Not much to do on our shards, and not really safe. Our master felt that something was up, and that it wouldn't end well... That's why he sent us away” “I see... Well, I'm glad to see that their memory lives with you still. Serve me well and I'll treat you well” With a mighty blow, the Examplar shattered the demonwood, making a lot of people shout 'hurrah' and a few go 'ow' as splinters got into their unprotected eyes.  Ice circle was a good spell to use in aid of the Wolves, who were immune to the cold, but still appreciated the cooler air that came with it. Also, seeing icicles form in a shard of lava was always pleasing to mage.  “I suspect there's a story behind these bows, but I can't say anything for sure. Well, we can't use them now, so no danger in that” Sir Hugue was traveling in Ashwind Dale under a spell of invisibility (having invisible heroes didn't really help public appearances or drives for support, but King Lich never did that anyway). This, however, didn't really help against the heat, and the knight was helpful for the element warding spells.  The archers of Grum-Gog had the back luck of running into Cecinia. As any adept of Agrela, she hated Grum-Gog and his followers with a passion, since they were the ones that spread pestilence and dirt wherever they went. But in Ashwind Dale, the putrefying bits of their corpses burt into clean, clean ash. This pleased Krolm a lot, and his favor was bestowed on King Lich.  And Cecinia was avarded Star of Medicine for her effort in improving the lot of peasants everywhere, which, as always, meant fighting Grum-Gog and his minions.  “Fiends! Get ready to taste steel!” King Lich accepted the alliance, mostly because he found the financial ruination of Krel to be amusing. The undead monarch was heard saying 'some kingpin he turned out to be'.  And most of his soldiers seemed to be concentrated in jungles on Long Shores, suffering from malaria and other pleasures of, well, jungles.  Amberon was doing somewhat better. But not much better: one his companies managed to drive forward real far, resulting in a breakthrough. However, the lack of follow-up resulted in it being quickly extinguished, even if they managed to see the spire of Mallacir's tower.  While it was still questionable how ghost sailors managed to fish out a spell our of serpent reef, it was undeniable that they did.  “While I bet that the explanation how these trolls fit into a hermit hut is really interesting, I would like to tell you that if you find, say, goblins, just leave them there”
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Sep 12, 2014 09:17
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I first played Endless Legend when it only had zombugs, elves and... whatever else was in back then. Vampire Ghost Knights? I liked it, but the nearer turn 200 it got, the more it devolved into mindless 4X clicking for units to march across half the map and stuff. There really should be a setting in game which forcibly saves and shuts down game one hour in. Space Empire V had the option to replace the date with your clock time, why not have something like that? I sometimes get nauseous when I remember 4 hours streaks of Endless Space... Ahem. Sheredyn forever! Chapter 18: In Which We Make Progress Of The Gate Kind  “Ah, more flying sacrifices to Krolm!”  “Old trolls are like old sores – you'll never be rid of them” “Have you ever seen a Dremer gate?” “I have, my liege. Terrible things. Had to convert digging machinery to destroy them” “Well, we didn't have machinery of any kind, but there were trolls and they could crush a Dremer gate or a castle as easy as, well, an elven settlement. I even had a company of them die in my service” “A shame, I guess” “Well, I think I already had resurrection at that point... terrible what spells one can forget on reincarnation” Silver Silks was the most profitable city in realm, but it wasn't exactly blossoming as all Svarts were engaged in making money. The spell of Prosperity had to increase fertility rates and number of successful births... and the pretty colors had to get at least some of the Svarts out of their offices and workshop and maybe meet folks of the opposite gender.  Red dragon nests were ugly beyond compare (except for maybe Dremer Castles), but finding one meant dragon omelets and dragon cakes for the entire realm. Of course, if you weren't a Svart riding in a magitech metal giant that pulsed with the power a god and was empowered by magical artifacts, it probably meant something a lot worse.  Among other things that the ghost ship fished out of the sea (old habits die hard... even after death) was the corpse of a warlock. He might have had an amulet protecting him from the elements and the undead, but he didn't have a spell that warded off choking on bit of fish. The ghost sailors, not really concerned with eating, decided to keep it.  “The living are so strange... they always find the most unpleasant places to found a city. Then again, only Svarts could survive in a shard like this” “Die, die, DIE!”The Exemplar Svart was really annoyed by the fact that flying monsters could evade his fists by, well, flying. He hoped that some day someone would attach a repeating ballista, or some sort of revolving cannon to his frame. He even had time to dream up a rocket that would be guided by the head of a dead peasant, discarding this idea as unbearably stupid.  Sir Hugue, in the mean time, felt that being ambushed by demons WHILE invisible was a stupid way to die, but couldn't really do anything about it.  The Wolves were in a good mood. They had finally managed to destroy one of the horrible, profane altars that were guiding Tormentors to this realm, shattering it into pieces and drowning those in lava. They had also managed to spook another pack of demons away from their own altar, which was now ripe for the taking.  There, among the scattered ribcages of orphans, they found an intact and uncorrupted artifact – a flying broom. Of course, a company of divine werewolves had little use for one flying broom. But someone else would find it very handy. The company assembled in formation, using the solar instruments embedded in their staves to calculate trajectory and strength... and then launched the flying broom into the sky. It quockly disappeared into the crimson horizon.  Cecinia was standing near a lake, wondering if the blood-colored water was actual blood when a great bolt fell from the sky, nearly striking the healer.  “What the... wait... is that a flying broom?” And while certain healers where performing some areal acrobatics on a broom, Amberon was committing ever greater forces to fight Mallacir.  “Ser knight, I'd say it is a pleasure to see you, but it's never a pleasure to one's subjects die. Except when they're goblins” “It is not exactly pleasurable to die, but I think my liege knows everything about that” There were rumors, at least in mage circles, that vampiric weapon enchantments had been misused at least once, by a barber. He had found a scroll detailing the spell and cast it on his razor. He went on to become a traveling barber, offering other travelers a shave... and cutting their throats to gain their life energy, all in a bid to live forever. He met his end when he tried to do that to a lich.  The spells didn't end there: the rainbow dragon found a statue of a hare inscribed with a Haste spell.  Having thrashed the last of the sea serpent lairs, the dragon directed its attention to killing the last of water borne blighters.  A different dragon got his head blown off by a broadside of ghost-rocks. The Examplas swarmed over the now unprotected nest...   However, the greatest and the strongest of their number were already being retasked and metaported to Ashwind Dale. Soon they were crushing what were thought to be the last of Tormentors.   “I don't think anyone else made it this far...”That was the sad truth. With Amberon's forces tied elsewhere, he didn't have any to spare for the protection of settler convoys. Luckily for the hapless elves, King Lich was set on exterminating the last threats in the region.  Of course, Amberon might have had more troops if they had not been spent in a senseless grind, where the best of Arethi bowmen fired volleys of arrows at skeletons that, at best, were mildly inconvenienced by such strikes. Mallacir's tower was also located nearby, providing magical support to the defense of the realm.  “Blood unt iron!”MidEast Crisis 2 had the best voice work of any CnC Mod, ever, and if you disagree, you're a tiny commie mutant traitor  Finally, another undead shard was put to rest and the rainbow dragon found itself momentarily without a task. He decided to use the time to settle his own matters.  Unfortunately, another dragon was also settling his own matters... OF VENGEANCE! The ghost ship had little defense against the searing blasts of dragon breath, and went down with all souls... again.  “There would be no need for this if you didn't send archers into the fray... and forced them to stand around near lava pools. Still, I'll help you, but only to set an example” “Sorry, Mallacir, nothing personal” “Such is the price to play the game of nobles...” There was a Svart craftmen district in the middle of lava fields. The Wolves of Helia didn't find that the least surprising.  Examplars, not so keep to stride in molten rock, went on to recover artifacts that Sir Hugue lost on his last death (bringing that count to two)  “Captain Duckwinson, I presume” “Nay, 'tis be Bile Gruffson, former first mate o' th' Golddale Duck, now th' capt'n of th' Golddale Duck” “So the good captain didn't go down with his ship?” “Go down he did, cursin' all th' while. But he dinnae stick around. 'fraid of ghost flying serpent, the lilly livered spectr'l bastard. I stayed wit' th' lads, sailed th' undead seas, till we got trapp't in a mirror!” “I always wondered how those things worked. Anyway, Captain Bile Gruffson, I formalize your appointment as captain and entrust the Duck to your more than capable ghastly hands. I'm sorry I can't restore you to life, but that's how it is, once you're undead” “Yarr, that no be a probl'm. A ghost ship sail more th'n sea, it does, and ghost whences are many... cleaner th'n th' living ones, fer sure!” “Would you kindly send more support than just kind words?” “Would you kindly engage in this mutually beneficial trade?” “I don't really think it prudent, my lord” “Then my lord will understand my reluctance to send troops. After all, meta-teleportation is costly” “But I will indulge you. Here's all I can spare... and likely more than is needed to break Mallcir” “See how they fall when you crush their bones under fists of steel? I doubt arrows could ever acomplish that” “Tal Karamat. You were truly greatest of us all. Shame you met your at this bleak, desolate place. Maybe it was a little more lively when you were here, maybe it was worth fighting for” “Maybe it died with you. Whatever happened, I'm happy to see your resting place undisturbed” Imps. Demons. In comparison to Tormentors, they were nothing. The fireballs they hurled might scare peasants, but they bounced harmlessly of the transformed hides of Wolves of Helia. This fight would be brief, so, so brief.  “Ever wondered how they got there?” “Gate mishap, perhaps? Not like they have anywhere to go. My wife, she's a Seer at Fort Gobbo. She writes that the place smells” “Little surprise there” “Yeah, but she also writes that human wizards just keep pacing back and forth on the other side of straights. Seems like Fading doesn't have much in the way of seas, so they don't know how to make ships, the poor sods” “Could build a city in those jungles, they already have half the realm there” “Naw. Heard a drunk census automaton operator talk about how horribly bankrupt Krel is. Can't even cobble together some settlers” “Turns out an undead monstrocity isn't the worst leader one can have” “More demons... more dragons... and, ooh, gold dragon eggs! The lich will be interested in that, for sure. I have to get a closer look”  “The Duke is so old he remembers the times when his sons, Barons of Hell, wore short trousers. However, you shouldn't think that the old Duke is good for nothing. There is life in the old demon yet, and, if necessary, he can show anyone a very 'warm welcome'” “What... what in the hell... is that?” “Let's bloody the servos!” “All Exemplars, follow me into glory!” “I'm really starting to doubt that your fit to lead entires peoples... or anything at all” “No curse this time? The gate curses are getting lazy. Wolves, step forward, I trust you can kill anyone that opposes you”  “Mua-ha-ha-ha-ha-haaa...”  “All too easy...” With the Duke of Hell distracted by something, Cecinia managed to sneak up an capture the artifact he was guarding.  One of the Exemplars fell to the Tormentors... only to rise in Lichgrad and be meta-teleported back into the fray where it tore into the surprised demons.  “Gatecrashing complete! Now, what is this place?” “I might even make a weapon of great power to comemorate it... now, what is this place?” “Oh...” “Amberon the Dark? I have defeated him once... I will crush him again. That elf won't stand between me and Ardania!”
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Sep 14, 2014 06:22
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Torrannor posted:
Well, not to spoil too much, but Amberon's citadel is just a souped up city. I don't remember how strong it is, since back then I had my wreckingball of a hero. This time around, I only have tier I heroes (one of them has died twice despite being level 10) and some temple units. It's not going to be pretty. I won't lose (that's impossible at this point), but it might take some time and grind. I might even have to start listening to the game-y advice you guys keep giving me 
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Sep 14, 2014 09:40
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UPDATE ON THE LAST PAGE!
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Veloxyll posted:Build the last two unit types you haven't shown off! I'm trying, I'm trying! aerion111 posted:I feel like I keep missing something; How are you 'resurrecting' new units? Those are my resurrected units (I can't build Wolves, Flying Galeuses or Sir Hugue Dry Branches), but I'm going at it like King Lich VI knows that they are somewhere afield, but hasn't met them personally (Hugue was hired when KLVI was deep in Resurrection research) before they got sent to Lichgrad by...terminal means. I'm sorry if it's a bit confusing! Also, I didn't have plans for the ship to be Golddale Duck, but someone in the comments gave me the idea. Thank you, mysterious stranger!
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Sep 14, 2014 13:12
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Chapter 19: Intermission “Tell me, my liege, how is that you mages got to rule Ardania?” “Well, Ardania used to be ruled by succession of kings. Unfortunately, one of them got afraid that his rule won't be remembered because... well, because his predecessors had already vanquished all sorts of monsters and villains, leaving none for him” “What about establishing trade, supporting arts, funding universities and magical schools, building really big warships?” “I don't think the king was smart enough to think about it, since his solution was to summon a demon lord, then to kill it and thus become famous. However, demon lords are not known to be pushovers, so the demon was victorious and the kingdom fell to ruin” “Perfect time for great mages to swoop in and stake their claim?” “No, that was a long time after that... after another Great King that vanquished the demon, as well as accomplishing many other tasks. And considering how Ardania was run back in those days, that's no mean feat” “What so special about Ardania?” “Well, you know happens when I want someone dead?” “You send the elite guard to murder everyone and take their gold?” “Precisely. No ratman is going to run away with my gold. However, the king didn't have such power, probably because he wasn't a mage that scoffed at the natural order” “During the years of rule of Ardania, various warrior professions got taken over by heroes, who banded into guilds... and who only worked when motivated by ludicrous amounts of money” “More often than not, said heroes were idiots” “But surely the king had loyal subjects that didn't empty the coffers!” “Oh, there were some of those. His Majesty's Royal Advisor always worked for free. Even provided his own castle to jumpstart the reclamation of Ardania” “It was a small castle, but it had to do” “For one, it had peasants, and peasants were the driving force behind everything done in Ardania. Heroes were hired for the taxes collected from peasants and stayed in guild halls build by peasants while enjoying the protection of towers constructed by peasants” “Pesants were protected by guards and royal guards, lads of variable prowess that patroled the grounds and took a halberd to any threat. After the disappearance of the king, they banded together in a guild and built Halberdhalls. But back then, they were the thin iron line between peasants and death” “Of course, the peasants wouldn't and couldn't tax themselves, so there were tax collectors, making rounds, collecting money, getting eaten by a monster.” “Some say that this system is reponsible for all the gold you can find creature lairs” “Not hard to see why the monsters would eat them” “Aye. To mitigate the tax collector attrition, the king would build guard towers. Simple structures of stone and wood, they were helpful against the more mundane sort of threats. However, the more you built, the more expensive they got” “What? Why? Wouldn't the experience gained by building towers make them cheaper?” “Unfortunatelty, the tradition was to use the most illiterate peasants, and the select the thickest for any sort of construction work. Probably though that their skulls would be more resistant to falling brick” “Likely the peasants would get confused with so many towers, thinking that they already built what was required, delivering materials where they were not needed and so forth” “That sounds horrible” “Little surprise, really. The peasants were so dumb, they used to build their hovels near monster forests and monster lairs” “The only good thing about it was that while the monster was mauling the peasant hunt, heroes could be summoned for help” “Those were some impressively poor and stupid peasants. I mean, their wells used to double as sign posts because they were too poor to get actual posts for signs” “Then again, how could they not have been poor? The taxes were high, all to pay the extortionate rates of hero protection” “150 gold pieces would get you one green ponce with most basic of bows and potato sack tunic” “Rangers and hunters were the most basic of heroes back in the day... later on, when mages took over, they forced the guilds to change tactics and provide entire companies of men for the fight” “You can exert a lot of influence when you're throwing lightning bolts, you know” “Anyways, none of them ever deigned to bring any sort of decent equipment, and the king would have to provide it... in various contrived ways, of course” “Even the smallest exploration task had to have money backing it... and hopefully one of the green idiots would indulge you by doing it. It was no way to run a kingdom nor a military, but the Great King managed” “I'm starting to understand why they're calling him 'Great'” “Oh yes! Even the clerics belonged to guild and had to be paid. Worst of all where ones who sold their power to the king directly. 250 gold pieces for a single casting of healing magics? Why, we would have been bankrupt before reaching Ashwind Dale” “What is even more horrible is that today, our serried ranks of troops trample monster lairs without any trouble” “But back then, you had to hope than a man with tights will demolish a wolf lair before the wolves get him, you, and your peasants” “If rats from the severs didn't get you before that... Imagine, sever entrances popping up all over the place and various edicts, pacts and acts forbidding you to demolish them!” “They didn't have crocodiles to keep the sever rats in check?” “No, and wizards would pour potion left overs down the drain, to make it all worse” “Pardon me, m'lord, but Ardania sounds like quite the nightmare” “Funny you should mentioned that... because nightmares were His Majesty's greatest training tool!” “How so?”  “The court wizards decided that it would be a good thing to let the King practice in his sleep, in a dream he could never win” “Oh yes, with the odds already stacked before him, the was purposefully made to be even harder. Can you imagine that? The king had only one goal: survive as long as possible” “The start would be humble – a palace, some peasants, a few gold coins. Almost enough to build a decent defense” “And he would need that because the palace would appear in near proximity of, say, nest of flying vipers. Rest assured, they were as fould in Ardania as they are here” “And haunted graveyards. You wouldn't believe how many of those existed back in the day” “So the king would start with towers and with a hunter guild, since those ponces at least claimed to be experts in hunting monsters. Of course, they weren't really bright – nobody who dresses like that is – so such concepts as clearing out the surroundings before attacking the lair were beyond their grasp” “So it wasn't unlikely that hero would me an untimely – or all too timely – death at the claws of the monsters. This meant getting them a new, special cemetery. Which also came with its own compliment of angry, angry skeletons. “I still have little idea of how spontaneous skeleton risings occur. My current leading theory is that it's all because of moping kids of about fourteen to sixteen summers” “Of course, the cemetary could be used to revive a hero. Again, for a fee. This was a terrible, terrible idea...” “But it was necessary, especially when lairs got demolished, since they used to unleash quite a few monsters. Angry monsters without a home! Individual heroes barely stood a chance against it, and the peasants would prove to be the desserts” “Those that survived, killed monsters and accomplished tasks would gain money, which they would spend on potions, arms and armor. And gues who had to provide both places that sold those things and the merchandise?” “It does seem convoluted, but not too different from what we have today” “You see, I don't have to wait for any useless layabout to go and buy a weapon. I just equip them according to my own judgment. And I equip them entire companies at a time” “Really, though: the lowest rank of warriors would charge into battle with wooden swords!” “What good is a wooden sword against a marauding ogre?!” “Small surprise that the only time they were effective against ogres were when brutes were asleep” “And in the mean time, a band of skeletons would claw their way through the southern part of the base” “And so His Majesty would dream anew. Again, the same palace, the same monster spawners. Hopefully, a new strategy” “'Oh' the King would think 'maybe I'll hire wizards this time! Wizards are powerful'. And yes, wizards are technically powerful. But there's a reason why there are so many wizards, yet so few Great Mages” “Wizards rarely understood when they were outmatched. And when they finally did, it usually was too late” “The King would pay for their resurrection, but wizards saw that as another assurance that their actions had no consequences and would run off again, and get killed” “However, the trouble with wizards didn't end there. Tell me, Rurik, have you ever been to Baytown?” “Only once, after the occupation, sire” “You might have noticed the tall, floating crystal spire there. It's a great thing – only costs me some mana for upkeep, but shoots at my enemies without me paying too much attention to it.” “However, when the King wanted the protection of magic towers, he had to pay money for their continued operation. If the time ran out and he didn't have money to pay, well, some ogres would be having a much easier time knocking down the village” “And they were surprisingly effective against liches, too. Well, those liches were nowhere close to my level, but still, wizard towers were the best defense against them... when the blasted things worked”  “And while you could destroy crypts, you could do nothing against the expansion of severs and their pipes that gave home to ratmen. While ratmen under my command were definitely better than the wild beasts of Ardanian severs, the King didn't have such luck” “And bearmen would be even worse, killing and maiming wherever they went. And once they killed someone...” “Well, I mentioned that paid resurrection was a stupid idea that should have been outlawed. It wasn't and it hurt the kingdom even more. You see, it cost significantly more to resurrect a powerful hero than a green one. I don't know why: for me, the mana expenditure is always the same. Must be the greed” “Anyway, deaths of high ranking heroes could start a cascade where more heroes died, with no funds to resurrect them...” “Vampires would get involved...” “Eventually, the King could only look through the window and witness the mob of critters assaulting the palace, cutting down whatever defenders could be mustered” “He'd wake just as the walls started crumbling around him, where the Royal Advisor would assure him that he did quite well” “Interesting story, my liege. I guess it explains why he disappeared in the Northern expedition: maybe he wanted to run away from the nightmare that was the rule of Ardania?”
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Sep 16, 2014 12:05
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Drakenel posted:I must be a savant at this game or something because I never had trouble with the nightmare levels. You must be really gifted. This was just the demo, but it kicked my rear end, mostly. Would never LP, for sure. Especially when I checked and BoS works!
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Sep 16, 2014 15:30
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Sorry, lot, the update will be delivered in about 12 hours. In a semi-related matter, Guardians of the Galaxy isn't that good would be better if I didn't know who Ronan the Accuser was
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Sep 18, 2014 15:33
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Chapter 20: The Changing Tides of War While King Lich regaled Rurik with tales of Ardania and Great King's campaigns (“The evil mage had a 'sattelite dish' on his lab. What is a 'sattelite' anyways?”), real effort was put into making Ashwind dale more livable. The shard still was a burning hellhole, Tormentors were all but finished.  In fact, the place felt safe enough for elven settlers to appear and start mucking around.  There wasn't much left to kill: the Duke of Hell, a few mobs of imps and those fire elementals that Wolves passed on their way to Ainadra.  Speaking about the wolves... the first foe they encountered in Ainadra was a demonwood, same as anywhere else. And their staves could be mistaken for axes...  The message from Amberon was unmistakable. “Yes, this is the Amberon that I defeated. Still pompous, still not that bright. If the United One is so powerful, why does he need the likes of Amberon to protect him? Sure, he might need proxies because the gods sealed him in Ardania...” “I have... I have no idea who or what that is. It's so... disturbing” “Take your time. We'll find who that was once I destroy his citadel”  "Some say that once upon a time the Black Archer was the leader of elves in some other world, and that he came to Ardania either seeking his fate or running from it. Others believe that it was he who taught the Arethi elves the dark secrets they know, but later left them to wander the world offering his service and his skill with a bow to any who possesses enough gold to hire. When being asked how he should be named in a contract, the Black Archer always says: "Lord Keeper. That's the only name I have left." (From "The Overall Description of Everything" by Master Altus Bumblegate) “And elves just seem to be lining up to serve me instead of Amberon The Other”The mercenary in from of him was, indeed, an elf. Gaunt face, short white hair, and strange armor in gold and green. He also had an impressive bow slung over his shoulder.  “I don't care much for serving, but you are the one paying. And I have nothing else to look for but payment. So we'll do well” “Oh, I have no doubts. If I managed to, well, manage an ogre and a rrat prince, I'll deal with an elf. So, how do I call you?” “Lord Keeper is the only name that I have. It will suffice” “Well, ser Keeper, there's a new dragon nest where lake Deadlin used to be. I don't want it there, so would you kindly take care of it?” Another dragon nest (and, naturally) a dragon was destroyed in Long Shores... and out popped an elder witch. Currently extremely displaced, she was quick to offer her services to King Lich VI. “If I find just one more witch in a dragon's nest, I'll start assuming that this is their natural habitat. I wonder if this one is going to be as much of a pyromaniac as the last one” It didn't take long for Lord Keeper to find the offending dragon. It took one well placed arrow to pierce the dragon's eye, kill the brain, exit through the other eye, and repeat the process with other head. As the lifeless body fell to sands of (former) lade Deadlin, Lord Keeper advanced to loot the lair.  Another dragon that was lucky to encouter elves without particular archery talents, was attacking a temple city devoted to Krypta. Krypta's cultists were caught between a rock and a hard place (or dragon flames and lava flames) and didn't have where to go. Still, there was much running around done elves with faces painted white and nails done in black.  “Some might think that Shadow Spiders aren't that scary. After all, you shouldn't be afraid of some shadows. I hate to disappoint you. Their shadow web holds even tighter than the usual , and their shadow mandibles can easily penetrate any armor.” - from travel notes of “Wild Monsters”, by famous researcher Sir Alen Vidborough “Shadows, huh? Well, if there's one thing that hastens to melt against the radiance of the Sun is the shadow. Wolves, charge!” It was a simple enough transaction and King Lich hoped that he wouldn't (un)live to regret it later on.   "There's always a great contest for joining the Dragomort troops. Every Svart boy dreams of becoming one of the sky knights and adding his name to the list of the test pilots of mortars. Dragomorts are the most mobile and universal Svart troops. They can do anything: raid their enemy or help their friends, reconnoitre or secure air supremacy." (from "Chronicles of New Worlds" written by Master Vardies Teleran) Four Elite Guard bearers lowered King Lich's throne in a field and the monarch took his seat (he never sat in a throne that was carried as much out of respect for Svarts as from painful experiences with goblin throne bearers). He waved his bony hand to the assembled Svarts to start. “M'lord...” “M'lord, I have seen our forces and found them lacking in support. Prospectors might be good at prospecting and making crows talk, but they still fire simple arrows and can't get away fast enough.” “Back home, we had a solution for that, but it was not something we had here” “But I'm nothing if not a legendary smith, and I have spent time productively. I observed the ghost ship, and I sent a merchant caravan specifically to inspect the Flycraft of Order” “We have made many observations on the process of mechanical flight and...” “And behold ye the Dragomorts!”A line of five dots appeared in the sky, getting nearer and nearer. Soon, the onlookers were able to distinguish shapes of Svarts flying in what seemed to be giant upturned thimbles. “Goblets, sir, they're modeled after goblets” “Yes, the Mark II Goblet has four Svartmagical engines and can easily carry a Svart in full battle load for miles. Each Dragomort is clad in light but strong armor, and he can crouch in the Goblet for additional protection” “And the real beauty is in their armament”The Svarts, all shining steel and slightly crested helmets, each held a long tube in their hands that seemed to be connected to the tanks on their back. “The Silver Sigurd runelock is a thing of beauty, it is. It fires a mixture of mana – provided by the backpack – and Dragomort's contempt for the target, and believe you me, Dragomorts have a lot of that. The weapon is too cumbersome for ground troops, but once you're flying... well, see for yourself”The Dragomorts, still in the sky, aranged into a firing line and opened up on a row of simulated targets – pumpkins on a stick. Each shot found purchase, splattering orange everywhere. King Lich idly wondered what would happen if they used goblins. Then the flyers aranged themselves in a continuosly moving circle before moving to another target line. A Dragomort would fire every time his side of the circle turned at the target. Again, pumpkins were mercilessly slaughtered. “With His Majesty providing enough materials, we could make more and more of them. And if m'lord deigned to cast invisibily of them, we'd probably be unstoppable!” “Master smith, this truly look admirable. Begin training as soon as possibe” If Wolves of Helia had known about Dragomorts, they would have requested their help as soon as possible. Dragons and their annoying habit of flying out of staff reach was annoying.  “Alright, you prissy little elves. Disperse! You have shown yourself incapable of running a city here, so beat it!” The Exemplar strode to the top of the Hill and looked down on the Duke of Hell below. “You might be Duke of Hell, but I'm Count of Fist and Baron of Pain! Come meet your doom, you relic!” When the two titans crashed, ripples could be seen in lava pools leagues away.  Another Examplar pumped his fist in their direction. “Yes, brother! Show him who are the news lords of Ashwind Dale! For Krolm and King!”Then he resumed tearing apart a dragon den.  “I feel like it's almost extortion, especially since everyone else is virtually bankrupt. If only they understood the fact...” “Bah, you mages are pompous like that. If Mallacir had the least bit of sense, she'd be offering truce and honeying her words with thousands of barrels of mana” “But apparently one Examplar that effortlessly destroyed forts, skeleton armies and weathered magical bombardments isn't enough of a threat for her” Old Trolls would have been happy to help the Exemplar, especially considering their current stuck situation.  Meanwhile, Cecinia had witnessed the most beautiful and heartbreaking thing of her life: the death of a rainbow dragon. His pearlescent scales twisted and cracked under the relentless assault of fire elementals, and his bright feathers turned to ash as he fell to the ground. She could do nothing to help him, as she was far, far away. She tried to reach out with her healing powers, but it was in wane: they only spread out a certain, if small, distance around her.  “Another trinket! Why must Krolm wex me so?” As the dragon wasn't kind enough to attack the Wolves (and get himself killed), they decided that the interests of Helia and King Lich VI would be best served by doing some exploration. This included finding an Adamantium deposit that wasn't flanked by lava.  “People of Toporsk, you will relocate to what I believe to be a slightly less dangerous place and mine Adamantium there! You have endured Ashwind Dale a lot longer than anyone could demand or would demand if they were sane” “In all seriousness, your decision to settle in land of lava and demons mystifies us all” “So, what did Krel do with that obscene amount of money we paid for the mana he didn't really need?” “Too busy prancing around with yer king to read spy reports? He did what could be expected of him: bought new equipment for his troops as well as giving them higher ranks” “That only means more expenditure for upkeep and wages!” “Well, maybe he hopes to sell more mana to us. Or maybe he has high hopes for those rogues” “Well, this is tempting, but I don't know if I can spare the mana right now...” The fight was rigged from the beginning: after all, every punch thrown by the Exemplar sapped some life from the Duke to heal the Svart warrior. Eventually, after many, many punches thrown, the Duke was bleading all over and his massive horns were broken.  The Duke saw where this was going and tried to slink away with his tail between his legs.  Unfortunately, his retreat took him straight in front of another Exemplar. Meanwhile, the Exemplars to the east had just enacted vengeance on the last fire elemental implicated in the slaying of the rainbow dragon and were about to turn their attentions to the nearby Svart city.  It was also the time when Dragonmorts had their first trial in battle. Fighting a demonwood who had the stupid idea of attacking a city dedicated to Krolm (filled with barbarians who carried large and sharp pieces of metal) wasn't that hard, but they did. Bolts of mana and disdain cracked branches and burst wood, and the malevolent tree was down.  “Well, this will be our artillery support, I guess” Back in Ashwind Dale, entire planes of lava imploded, leaving behind swathes of dark soil, which soon bloomed with gently swaying grass. King Lich figured that troops would be happier crossing grassy plains than lava pools.   "Sky Ships of Arethi are more than just war machines - they are the sign of magical superiority of the elves and the manifestation of the High Truth." - From the "Servants of truth" by High Keeper Teyaran the Rigorous Cecinia stared incredulously at the elven ship, its engines warping reality and keeping the craft afloat. It took her a few seconds to remember her invisibility and she returned to the task of slinging magic at dragons.   “I once read a book about not wasting heavily armored elements in one off attacks, but massing them for a decisive, mobile surprise attacks.” “This would be easier without teleportation misfires” “Hopefully, this will be enough for the invasion of Ainadra”
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Sep 19, 2014 03:49
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Chapter 21: Ainadra Burns While some people got to drive around in giant god machines or fly around in goblet (or mortar) shaped shaped flying... cups, others were sent to dead worlds to exploit singular pumpkin patches for their magical and nourishing properties. “Eh, it's a living... and drinking” Of course, for some of the lass farm inclined, life included such wonders as leading assaults on necromancer towers all on their lonesome. Especially once the elves got a peace agreement with Mallacir and immediately broke alliance. “I'm sorry, but you refused a peace proposal by Mallacir while I can no longer watch my people die. It's all on you now” “It's all on you” wasn't much of a threat to someone who employed troops that routinely tore arms off fire elementals. The Exemplars of Strength, all tried and battlehardened, were making their way through Ainadra with abominable ease. It could be said that the ground turned from the blood spilled there... had it not been red already (or if there had been enemies with actual blood).  Still, there were forces making their way over the burning plains of Ashwind Dale. There was at least one Exampler, most of the Rune Seers and one angry witch by the name of Misiss Firewick, who was the second elder witch that King Lich VI employed and the second one with an axe to grind against dragons. “Interesting... well, either that, or our scouts are incompetent. “What about it, my lord?” “According to the Planestrider map, we should have encountered a lot more shards than we did. So, either our scouts missed a gate somewhere, or...” “...or there's a separate branch of shards than only connects to Ainadra, but not any of our shards?” “Precisely. The way that your people managed to make it to Burnouts is all the more outstanding... Either that, or there's some mechanics in shard gating that we don't really understand” “I think... I think we would have remembered crossing a land that's basically blood colored ground in every direction” “Well, I'll look into it once Amberon's citadel is down” “But for now, I have to squeeze more mana out of our collectors! I really don't understand these drops in economy”The game is weird. Sometimes, the damage on my Exemplars changes per 50 units, for no reason. Economy fluctuates – I have to check if I don't have riots currently. It's strange, unless I'm missing city upkeep maluses  “Explosives, sire, that's the name of the game!”A Svart was leading King Lich around a factory established on sulfurous baths in Ashwind Dale. “For now, we're sticking them on the ends of long sticks, so that the troops could prod the enemy when they advance. But we have plans, great plans for the future!” “Do any of them include affixing a runelock on an Examplar?” “Er... no. But we are bundling explosives around their fists for some added punching power!” Wolves of Helia had some other ideas about the use of the explosives that were supplied to them. Being immune to heat and blast, they would surround the enemy and, when the correct degree of interspersion happened, set off the explosion. It was a very messy way to handle things and some were wounded by flying bone fragments, but it was better than affixing pertards to their staves. Luckily enough, magic sigils were easy to find in piles of left over burnt viscera.  The saddest thing about was that when an Examplar punched a zombie and the explosion sent burnt bits of reanimated flesh flying, there were no one who would appreciate the sight. “If this continues for much longer, I won't we able to see anything through the windows. I should attach brushes to the bats or something” Meanwhile, a not-so-simple incantation markedly improved mana extraction in Gatehouse, mostly by fixing leaks and envigorating workers. “You have to spend mana to gain mana, so it seems. Well, seems a little more guaranteed than just sending the troops to ravage the counrtyside”  “Early bird gets the worm... Birds are like dragons... flying around, dropping their dung on everyone... and worms are like dragons, slimy, and long...” “And if I'm fast enough, I could catch and squish them both” “NYAHAHAHAHAHA” “Why can't I find a witch that isn't terminally insane?” “Ladies... the dragon, if you please” “And now, for the ship”It was horrible, when her bolt hit the prisms powering the elven sky ship. The precarious balance that held the ship afloat and not exploding disappeared. Horrible energies surged, piercing the vessel, twisting the corridors into unnatural shapes and impossible angles. The crew was fused with the ship or each other, inverted into a bloody mass of organs and bone, or worse. Mercifully enough, it only took several seconds for the cores to actually explode and the ship fell to ground, broken beyond repair, and twisted so badly no man would ever dare look upon it.  It took one spin of Exemplar's axes and the two packs of Shadow Spiders were reduced to two piles of twitching shadow appendages. And once the pilot set out to maraud their nests, he found something curious.  At the center of (now crushed) egg clutches stood a tree all tied up by ephemeral shadow spider webs. A tree with a face. An angry face.   "Once upon a time, demonwoods greatly impressed Agrela with their tenacity, and the Goddess of Life turned some of them into Treewardens - her own faithful servants and protectors. Unfortunately, this wonderful transformation did nothing to soften the hatred and venom that pumped through the sap of those old angry demonwoods." (From "The Overall Description of Everything" by Master Alfus Bumblegate) The tree grunted and roared as it was freed, but didn't crush the Svart. Instead, it strode off, ready to beat something up. Truly it was proof that even the most gentle of goddesses sometimes need someone crushed.  Unfortunately, he was in region full of dragons, who were not only out of reach, but also keen on burning his wooden hide.  Luckily, he soon found another tree to fight. Wolves of Helia and an Exemplar of Strength agreed: it was hilarious.  In a place far away, a lady was being extracted through a palace window by the hand of an Exemplar. “LADY MALLACIR! You have been bested by my lord King Lich the sixth. You will cease all mage activities immediately and you will be detained until our king determines what to do with you. This will likely be postponed till the death of the Usurper. Submit and comply!” “I suppose this will have to do” “It will! Your only other choice was to be punched into explosion!” Her former seat was, of course, put to the torch. King Lich VI didn't want to mess with such a remote holding, and there were rumors that subversive elements were already on their way there.  Sir Hugue was a little weary of going into combat again. Ashwind Dale had a humbling effect on thim. Surrounded by metal Svart giants and accolytes that never had to bear the elements beating on them, he felt decisively out of his depth.   “Your wounds have been patched, soldier. Feel free to continue your duties!”Having said that, he jumoped back into his flight aparatus and rejoined formation, leaving behind envious prospectors who cursed the fact that they weren't the most advanced of the Svarts forces anymore.   “An improved version of the Sand Golem – harder, bigger, stronger. A desert world civilization created them to protect their temples and palaces” “If they're from a desert world, what are they doing here attacking Amberon?”Usually, I just copy the unit descriptions out of the wiki, but many of the W2 monsters are missing. Instead I found the Destiny wiki, read up on Falled and the Hive, and lamented that a have with lore that seems to be so potent turned out to be Borderlands 3 instead  The last fight left sir Hugue barely standing. Where the Examplars could crush anything that stood in front of them and the Dragomorts simply flew overhead, he had nearly died.  King Lich VI was preoccupied with other things. For example, a new spell, granted to him by Krolm (via a rock that smashed through his tower and left a crater in the throne room). The spell would hurt whoever it was cast on, but it return... well, in return nobody they attacked would return to haunt them.  And there were rumours floating around that Volundr was praparing something nasty in the factories near the jungles and marches, but there was no certain information.  “I tell you that human is untrustworthy!” “Well, if he attacks us, I trust you will be able to crush his hordes” “Ha! Finally you speak some sense!” Krel was still allied to Amberon, likely because the elf mage was so far, far away. Still, he was of no trouble, since his own people were unhappy about it.  “I don't think we're desperate enough to summon a dragon... or our economy can support it” “Runes... runes might be good for peoples like Svarts, but we're elves, we have no need for that” And it only took one metateleportation to let him put that elven magic in practice, shooting demonic trees.  Others, who had power of the gods running through their metal muscle, were able to just punch their way through entire cities and golden dragons.  “M'lord, I fear I have to face truth I never though I had. M'lord, my ability to serve you as a man-at-arms is at its limits. I can no longer sucessfully face the threats that arise... and we have no more threats that are low enough for me to face” “Normally, a king wouldn't do that... but you have already laid your life in my service... at least twice. I formally declare your service to me over and you are honorably released to do as you please” “Thank you... thank you, m'lord. I shall return to order and see what good I could do there” “Well, if not for all those amateur mages getting eaten by monsters, my research would be that much harder” In the meantime, Cecinia discovered a something new on Ainadra: elves! And the Exemplars were already murdering their way towards them.  However, that was not nearly fast enough and another one was teleported in to asses the sitution... and kill everything he finds.   "The theme of today's lecture is Supreme Vampires. Please open your notes from the previous lecture about Elder Vampires, and find the phrase "never cross an Elder Vampire", and copy this sentence to new page, changing "Elder" to "Supreme" and adding "ever" after the word "never". Everybody manage that? Splendid! Thus concludes today's lecture. (From "On Supreme Vampires," a lecture by Necromaster Barbaross the Deceased) A murder later, the Svart had already trashed some monsters and elves, found a magic mask and pressed into service an extremely old vampire.   “So that's where the old fool is hiding? Well, we'll show him how to side with Usurper”
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Sep 21, 2014 13:42
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Today's delay in posting is brought to you by tourism and arcades. Meanwhile, our sponsor "couple stuff" presents "Next Uptade Will Likely Be On Saturday, Sorry". Cythereal posted:Is there a reasonable guide as to what all you can build as what races? Starting to look into potentially getting this game, but I've gotten pretty confused from all the stuff you can apparently build without it mentioning what exactly it does. I've taken away that building temples to Krolm is a good idea, if nothing else. I usually try to give some sort of fluffy description of buildings instead of mentioning numbers. Buildings usually fall into several cathegories: resource production (farm, mana collector and craftsmen district are basically universal), production modifiers (granary for food, tax offices and banks for gold, etc), unit buildings and upgrade production buildings. Most of them have some sort of upkeep, combine several roles and might be required to build certain building of higher mark. Fortifications come in fort (ranged) and magic tower (elemental) variety. Shrines are new to Warlock 2: they provide some favor with a god, as well as some other bonuses (Krolm shrines are -2 unrest, because everybody gets drunk and watches bloodsport, I guess). The last are buildings that go on resource nodes: all races can build on resources, but sometimes there are alts depending on race. When you build on a unit resource (say, Minotaur), you can usually choose between unit production or a resource production/upgrade. Temples are the high end of this, since they're guarded by Greater Fire Elementals and let you build and, more importantly, upgrade units to Temple Units who kick rear end (well, depends on unit in question). It's all quite easy and there's no such juggling like in Civilization or Endless Space/Legend. Plus, since you only get one building per city level and, most of the time, only one copy of a building (farms and craftsmen districts are exempt), you don't have to toil as hard for a viable settlement. Chapter 22: Gatecrashing Ardania  “I think I could use troops and heroes that are something else than angry trees” “Not to worry, m'lord!”  "Samolom, like many other Svart machines, is a universal mechanism. In peacetime, it's used for digging pits and tunnels, and during war it's a perfect weapon for destroying enemy fortifications." (from "Chronicles of New Worlds" written by Master Vardies Teleran) The machine was huge. Six enormous metal legs held its frame high above the ground. The pilot sat in a box. And from that box extended a next that ended with a set of great metal jaws. “That is... impressive” “Aye, m'lord, it is. Mk. V Mining excavator is one serious beast. Samolom is the name that it uses on the front. The jaws, they can crush rock like nothing else. What a lucky coincidence that walls are also made from rock” “I just wonder if it's going to survive the war we're fighting now. I mean, it's not simple monster towns that we're taking” “Well, you can always resurrect the pilot!” “You know, I'd like it if your men didn't start thinking that any sort of lapse in planing could be solved by resurrection” “I thought I already had the spell to relocate my tower...” It turned out that building a pyrotechnics factory in a land surrounded by lava wasn't the best idea. The survivors used the ruins to build two smaller cities: one for people who decided they want to pursue their own lava related interests, and one dedicated to Krolm, as they were inspired by the Examplars who conquered the original city.  Krolm also gifted King Lich with the power to strip all beneficial enchantments off one target. Like with many spells granted by Krolm, it tooks shape of as astral fist just smashing the spells surrounding the target.  Now, another thing was the troops finding a scroll with Armageddon spell inscribed in it. The scrolls was black, gently smoking and the lettering was done in red runes that looked as if on fire, and if you gripped it, there would be blood left on your hands. “I have an inkling that this might be something for the King” “These don't look that powerful to me” “I heard somebody found a scroll for Armageddon. Now that's exciting!” "Death comes to out world as a huge stallion, glowing with infernal light. The sound of its hooves frightens even the bravest souls, and its glance chills even the bravest heart. Arethi elves believe that the Spirit of Death carries those faithful to the truth into the land of endless joy, while those without faith are thrown into an endless abyss of pain." (From the "Servants of truth" by High Keeper Teyaran the Rigorous) “Those elves don't know anything. Death comes as a GIANT FIST! KROOOLM!!!” However, not all Examplars were comitted to the assault on Amberon's Keep. Some were still roaming around, killing dragons and other giant, deadly critters. “I don't need armor of power. I already have ARMOR OF KROLM!” But not all Svarts were that enamored with Krolm or Dauros. Some decided that they wanted to worship the god of wilderness and chaos, Fervus. Critics said that giant statues of wolves don't really capture the essence of wilderness or chaos. While I'm naturally inclined towards order gods, Fervus' spells seem to be really interesting, and I regret not playing it. That said, his great weakness are the somewhat boring temple units. Dauros is the one most consistently awesome, although I kind of miss not trying out Black Reapers from Planetstriders. Seeing how it is, I will likely not be playing Warlock 2 after the LP  Amberon's Keep loomed before the Samolom, as giant and forboding as King Lich's tower in lichgrad.  But there was no way back and the mechine lurched forward. The jaws crashed into the outer wall and bit out a chunk of rocks. It wasn't much, but I got the Exemplars to pound the ground in excitement!  “...and then fly in over the wall, shooting at everything as we go. ZAP ZAP, skeletons falling apart everywhere, zombies bursting like over-ripe pumpkins, bats turning to ashes before they hit the ground... it was great! Wait, I'm getting a message” “Goblet-1, this is Lichtower. Enact scorched earth policy and get back to roaming status, over” “...well, at least it's an undead city. We're not some dragoons to go pillaging villages” All the while, more and more Exemplars answered the call and massed outside the walls of Amberon's keep.  A few still roamed around, usually using themselves as bait to lure in dragon... and then punch them into dragon pulp! There were thoughts about installing a miniature sprocket cannery that would process the meat tenderized by the Exemplar, but it was decided that it would likely be a blasphemy, especially since Krolm's barbarians rarely eat food they didn't kill themselves. This played readily into farmer's hands, since blademasters would line up to reap wheat as they had to kill their own bread, too.  “It like they didn't do any maintenance to this sea at all. Not even long shores had some many lairs” “Well, Razor-2, that's why we're here. To bring peace and stability to the land, and to kill anybody who doesn't like it” Unfortunately, Samolom's driver had to take his que in the “Waiting for Resurrection (no gambling)” line as the spells protecting Amberon's Keep proved to be too much. Fortunately, Exemplars didn't really care about such paltry incantations.  Soon, walls were ripped apart and the biggest blocks were thrown at the tower, all to bring it down sooner and faster. The imposing structure shuddered and collapsed, leaving behind a scenic tower ruin, as per tower ruin traditions forged at the begging of time, set by the first dwarf and the first tower.  “Ardania is within reach! And likely filled with uncounted horrors. Nobody enters the gate until we get some scouts here!” Meanwhile, in a plane far far away, goblin shamans were starting to realize that the city – the future site of which they were guarding – would not likely materialize soon or at all. That was a dreadful idea – being left behind in an empty shard while all others were at the front. And the for the first time in their lives, the goblins had to fend off thoughts about ending themselves. Seeing how their were goblins, it wasn't that hard to dodge Death's icy grip.  “Ah, this looks like a potent spell. Never have I seen it before... or heard of it. This will be interesting!”  “Lichtower, we have finished translation to Ardania, and we have Cecinia in tow.” “Excellent. Now, to kill the United One's leutenants and be dealt with him”. “Now why would that kill him?' “Because getting all sorts of magical power doesn't mean that you become that smarter. Else he wouldn't have antagonized the gods. Now, he was sealed in Ardania, but great mages were not. So, fearing mages that didn't bow to him – mages like me – he invested power in his lackeys, who would go out into the shards to hunt us” “Unfortunately, Great Mage doesn't mean a good warrior, either. You see, Amberon the Dark stayed there because he thought that United One was the Truth, for some reason, and groveled at his feet. Elspritster is likely still too scared of losing to go out for a real fight. The Empress, well, she was always too keep to use the undead for her goals. I mean, can you really call yourself emperor when you're ruling over people who can't rebel against you?” “I knew that you lot are a bunch slackwits. Wait, what about the dragon?” “He's powerful by the virtue of being his father's son. Almost a spitting image, especially in laziness” “So we have four powerful individuals who can't go against the United One as the source of their power, and are too drunk with power to do anything that matters” “Maybe we should have stayed with the Stone King. He doesn't seem that bad compared to you”King Lich smiled – which meant that his ghostlight eyes flared. “Well, this was very beneficial for me” “The origin of Shadow Dragons remains a mystery, despite the best efforts of Mages and Alchemists. Only thing is for sure – Shadow Dragons are somehow connected to the extermination of the dragons of Ardania” “What is that? I think United One's meddling has made Ardania worse for wear. I'm going to have so much trouble once I retake it”    "Five Dragomort Guardsmen from 'Sky Hawks' Royal Regiment in their newest heavy combat stupas are flying by the castle, with the head stupa piloted by Mayor Dagar Streltsoff, holder of the Order of Stone Heart and Heaven Glory of 2nd degree" (from the report of the military parade in honour of the millennial anniversary of the King of Svarts) Dragomort Guardsmen were required to know parade drills, be trained not to fall for lone, attractive women, to shoot on sight at anything suspicious or taller than a Svart, not to fly while drunk and show all sorts of gallantry. But it was mostly done to get the spiffy new armor which Dragomorts envied the Halberdiers and Veterans.  “Oh hell, a dragon? In a spider nest?” "These land-locked ratmen are true sea wolves. That is to say, well, yes many of them have never even seen the sea in their lives, but the free-wheeling spirit of a sea wolf lives in the hearts of each of these rogues." From the collected works of His Majesty's Advisor. Luckily, it was one of the ubiquitous Shadows of Vendral, the most common and annoying kind of dragon. Even the ratmen robbers – his first victims, after the dragon flew off to the mountains – didn't occur as often as Shadows did.  “Oooh, shiny things!” “drat it, Razor-3, concentrate! You're a trained reconnaissance crow in King Lich's service, start acting like one!” Back in Lichanium, a manufactory was built by some of the hardiest svarts around. Their mission? To extract swamp iron and make it into the hardest steel there was...  ...Dwarven Steel. “Why is it called like that? I have never seen a dwarf!” The fact that Svarts might not known dwarfs didn't matter: the steel was hard and deadly efficient.  Dragons died and Tormentors fled before the onslaught of Svart rage, Krolm's fury and flurry of Dwarven steel axes. “I COME TO DANCE THE DANCE OF DEATH!”*** “I swear there we no tormentors in Ardania before that United One business. What did that fool do?” Back in Ainadra, two Shadows of Vendral were fighting. While dragons usually stroke fear into the hearts of men, it was nice to see two of the pests going against each other.   “Lunar wisps are not nimble, but they are playful creatures. They just love to play catch and play it with everything that moves. Actually, they never run themselves, but they prefer to chase...” There were other, shiny problems in Burnouts. So shiny one could not look at them directly, but that didn't stop King Lich from absentmindedly casting a spell in their direction. After all, he was more concerned with something else...  “Big words for a man who spent the Dremer invasion locked in a tower and going through books and scrolls faster than anyone else. Why, if you had spent time outside, maybe you would have learned something about war and real power” “Now, you will pay for it. Prepare to die!”
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Sep 24, 2014 06:53
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Alavaria posted:Resurrection also beings to life the massive steel machine huh... Look at it this way: the pilot is the most important part, since it's he who's getting all the experience bonuses and stuff. And since people (and ghost ships) are resurrected at the capital, it also likely teleports the remains. As for fixing the stuff... well, I think that construct repair magic exists, so why not?
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Sep 24, 2014 15:47
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Chapter 23: To Kill a God-Head Spawning demons might signify the end of the world, but what if the world wasn‘t ending? What if demons were just a natural occurrence that popped up despite the fact that somewhere else something much more grand was happening?  Indeed, how can one appreciate the gravity of the situation when he‘s worlds away, block away by such petty thing as human warriors blocking their path and refusing to budge?  Even if the person is one of the few that can kill dragons easily…  …does killing one more dragon signify some sort of greater end? If killing wurms is a mundane task, does one think about matters that might be grander than slayings?  In a world where evil trees blessed by goddess of healing can grow teeth, who can say for sure?  If mad barbarians can set up a city in lava and worship their god without burning, who can say what CAN’T happen?  ‘A shrewish hag! But she is very strong indeed! Even without Krypta’s support she can give anyone a lot of trouble as she can still heal and raise the undead” Especially when the players are finally taking their places. One can already see the one who would imagine herself in the place of goddess of death, the one that ruled an empire which never dissented, for there were no more tongues to spread dissent and all the hearts that could burn with fires of revolution had rotted away long ago. Only she and her power over the dead remained.  Yet no one balked, nor feared her, nor did they alter their plans for her. Monsters were to be killed, and their lairs were to be looted. All to speed the end…  “Amberon… It’s a dark story that has happened with this Amberon. The Advisor says Amberon the Dark is the most loyal and the most dangerous of the ‘lieutenants’ of the United One, but if so, then who is Amberon the Light, the favored Great Mage of the Elves? The only theory I have is that Amberon managed to escape from the power of the United One, but not as a whole self, only the best side. The one that understands that United One cannot be the Supreme Truth… And the dark part with all its anger, wrath, cruelty and evil was left in Ardania… That is… a very unpleasant combination. Especially when armed with bow and arrows that don’t miss” Behold, a Elven knight with a black more dark than the Empress ever had. Do not look at him, but through him and gain insight: Know that through imprisonment and separation of Amberon did the elves gain a leader that was kind to his subjects Know that even evil can posses loyalty and die for what it believes  And it doesn’t really matter that his beliefs are false and he’s dedicated to what most certainly isn’t the Supreme Truth. After all, he is evil and thus mistaken. If he wasn’t, he would have helped in the fight against Dremer long ago. In fact, the evil of United One and his lieutenants seems to go so deep and that only the wrath of Father of Gods will be able to expunge their taint from the ground.  But that time is not yet here. There is still fighting to be done, and any who wishes to see it all through must prepare hard and fast. And so they do, practicing their sword swipes or bolting metal to floating cups.  “Old Elpiritster… I warned him that staying for too long in ghost from was harmful for his mind, and that any mage who chose life after death would become a Lich. Too bad the old man was too stubborn to realize it… When the United One appeared, he was the first one to offer his obedience in exchange for the continuation of such ‘life’. Why, with his experience in intrigues, did Elpiritster not realize that United One had no need of servants, that he has everything he ever wants, and sooner or later his ‘lieutenants’ would become his shadows? I’ve hear that Elpritster is still good with protective spells and if necessary can cover his colleague ‘lieutenants’… Well, anyway, he should have been released from his burden a long time ago” But what can mere metal do against someone who lacked a body for so long, he forgot how the touch of metal feels?  One way is to have the metal encase a zealot, someone totally devoted to their god… and let the rage of the god of gods, Krolm, flow through their bodies, both flesh and not. Divine wrath fills muscle and motor even as it burns their core. The strongest will survive…  And so the first blow is struck. Might the Empress of death might be, but in the end, she’s just human. Selfish and powerful, but just human. She does not have the Wrath, nor the Metal. Thus the Examplar’s fist pound her form, sending both flesh and magic screaming. The Empress holds, for now…  But another of Examplar’s brothers feel the wrath of Krolm unfold in him. Snakes of fiery rage uncoil in their bodies, extending to their casings of steel and adamantium. The rage boils and spills through his eyes and mouth, and the viewslit shines with ghastly light.  The Empress is left beaten and bloody, still stronger than any man alive, yet already horrifically maimed. A healer can’t help but look at her and feel compassion for life… other life, not hers.  Mages and summoned monsters desperately seek to stop the onslaught, but the Exemplars are indomitable, immovable, judgment of Krolm given body and motion. So they lash out and thus a pack of Dragorts perish in flames, leaving behind their floating cups full of ash.  “This two headed dragon was never much of a Mage, but he is very strong. This, and the fact that he is the son of the legendary Vendral, secured him a place on the Board of Great Mages, and then he became one of the so-called ‘lieutenants’ of the United One. They say the Dark Elf gives Tendral some ‘special powers’. I must remember this” To the tune of Svarts burning does the great double headed dragon Tendral make his entrance, collecting all four of the lieutenants in once place. The anchors of United One’s power are all there, all evil, all desperate. The horrible battle continues…  ...and ends for the Empress. The Fists of the Examplar would be enough, but he’s also powered by magic, so much. In the end, there’s barely a bloody smear on the ground where one of Ardania’s greatest mages once stood. Nearby, Elpritster senses his assurance that he won’t die in this fight slip away and dread creeps up his ghastly form.  He doesn’t have to be afraid for long. Madness descends from the heavens and righteous wrath consumes another Examplar. The machine thrashes around and bellows at the skies. The deaths of Dragomorts will be avenged! The arduous trek over the shattered remains of worlds will be repaid with the death of a mage already dead!  Great is the wrath and greater still is the skills with which Examplar spins the axes around. Nobody is safe, not even Tendral in the sky. Yet he lives to bear horrible wounds while Elpritster vanishes in the flurry of steel.  Tendral tries to slip away, to avoid the punishment of gods and magic, to goad one of his spawns to halt the incoming doom by throwing himself at the Examplars.  But the metallic titans are marching upon Amberon. Their rage isn’t as great now, tempered, a little, by the deaths of the necromancers. Yet Amberon has committed great crimes and the punishment will be equally great.  Twisted as he is, he doesn’t see anything wrong in sacrificing an entire city to slow down his pursuers. But Examplars sweep cities and their defenders as easily as they do with everything else and Amberon is driven away. But… “You will not slip away this time! I’ll erase the last trace of you from Ardania!” A great conflagration descends on Amberon, melting his armor, tearing skin from his flesh, and burning him away. The flames are so hot and so high that the whole region is scoured clean, consuming the the ruins of elven city. “Not like this...!”A lone voice among the damned is extinguished as flames devour the flames in his lungs. He who wanted to see the Dead King of Svarts die, he who set Svart against Svart, who poisoned the mind of Krel, who bribed, backstabbed, poisoned…  He is dead, dead, dead, with no mark left behind and with no name that King Lich VI could give to the green hooded man who had sown discord amongst his subjects.  Only Tendral is left and even he wouldn’t last long. For a moment, he thought that the sky would be his escape, where no Exemplar could ever reach him. Foolishly he underestimates the mage that had cut a bloody swath through the shards to reach this place. For a mage of such great power, there’s not much challenge in making the metal warriors fly.  Thus the Exemplars give chase…  And so they are set upon by a wyrd-spasm from the touch of god!  The dragon is surrounded, ironically enough, over holy ground. But what aid could it be to someone who serves the United One, who was shunned by all gods? Who can he turn to?  The skies and the mountains tremble with a shout of wrath the likes of which had not been heard since the dawn of time. For miles and miles creatures are driven insane by such horrible incarnation of anger.  The Exemplar twists and twitches as he swoops in to kill the dragon. Tendral exhales his deadly breath and brandishes his vorpal claws…  All too little, all too late. His broken form falls to the ground beneath the feet of the twitching Exemplar. The United One dies with him. He who snatched victory out of the hands of King Lich VI. He who made himself one with magic of Ardania. The one who challenged gods and enslaved great mages. He dies, undone by his hubris and lack of planning. He dies for the lack of body and connection to the world. He dies for having spread his power around too thin. He dies, because not much remains of him anyway.  Picturesque link to video below  King Lich – or is it God Lich now? – surveys all with his sight. The United One is dead, yet so much work remains. Raising the troops dead in the final assault. Making the explored shards habitable. Fixing Krel’s broken mind. Exploring the other shards. Deadling with other great mages. Convincing Krel to go against Grum-Gog. Maybe looking for traces of the Great King. As for his Svarts… “I accept the name of Rurik the Loyal and pledge my eternal service to the Lich. I will maintain your realm, see it expand and make sure no one goes hungry with your divinity seeks tasks more suitable for your power” “I accept the name of Veremoud the Firebrand and pledge my eternal service to the Lich. I will see that our troops are well trained, well supplied and well briefed. I will look after the Quintet of Exemplars and guard your realm from enemies within and without” “I accept the name of Volundr the Smith and pledge my eternal service to the Lich. With your power flowing through my veins I fill craft all the realm needs, I will made wonders unseen in the shards and I will forge you’re a set armor fitting for a god” “I accept the name of Razor the God-Eye…”‘twas but a tiny piece of his power, but it was enough to turn his loyal followers into demigods, each entrusted with looking after his people far better than he could. For now, he turned his power to rebuilding and rebirth. “I saved you once, Ardania. I’ll make you live again”.
JcDent fucked around with this message at 10:49 on Sep 27, 2014 |
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Sep 27, 2014 10:18
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First time I played this, I had the demon baron, who wrecked stuff and Ardania was hard. This time, it was all so easy, probably because I randomly took out Empress first, then that douchebag with a name I still can't spell and so on, basically unraveling the support chain. Last time, I had to cast Dauros Spell Of Killing Undead the ghost to make it go down. But that was a simpler time, when I though that 100 was a lot of damage. LightWarden posted:
Barfor, Baron of Force and Barlog, Baron of Logic. The Devs must feel so smug about themselves, can't believe I didn't notice that before. Tehan posted:
I totally missed the Warcry of Rage: Examplars moving out of range explains the fluctuation of power that confused me. That said, here we have a mobbable temple unit, which sounds ridiculous. Epilogue: Last Thoughts and Regrets Following is mostly personal stuff related to writing and unsavory personal quirks, and not this exactly this. LP related stuff will be AFTER the image. I really can‘t remember what was the first LP that I read on LParchive, but it all quickly captured my fancy and imagination. Unlike many other people, I didn‘t really feel in position to start doing an LP myself. Of course, some time passed and I said gently caress it: I attempted to do Strike Suit Zero and Medieval II for another site, before getting a being gifted a create-an-account voucher by Habermann (I used to adore his VLPs). SA had already had magnificent Medieval II LPs so I grabbed Warlock, because nobody else seemed to be doing it. Took me a year to finish, because like many things than can be classed as work, it made me feel nauseous when I thought about doing it. Yet somehow I added character portraits (Drakengard and Icewind Dale LPs really benefited from those, so I said why not?) and forged forward. Mostly because of the audience, really. I mean, I am a lazy famewhore, so views count, too, but unlike in my experience as a vidjagame critic, I received feedback from well spoken people. And I felt like I was making change, in that people said “Your LP is great, it made want to make a Russian less poor by buying Warlock”. That basically never happened in the 7 years I reviewed videogames. Magazine audiences were usually mum, and on the internet, well, it’s the famous games that most attention and those have the most rock solid audience ever: if you bash Call of Duty, it’s because you like Battlefield, and vice versa. (I do it because I used to like Call of Duty for the campaign). Anyways, after telling myself (and my visiting girlfriend) that I’m gonna man up and finish that Warlock LP, I did updates on alternating days and for something that required ~3 hours of writing and linkpasting (gaming is never considered work, unless it’s poo poo like Party of Sin or Deep Black: Reloaded), it went surprisingly well. Unlike various attempts at making sustained columns (that died because of overwhelming general apathy) on our gaming website, the LP got response. And so I decided to the best I could and make an of Warlock 2 that would run on alternate days and would finish roughly at the time when my all supportive girlfriend went back home. The timing was surprisingly impeccable. SAFE TO READ ZONE STARTS HERE  In comparison to my first playthrough: Oh the dreams that I had. The character drama of Veremoud slowly growing to trust King Lich VI. Loudoin being a constant thorn in King Lich’s side till he was hunted down. A plot thread about Louduin being a maniac who dismantled Plane Warriors in distrust of undead and how King Lich would have restored them (as regular Plane Warriors and Sergeants). Considering the mish mash of forces in the end, not a big deal. Custom banners for units of Honor Guard: this fell through because I can’t draw, and it’s so loving hard to keep track of all the blighters. Was it that hard to steal from Civ and make units renamable? FFS, it’s a game about legendary heroes and units that grow fat with enchantments and magical armor. More actual gate crashing, with dorfs instead of crows going through the gate. Not using Rune Warrior, Dragomorts and Samoloms to their full potential. Really, Honor/Elite guard was so good and Rune Warrior with their <20 HP didn’t have a place in my army. The only real trouble from Krel’s forces were mages that prospectors could kill easily, but were also horribly vulnerable to. For a game that wanted to place greater emphasis on combined warfare (in that archers actually assist attacks of other units), this turned out to be quite the lopsided melee grind fest. Dragomorts and Samoloms fell prey to poor city planning and limits on cities. But seriously, the Guard are just that good. I also regret not seeing Plane Warrior Temple version, Black/Dark Reapers in action, maybe it’s the Planestrider unit that doesn’t suck. It’s also very strange that I didn’t manage to find an entrance to the other branch of shards. Really fukken weird. Other than that, this has been a fun ride and you were a great audience. I aim to return in three days with Fallout Tactics – Brotherhood of Steel. It’s likely going to be a screenshot LP, since the last time I played the game AGES (8-10 years ago, oh God) I saved every five seconds, I hate audio editing and I apparently switch to an “audio recording” voice that’s quite horrible.
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Sep 28, 2014 04:36
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Deceitful Penguin posted:Good LP and happy I could contribute some names. Also made me grab the free Warlock 1 and am now considering whether to buy the DLC or just get 2 right away. I was glad to see people participating in the thread. Also, get Warlock 2. It's like Warlock 1, but without Dremers, so much better. Torrannor posted:Really great LP, and it's nice that there's a boss battle at the end and not just you conquering all cities of the United One on Ardania. Glad that at least someone enjoyed it!
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Oct 1, 2014 08:10
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An unnecessary self bump: the new LP OP is up!
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Oct 1, 2014 10:31
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Glazius posted:Those are some amazing endgame units you've got there. I suppose you'd just petition Krolm if you couldn't make giant robots? Would have kind of been in the bind. Then again, wouldn't be able to pass Ainadra without super combatants, so there's always a way.
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Oct 6, 2014 15:28
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You guys are missing the major point of an aquatic civilization: SEA SERPENTS ALL UP IN YOUR poo poo.
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Oct 31, 2014 06:29
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