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Caustic Soda posted:Hope your troubles are of a sort that are solvable and/or pass on their own. In any case, RL takes precedence, so you do what you gotta do. I'm quite busy lately myself, but I'll make time to enjoy your new update when it's there This man here knows what's up and has his priorities straight.
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Sep 23, 2014 04:50
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Peanut3141 posted:This man here knows what's up and has his priorities straight. Agreed.  Take your time Taerkar, and i hope you get the spare hours to lead a glorious halfling warlord to victory in aow3. 
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Sep 23, 2014 12:56
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Can someone spoil the Keeper campaign for AOW1? Do the endings screw you over as much as the ones in the Cult of Storms campaign?
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Sep 24, 2014 17:06
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Sure why not. I'm putting it in tags just in case, though. The Halflings => Dwarves => Elves campaign is bittersweet-to-sweet, and AFAICT is the canon ending. It ends up with the Elven Court reestablished in the Valley. Unlike the Dark Elf ending, it isn't about to come crashing down, since the Keepers aren't as backstabbing as the Storm Lords. The High Men campaign ends up pretty depressing. Tthe non-human races leaving the continent, the protagonist being the sole remaining elf and quite bitter about it. The Undead campaign has the protagonist brainwashed and leprous/turning-undead throughout the missions, and he's entertainingly crazy. Unfortunately for him, Julia manages to un-brainwash him in the final battle. So he stops looking forward to the world being covered in skeletons, himself among them. Instead, the protagonist ends up fleeing and committing suicide, after hiding his journal and name-dropping the game title. If you'd like to read the endings yourself, you can find them here: http://aow.heavengames.com/gameimages/campaign_endings.shtml. The site doesn't have the scenario blurbs, though, which is my favorite part of the Keeper Undead campaign. Caustic Soda fucked around with this message at 18:43 on Sep 24, 2014 |
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Sep 24, 2014 18:40
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Age of Wonders 2 - Life, Initiation Phase: Infusing Hope Warning - Bad excuse alert: Well, today is a Friday.  I bid the Halflings and Marinus behind as I return to the tower.  Gabriel is in a bad way and I can tell that he's using all of his energy to infuse me with the knowledge of life. I fear that we may not be able to complete this in time. It has taken far too long to get to this point as is.  But as with Marinus and the Sphere of Water, I go into this newest challenge with allies, though they are reluctant. While Julia is still helpful, the same cannot necessarily be said about her fellow elves. Mostly they are just distrustful, and I cannot fault them for that. Before I can meet with Julia I must first help Serena and sometimes I wonder if she really is a wizard of life for hold cold and distant she is to me. I fear that I may have a great challenge ahead of me.  Some of my most loyal followers have come to this land with me and they have been permitted to settle down near an Elven village. Julia has quite graciously giving me authority over that small village as well and I know that it is quite a test. Should I mishandle them I will have no chance of success here.  Serena contacts me almost as soon as the initial establishment is complete. Her words surprise me a little as she seems a bit warmer to me than our first meeting. Though on reflection I understand it more.  Nearby I make contact with two promising Elves, young by their standards they are more willing to work with me than most of their kind. The first is Elme the priest, a welcome aid for our inevitable clash with Nekron.  The second is Torgal, an Elven Ranger already renown for his skill with the bow, even almost a people naturally talented with such weapons.    To my west is Serena's holdings. As with my own settlement here she does not possess a great number of resources as the lands were only recently reclaimed by the Elves after many decades of effort and warfare.  Julia contacts me shortly afterward Serena does and even from the distance that she is to me I can feel her warmth and charm. It does not surprise me that she was able to do what she did as the leader of the Keepers.    Her main holdings are to the northeast, her capitol being the Elven Court itself, still being rebuilt after the wars that brought it ruin and salvation  There is a small outpost to the east, watching over the great waterways that run through the valley. I do not know if it will be of much importance right now, but at least it will give us warning of any threat from the south.  To the north still lies the scars of warfare. The blasted lands and shattered cities that did not survive the great conflict. I will have to rebuild many of these if I hope to be successful here. Such an action will also no doubt help to improve the opinion of at least some of the Elves of me.     It does not take long for the conspirators to reveal themselves to me. They make no attempt to hide their alliance anymore, not that there was any real question about it at this point. I have defeated them before and this time will be no different.  But first I must do some housekeeping. Goblin bands, always opportunistic, have inhabited some of the dark recesses around here and they must be purged.  Another nearby cave proved to be the location where a small number of dwarves have been sheltering since the last conflict in this region. They were quite eager to join me.  One of the ruined cities near my foothold, Olhilm, has been rebuilt. The core of the settlement is now rebuilt, including its great tower, but it will take a much longer time to restore the rest of the ravaged city.  As I consider what I am facing here one choice becomes clear. I must focus on what I need to triumph first and what I need to rebuild second. It is not a pleasant decision, but without victory there can be no recovery.  After all one of my opponents is a representative of death itself.  Julia sends a messenger to me, telling me of some information that her scryers have managed to divine. Yaka is present far to the east and comes here not with the Tigrans, but rather with the Draconians. So far my experience with those dragon-kin has been limited so I don't know quite what to expect. But I will learn soon enough.  It is not surprising that a land that has seen so much fighting has a number of crypts in the area. While I am loath to disturb the rest of fallen heroes and champions, I cannot leave them alone less they fall prey to my foes, or worse I face those champions reborn, or at least reanimated.  Clearly I am not the only one to think this as Serena sends forces to sanctify one of the crypts near her settlements.  An action that she has benefitted from.  The fighting in this region has not only shattered and burned the land but it has affected the magical currents that flow through the area. A large rift had formed nearby and before it could be stabilized a great Rift Lord emerged from it and set upon my troops nearby. Fortunately my forces were able to rain down arrow and bolt upon it and slay the lord before he could cause too much damage. Me posted:Massed Crossbows and Elven Archers are quite dangerous.  It was Torgal's arrows that finally vanquished the creature, no doubt the first of countless foes that will fall to his bow and blade.  His next victim are zombies, but there are never tales of Zombies. They are unpleasant to speak about and no glory is to be found in defeating such fodder. After all the bards do not sing of farmers reaping their wheat.  Nekron's fortress watches over one of the main paths to Julia and I cannot leave him be without risking ruin. But right now I lack the forces to do more than harass him.  It is only a matter of time until I do. Then I will be able to cleanse and restore this land to its past glory.
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Oct 31, 2014 18:55
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Update came on Friday, exactly as promised. I don't see anything wrong with this.
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Nov 1, 2014 00:59
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My favorite campaign. Just a bunch of goodguys facing off with the badguys in a simplistic push-forward campaign. I played this one so much it became really easy, and I had no idea why I was still failing the very first campaign against Yaka back in the Fire Sphere (which I still find weirdly difficult).
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Nov 1, 2014 01:24
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Digital Jello posted:My favorite campaign. Just a bunch of goodguys facing off with the badguys in a simplistic push-forward campaign. I played this one so much it became really easy, and I had no idea why I was still failing the very first campaign against Yaka back in the Fire Sphere (which I still find weirdly difficult). Have parts of an effort post in the AoW3 thread: madmac posted:There's something about weekends that makes me want to do big effortposts, I swear. Lets go ahead and to Tigrans also, as they were the other race that was specifically mentioned by the devs as being one they'd like to bring back, and another race I played way too much personally. Anyway, this is a nice campaign, actually my second favorite (after the next one). The plot thickens, and it's finally us against the conspirators.
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Nov 1, 2014 09:19
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I always liked the Life campaign too, for a lot of reasons. The missions are all pretty fun and straightforward, and Life Magic by itself is a pretty noticeable change of pace from the regular old Elemental Spheres. Elves are also just a fun race to play around with, not nearly as slow or frustrating as playing Halflings before Leprechauns come out.
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Nov 1, 2014 15:43
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Life does seem to be refreshingly straightforward. Everyone's just swinging for each other right from the get-go.
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Nov 4, 2014 04:28
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I haven't forgotten about this, I just played myself into a bad spot and had to backtrack some.
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Dec 12, 2014 07:42
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After getting over the horrible experience of CAT MASTERS EVERYWHERE in Fire 1 (too much turtling on my part), the rest of the missions were much easier. But Life 1 was actually a noticeable increase in difficulty, so I can understand your situation.
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Dec 12, 2014 13:19
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Is this still going on?
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Feb 9, 2015 17:22
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Been job-hunting a fair bit lately so it's been keeping me from focusing too much on the mission.
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Feb 9, 2015 18:54
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Plans for the day dropped out so I had time to give this another try. Started over Life 1 and took a different approach. Still a bit slow progress but things are a lot better than they were before. Teaser image:
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Feb 10, 2015 20:56
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Taerkar posted:Plans for the day dropped out so I had time to give this another try. Started over Life 1 and took a different approach. Still a bit slow progress but things are a lot better than they were before. That's a lot of spiders.
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Feb 10, 2015 21:21
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What did the spiders do to you? 
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Mar 8, 2015 23:51
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Apparently they made me forget that I had actually already uploaded the pictures and go into a panic because I couldn't find them. Oops. Age of Wonders 2 - Life, Initiation Phase: Spur to Life  I cannot quite explain what I have just been through. The feeling of Gabriel drawing out the very essence of water from my self only to have the purity of life itself be pressed into me was an incredible experience. I am ashamed to admit that I actually lost consciousness during it and had what I can only believe was a prophetic dream about the challenges ahead of me. It seemed to have lasted weeks, but clearly was only for a few moments as I picked myself up off the floor once Gabriel was able to rouse me.  Merlin posted:This ageless queen fascinates me. I often see Julia's images in my dreams. I will assist her and change her people's hearts.  Merlin posted:I am to escort Serena, the Elf Wizard of Life, to Julia's palace. Serena doesn't trust me and refuses to consult with me without hosts of elite guards. She is disagreeable, but her powers are considerable and her behavior is not unusual for an Elf.    It does not surprise me that the opening parts play out the same, all of these pieces were set into motion before the vision occurred so there was no cause for them to change. It is almost reassuring to know that I do have some forewarning now.   Elme and Torgal are quickly contacted and brought under my banner, my vision having provided me with the means to swiftly convince them to come to my support.  Also as expected are the threats from the conspirators, threats that I care so little for I barely deign to recognize even one of them.  The halfling refugees are right where the vision said that they would be. According to the leader of the small troupe they've been camping there for weeks.  My first great deviation from the vision. I elect to rebuild Olhilm first instead of one of the nearby farms. Poor scouting in my vision led to me choosing the latter of the former.  My first contact with Nekron is one of his Death Knights that is easily dispatched by Elme and Torgal.   A quick jaunt underground reveals a small handful of goblins, quickly overwhelmed by my Elven riders, and a magical catalyst that I use to improve my mastery over magic.  With Olhilm already rebuilt I can focus more on rebuilding the smaller devastated towns and farms in the region and thus better support my forces for the task ahead.  Apparently Serena has a new club.  My Elven riders have been very active in dealing with incursions right now, performing occasional raids into Nekron's land to keep his undead from building up too much strength. This is benefiting both Elme and Torgal rather nicely.  For reasons I do not understand the Vision was quite incorrect about the magical rift near Olhilm. Perhaps this is an insight into the strange nature of these rifts and the untapped potential that they represent.  Nekron's stronghold to the north is well-defended but he seems almost afraid to commit the forces to try and drive off my riders. As such they are able to roam the surrounding lands and cripple some of the supporting structures in the region.  To better fight death one needs a better understanding of the energies of life. Me posted:Rangers have a small chance of learning the Healing ability, which is pretty close to a must-have with how useful it is in AoW 2. This means both Torgal and Elme have it and thus the group they're in gets a lot of healing every turn. While Life does get a Healing spell, free healing in battle is never a bad thing.  One cannot prosper and triumph by simply rebuilding what is lost. Expansion is necessary as well to better prevent the failures of before. And I don't think Serena will mind that there's more Elves around.  Mab is certainly not being idle here and has sent more than a handful of goblin raiding parties into my land, which have temporarily disrupted activities in the region. They are either defeated or chased away within a day or two of being spotted.  Another settlement to the north, albeit by Halflings this time. This allows for me to start trading with Marinus and thus greatly increase my available resources. Me posted:Halfling towns make bonus gold. Elves are bonus mana and Humans are bonus production. Also you have to love that name: Tormentil  All of that development has led to this moment. A strike at Nekron's stronghold to dislodge him from the north. My forces are small but powerful, while his are, as is typical for the undead, large but somewhat fragile.  The raid is a success, but is not without loss. Both Elme and Torgal are seriously wounded and are forced to withdraw from the fight.   The rest of the group, however, is able to drive back into the city and drive Nekron from it, leaving it in my control.  Unfortunately this does not banish Nekron from this land as he does have a bolt-hole to the east.  Torgal finds a special ring made of moonstone in Nekron's private chambers and, after it has been cleansed of any corrupting influences, puts it to good use.  My scouts report that Nekron has indeed returned to the east, though what he is doing I can only guess at. Me posted:He seriously just chilled out in that hex for about a half-dozen turns. Sadly I had nothing nearby that could kill him.   A large force under Yaka's banner made an incursion into my lands, no doubt hoping to catch one of my cities poorly defended after I had pushed Nekron out of the north. Unfortunately for her I had actually moved the bulk of my troops back south and they were able to easily destroy Yaka's forces.  Up until now I had no idea as to where Nimue's lands were but a newly commissioned vessel, searching for lands suitable for colonization, has located her Human subjects to the south across the waters. Why she has not struck out against me I do not know.  More of Mab's troops are defeated underground as I start to push through the caverns and secret paths to take the war to the east.  Nekron's former fortress is now inhabited by my followers who have been working day and night to prepare the great war workshops for my future needs.  The central lands are defended by my capitol and a nearby Human settlement, though it has been fairly quiet there. Occasionally Serena's forces pass through as they attempt to drive the Goblins out of the south.  The southern lands are a slight vulnerability if I am to be honest, but I am taking steps to remedy this weakness.  That being said, currently Yaka's forces are distracted as they attempt to retake the southern outpost to the Valley away from Serena. Originally held by Julia, this outpost fell to Mab only to be retaken by Serena, though I suspect that she will not be able to hold onto it. Eventually I will have to address it, I suspect.
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Mar 9, 2015 22:08
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Strange that he would hang out on that square, doesn't he have a city to return to? Didn't he spawn in a city?
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Mar 9, 2015 22:33
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The first time I read this in the game, I thought it said "tree-buggers"
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Mar 9, 2015 22:40
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Torrannor posted:Strange that he would hang out on that square, doesn't he have a city to return to? Didn't he spawn in a city? He did, yes. He spawned in the city with the mage tower then wandered into that field and chilled out for a number of terms. I think he eventually moved into another city to the east of there but he's no longer in that spot.
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Mar 9, 2015 22:42
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Sometimes I notice Yaka is extremely active during this campaign (with his success rate at expanding his empire, I mean). It's almost as if it's indirectly forcing you to take him on last. And then there will be other times that he just sits happy in his little domain, instead building up large sums of units to protect his cities instead of advancing. The only enemy empire that seems to remain consistent is Nekron. Even if you leave him alone (which you really can't since his capital sits a stone's throw away from your starting point), I notice his undead hordes never really explore; they just seize a few resources here and there and remain in his tower city.
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Mar 10, 2015 07:14
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For a second I thought Torgal was getting Swimming Marksmanship IV, which struck me as the nichest of all skills.
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Mar 12, 2015 05:55
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Teaser for the next update: I give Nimue more of a phobia of airships.
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Apr 17, 2015 02:39
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It lives!  It's not as if Faery Dragons are chumps. Airships always seem out of place in city defense.
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Apr 17, 2015 05:52
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They are even more out of place underground.
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Apr 17, 2015 15:39
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Age of Wonders 2 - Life, Initiation Phase: Blossoming Hope As I expected the Southern Post falls the next day, Serena's forces could not hold out against such overwhelming numbers. The Elves are many things, but they have lost most of their martial talents from before.  Not all news is bad as one of my scouts reports a most interesting finding. It turns out that Mab was lurking underground near Nekron's fallen city and was very poorly defended there. The opportunity to eliminate one of the conspirators is not one I can pass up on.  Her sole companion and bodyguard is a former Human King by the name of Joseph. Still noble despite his state of undeath, Joseph rides out to meet my forces. It is a noble if ultimately futile act.  As Joseph falls once more the Iron Maidens with my troops spur their Unicorn mounts to skip the walls and bring them immediately into contact with Mab. She survives the initial exchange, but that is only delaying the inevitable.  Her end in this land comes not from pike or arrow, but from the disapproving gaze of Life itself.  One down, Three to go.  The other conspirators have not been idle though, at least not Yaka. Nekron is still licking his wounds after his earlier defeat and as far as I can tell, Nimue is only trying to use words against me, but Yaka has kept up a steady, if ineffective, number of raiding parties into my lands.  He continues to attack my two southern cities, the most recent one a strike at the Eastern Elven one, perhaps thinking that my Elves are as poorly led as those of Serena. He is quite mistaken.  Yaka is persistent though, and I soon find another group trying to strike into the center of my lands.  They do not make it far though.  Nor do the stragglers from that raid.  I push my own forces into the lands on the eastern side of the mountain range and, as my scouts had reported before, the land is quite torn and blasted still from the earlier wars. It is one thing to hear about the war against the Undead King Inoch, but it's another to see it in person.  Yaka is not still, however, as he makes another attempt at the Elven city to the south. This time it goes even more poorly for him and I expect that he may give its neighboring Human city a try next time.  His own cities in the north are not nearly as resilient, but my assault force is probably the strongest army in these lands.  It's nice to see my efforts recognized  Yaka's other northern city falls shortly afterwards, leaving me in control of the north and finally possessing of a landline to Julia's court.  Unexpectedly Yaka's next attack is not at the Human city to the south, or the two towns I just took from him, but rather at what once was Mab's underground hideout, a town that I have given over to the Halflings. They were fortunately able to stand against a moderate attack force, pleasing me greatly.  This allows me to focus on purging Nekron's presence from the lands, cutting out his support base and hopefully all of his bolt-holes before I defeat him again.  It turns out that Yaka was in fact planning to hit the Human city as well. The fighting was quite brutal and even into the city streets at the end, but eventually my men emerged triumphant, if badly bloodied.   How can you say no to a magical sword that comes with a gift of fire from the sky? The Spirit of War doesn't quite like me for some reason, but he does know I can do good with a well-placed fireball. Me posted:Fireball is a rather fantastic spell to pick up this early for Life. You're pretty much limited in damage spells while playing life to 'One guy, Cosmic Spray, or 'Hope my dudes resist better than your dudes', so a nice big AoE spell is fantastic.  I put the gift from the Spirit of War to use almost immediately as I work to drive out Yaka from these lands as well.  The results were most satisfactory.  Even more satisfactory is the sight of glorious faerie dragons taking to the air, called into service by my Elven followers and sent on the way to the front lines.  With all of Nekron's cities save for this one in my hands, I decide that it's finally time to take down another one of the conspirators. Apparently Nekron was so spooked by his earlier defeat that he's been trying to raise numbers as much as possible, even at the cost of leaving his physical defenses rather abysmal.  My forces take a bit of a breather after the initial assault, having destroyed all before them and disrupting Nekron's presence, but more of his troops still hold the city, for now.  The next assault sees Nekron returned, unfortunately, and perhaps an even more challenging set of troops. No doubt he hoped to use his weaker forces to bleed my men dry.  And it might have worked, if reinforcements hadn't arrived.  In the face of such military might, Nekron could do nothing more than fade away into destruction. But it appears that I was wrong as he still has yet another bolt-hole to flee to.  As I hunt for Nekron's final stand, I come across and evict yet another one of Yaka's claims to this part of the land.  Specifically the Southern Port watch over the entrance to the Valley of Wonders. It is mine now and it will remain mine.  My scouts finally manage to locate Nekron's final stronghold, a single city on the opposite side of the great river. I call upon one of my nearby aerial strike groups to attack the city with the support of some nearby faerie dragons. My champions are too far away to respond in time.  Such a noble cause deserves a holy prayer to bless them and guarantee their victory. Me posted:Holy prayer is not a cheap spell, but it will Bless every one of your troops on the battlefield (Permanently, I think?) and also heal 3-5 HP on each. Most of my guys were blessed already, so that was a bit of a waste, but almost everyone had been at least dinged a few HP, so the spread about healing was worth it.  And with such a divine task before them, how could they fail?  Two down, two to go.  And the Spirit of Order provides me with a most fitting reward in recognition of purging Nekron from this land. What better than a shield of the ankh to represent victory over the forces of undeath?  Here be dragons.  Well, not any longer.  Near the southern approach to the Valley of Wonders I find one of Yaka's Draconian nests. It will soon be mine.  The next few days see an intense series of assaults upon Yaka's remaining strongholds. Their defenders fight valiantly, but are hopelessly outmatched.  Fire rains down from the sky while masterfully skilled lances and swords strike them down.  It is a relentless assault that shatters Draconian and leaves them more receptive to my will.  And really, how can they stand against my divine will? I know what's best for them after all.  They are akin to children, and like any child they must be taught a lesson when they misbehave.  And if they continue to misbehave, then those lessons will, by necessity, become harsher.  And like children, some try to hide from that discipline in the dark and narrow spaces, but Justice and Righteousness will find them.  My holy quest is not without loss, of course. But that loss will be remembered and honored and retribution delivered out ten-fold.  Another gift from the Spirit of Order, further proving the righteousness of my cause. He blesses me with unending coffers of gold to further my noble crusade.  Is this all that remains of Proud Yaka? A lonely man, kept company only by one of his creations?  It is not justice when I defeat him and banish him from these lands. It is mercy.  And what of the last of his fellow conspirators? The cowardly Nimue? Throughout all of these trials of her fellows she has not left her land, instead merely surrounding herself with her admirers while she gazes at her own reflection for days upon end.  In her vanity she has allowed the lands around her to go to waste and ruin, leaving her once devoted followers eager to be liberated from such selfish madness.  I do not know if she was even aware of what was happening when the Faerie Dragon ended her presence here for she carried not a sword into battle, but a hand-mirror. Her admirers here are too enthralled by her to be redeemable as she falls and they must be put down as well.  The task is grim but necessary, and the righteousness of our actions is obvious with every one we strike down. The enraptured gaze fades from their eyes as they fall to the ground, the last moments alive finally leaving them free of her wicked influence.  By the end of the day a butcher's bill has been paid, but her vile influence has finally been purged from this land.  Leaving naught by the Elves and myself present here.  Our glorious and noble cause has triumphed.  Merlin posted:Julia has tried to shelter me from Serena's hostility, but her Elves view me with suspicion. Elven memory is long. I suspect they punish us for the sins of the fathers we no longer remember. Experiencing the thanks of Julia in person is absolutely fantastic, an experience quite unlike any other I have felt in the past. I look forward to being able to speak with her more soon. Even the unpleasant sensation of being around her hostile kin is not enough to damper the impact of being in her presence.  Merlin posted:With Anon's help, I escaped. Now, enemy wizards approach, but Serena, blinded by her hatred of humans, believes her Elves can handle any threats to the Valley. She thinks I am to blame for all the land's woes. The Elves eagerly believe her. I must escape the Valley of Wonders. My mind races with what has just happened. Everything was going as usual, Julia was wonder and charming, Serena was still being cold and distant, and I felt a chill that I thought was a manifestation of her dislike towards me. But that was when the pillars exploded and the frost dragon burst into the chamber. Such an audacious and bold act of aggression, and yet that fool thinks it was me? I nearly died to a chunk of one of those pillars that just barely missed my head. I barely remember how I was able to get out, save for the calm presence of Anon with me, leading me away.  My two champions are still with me though, they know that I am innocent of these accusations and hopefully, with their assistance, I can prove to the others that I am innocent as well. Even if it takes me rescuing Julia to do it. Though I suspect Serena would still not believe me.    Now isn't this just wonderful. A paranoid elf behind me and Nekron before me.
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Apr 18, 2015 17:18
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I love the flavour you give each sphere as it influences Merlin's Mind. 
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Apr 18, 2015 19:37
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Thyrork posted:I love the flavour you give each sphere as it influences Merlin's Mind. It's great how he expands the story in a natural way. Great update as usual. I don't know how you are able to play AoW2 when Eternal Lords just came out, but I'm glad anyway. And the events get more interesting. Julia was kidnapped, and Serena leads the Elves against you. I remember the outcome of this mission, but I can't for the life of me remember what the optional life mission is about.
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Apr 18, 2015 20:44
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Torrannor posted:It's great how he expands the story in a natural way. The secret was me being frugal with my money, but now things have changed and I have my Tigrans again. And they are so awesome.
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Apr 20, 2015 19:24
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How did you fit a giant zeppelin underground, anyhow?
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Apr 21, 2015 16:45
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Someone didn't see the picture's name.
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Apr 21, 2015 18:34
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I blitzed through the last two parts of the Life campaign so I'll hopefully be able to get at least one update going soon. Free time has been somewhat diminished for me lately, but for a good reason.
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Apr 25, 2015 01:05
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Taerkar posted:Someone didn't see the picture's name. Nice work with naming the pictures, but I always forget to check the pics if I'm not reminded of the possibility that they could have a clever name. 
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Apr 26, 2015 15:57
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Mostly they're named so that I remember what order they go in.
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Apr 26, 2015 16:31
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Age of Wonders 2 - Life, Mastery Phase: The Great Escape Not knowing what is before me and with only a small number of companions with me, I call forward a friendly fairy to look around as my vanguard.  Gabriel posted:These Relics are part of the monuments built for those who died at the Valley of Wonders. Once you have as many of them as you can find, take them to Anon, and he will guide you onward.  Not far from us is a magical relay, a relay infested by Nekron's undead forces. This speaks only further of impurity and treachery in this sacred vale. To think that such a presence could be tolerated here, so close to the Valley, speaks very poorly of the elves. Me posted:This of course is present so that Nekron can drop the blast of death energy during the start of the mission and 'taunt' you.  I do what the Elves could not and remove that defiling presence from this sacred place.   The Elves that pursue us show no sign of appreciating our efforts to remove that defilement and attack us. I do not like the idea of striking them down, but they leave us with no choice. Especially as they show contempt for our attempt to parley and kill to of my compatriots who offered to speak with them.  Meanwhile the Fairy tells me that the shrine to the Halflings is rather suspiciously devoid of any relic. A rather troubling development.  Fortunately the Elven relic is present, but I am not surprised that the Elves have ensured that nothing bad happened to this one. I find myself becoming more and more disappointed with the Elves.  Well, not all of them. Torgal and Elme are still quite faithful and loyal, paragons of what all Elves should strive to be, rather than the xenophobic and insular race that their fellows are.  Gabriel posted:are forever bound to them.  As we head to where the Halfling shrine was we are forced to deal with more Elven patrols. As with the others they refuse any attempt at parley, but we are more wary of them now and do not suffer any losses.  And below we find the likely culprit. Goblin Thieves in this sacred land. The Elves have much to answer for. Serena has much to answer for.   Sure enough the little thieves have the Halfling relic, a strange and curious little ring, like and yet unlike others I have encountered in the past.  Me posted:Spoiler Alert: It doesn't.  The Fairy tells me that she has found the third shrine, dedicated to the efforts of the Archons during the earlier war. This means that there is most likely four shrines, though I have yet to find the one dedicated to the Dwarves. Perhaps it is underground?  She also reports that she has made contact with Anon, who offers further support to me.  The Dwarven Shrine is soon found, but it is above ground, not below ground. Though it does indeed appear to be missing something.  Apparently I am not the only one to distrust the ability or will of the Elves to protect anything that does not belong to their own people. A very disturbing development.  Gabriel isn't doing well... Me posted:The joys of scripting mistakes. This would be if I went there before, but it's a bit out of place now.  Nearby I do find the Dwarves underground. Apparently they were not able to remove the relic from the land as they found that the Elves were being strangely difficult and hostile towards them. Not quite to the point of armed conflict, but 'Aggressively unhelpful', as one of the Dwarves put it.   The Dwarven Relic is just like the Dwarves, practical and useful.  Not all is pleasant underground as there is a small warband of Orcs nearby, no doubt biding their time to try and take the relic from the Dwarves, an opportunity they do not get the wait for anymore.   Merlin posted:Perhaps this road leads to a city where I might show this shield around. A craftsman such as this one must surely have made some enemies peddling their inferior wares.  I find myself feeling less remorse now when we are forced to fight these Elven patrols. I am now disciplining them for their failures, for their inability to perform their duties to the world as a whole.   To the west I find a lone Elven city, a tempting location to settle into and secure as I seek to gather my wits about myself, but I fear that it's something that would be a short term refuge and a long term trap. Also I find myself unwilling to be surrounded by Elven walls right now. They feel more like a prison than a sanctuary.  I feel a loss this morning. My connection to those brave Dwarven souls who sought to protect their Relic from the corruption of the land has been lost. I fear the worst, and I fear even more it was Elven blades and Arrows that cut down their former allies.   Peasant posted:I don't know why she holds such a grudge; she still has one good eye!  The cave ahead leads underground to an old road, but apparently one that has seen better days. Anon still has a presence down here so I finally feel safe, for once.  Elf kills Elf. A small battle that is a representative of the troubles of this land as a whole. Clearly there is some great corruption at the heart of their people. Is Serena part of it, or is she just naive to it all? I would not be surprised at either outcome.  Wanderer posted:rock. Undeterred, this great warrior swung his second sword...  The lair contains not one but two great red dragons, perhaps a mated pair that could have caused a great amount of trouble for this land if they were not dealt with. They fall before my champions and we are able to search them for the shield.  Everything that the fake shield wasn't, this shield is. Though I do wonder how it defended against the flames.  With all four relics in our possession we start to head south, seeking out the city of Trabain. My scouting Fairy is further south, my eyes in advance.  What she finds is not promising. Trabain is a ruin. What this means I do not know, will we still be able to find help?  Anon posted:There may yet be a way to foil their plans. My scouts have discovered a cavern which leads to a teleportation gate. Through this gate they saw lands they did not recognize. My people know every blade of grass in this valley, so the gate must lead beyond it?  A most incredible thing happens as we reach the ruins of Trabain. The relics that we have collected start to hum in sequence, like four strange instruments playing a musical tune that we cannot understand. The ground around us started to glow with light as that odd tune continued and from the very earth rose a host of warriors. Dwarf, Elf, Halfling, and Archon. They were not undead but also not quite alive. Memories of the past given form and with us to escort us to the gate. Me posted:And do horrible things to our treasury.    While I could not stay here and help Anon to hold this land, I could make sure that the challenge ahead of him was far easier. I avoided some of the worst of the undead lines, a path that took a bit longer to carry out but allowed for my escorts and myself to reach the cavern intact.   As Anon's legions advance with me I find a magic vault off to the side of the road. Within it I find vile magics, magics that I purge from this land to remove some of the incredible taint that lurks here. The destruction of an undead dragon to find this magic just affirms the decision to cleanse the site.   I pass by Nekron's tower unassaulted, the great host of Undead that lurks around it no doubt kept in check by Anon's roaming Archon legions. If I had the time I would act to remove him from this land, but another cause drives me on. I can only trust in Anon to purge this part of the valley of its infestations. Me posted:A message pops up when you get there, but I suspect that I can only see it if I didn't move Merlin onto the teleporter.  Merlin posted:The Valley of Wonder holds many mysteries. These wizards needed the valley for some reason. Serena cannot hold it, and now they have Julia. While exploring the Valley, I felt another power there, an influence I am glad to no longer fear.  Merlin posted:trust. I may be able to learn something valuable. Taerkar fucked around with this message at 01:16 on May 4, 2015 |
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May 4, 2015 01:08
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I take it sticking around to fight is a really bad idea? Genuinely curious how this is going to turn out, I never finished Shadow Magic, so this is coming as a pleasant surprise to me.
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May 4, 2015 15:56
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I thought about giving it a go, but I forgot to make an appropriate save.
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May 4, 2015 16:18
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If the next campaign is the one I'm thinking of (based on the ending/beginning narrative of Merlin), it's another one of my favorites in this game. It's also pretty obnoxious.
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May 5, 2015 06:20
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Do you take those artifacts to future missions or did you return them like a good little wizard?
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May 6, 2015 13:25
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