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Dear God, we're Jews. (Note that I am Jewish.)
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Mar 14, 2014 22:21
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Shintaro posted:The fact that is dark elves with adamantium and not the dragonmen makes me sad. If we get around to it, adamantine nightblades and especially nightmares will easily outperform adamantium-equipped draconian counterparts.
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Mar 14, 2014 23:34
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Shintaro posted:The fact that is dark elves with adamantium and not the dragonmen makes me sad. Draconians are nowhere near the best for adamantium. I'd say it goes: halflings, dwarves, high men, trolls, draconians, whoever. Maybe swap dwarves down one.
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Mar 15, 2014 01:48
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ikanreed posted:Draconians are nowhere near the best for adamantium. I'd say it goes: halflings, dwarves, high men, trolls, draconians, whoever. Bear in mind that the first entry on your list should be significantly lower with the mod I am using.
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Mar 15, 2014 01:54
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With the current state of the mod, in my opinion (and I'll admit that I haven't really gotten to test it exhaustively yet), I'd say the hierarchy is something like dwarves, high men, high elves, halflings, trolls, draconians, whoever. Slingers haven't really gotten any less busted offensively (there's nowhere to really go with weakening them short of cutting figure count to 6), but halflings did take a rather notable defensive nerf in losing Lucky. I move high elves up on the list because of buffed Longbowmen with Long Range, which are offensively kind of terrifying and are one of the main things I want to test more; they definitely seem to perform similar to slingers. Pegasi are also decent now that we gave them 4 figures.
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Mar 15, 2014 02:16
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I'd really disagree. First off, trolls can't use adamantium at all, but at least unlike gnolls, lizardmen, and klackons, they're still really good in the endgame. Draconians also aren't that great, the best unit they have to take advantage of it would be halberdiers, which really don't compare to hammerhands and similar high-end units with 6 or more figures. Even just beastmen halberdiers be better, on account of having 2 vs 1 hitpoints.
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Mar 15, 2014 02:26
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nweismuller posted:Bear in mind that the first entry on your list should be significantly lower with the mod I am using. Oh wow, that makes them a straight up "don't use these" race.
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Mar 15, 2014 04:03
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So what's the disadvantage of dwarves, with their strong basic melee unit and productive workers?
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Mar 15, 2014 05:16
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The biggest disadvantage is you have to start in Myrror to start as dwarves, which means spending 3 of your starting perk points on the Myrran perk.
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Mar 15, 2014 05:23
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The main disadvantage for dwarves is the buildings they can't build. They can't build parthenons, shipyards, stables, or universities. This means that they also can't build any buildings that require those, including animist guilds, banks, and oracles. That makes it so dwarven cities are severely hampered for food and tax income, and they also suffer from high unrest.
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Mar 15, 2014 05:45
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On the plus side, it looks like starting in the Mirror world means going lightly or even unopposed throughout the early game.
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Mar 15, 2014 06:02
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On the down side, dungeons/lairs/etc in Myrror generally have more difficult encounters (though with greater rewards).
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Mar 15, 2014 06:05
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Fister Roboto posted:The main disadvantage for dwarves is the buildings they can't build. They can't build parthenons, shipyards, stables, or universities. This means that they also can't build any buildings that require those, including animist guilds, banks, and oracles. That makes it so dwarven cities are severely hampered for food and tax income, and they also suffer from high unrest. I'll note they are not severely hampered for tax income; they actually earn the same tax income as races that build merchants' guilds with much lower investment and upkeep. They're hindered by being poor at religion, magic, and shipbuilding, which makes them, as noted, prone to unrest if not handled correctly, not contributing much to a wizard's development of their magical powers, and being awkward for expanding off their own landmass. EDIT: With no structures, dwarves earn a base 2 tax per population and non-dwarves earn 1. With a marketplace (upkeep 1 gold), dwarves earn 3 gold per population and non-dwarves earn 1.5 gold. With a bank (upkeep 3), non-dwarves earn 2 gold per population unit. With a merchants' guild (upkeep 5, requires the city be coastal), non-dwarves earn 3 gold per population unit. Dwarves have distinct and clear disadvantages, but tax income is not one of these. nweismuller fucked around with this message at 06:23 on Mar 15, 2014 |
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Mar 15, 2014 06:20
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Ah, I forgot about the tax bonus. They're definitely hosed for food and unrest though.
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Mar 15, 2014 07:46
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But dragonmen are *cool*, guys.
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Mar 15, 2014 08:12
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ikanreed posted:Oh wow, that makes them a straight up "don't use these" race. Naaah, I did a playthrough with halflings during testing. Losing Lucky only really hurts their early game (where they were stupid overpowered), Slingers are still as good as ever with the usual degree of enchantment support. I did neglect to mention that they were compensated some for losing Lucky, namely by giving them innate +1 to Hit and +2 resistance across all their units. Basically, the key thing they lost was the undocumented -1 to hit that Lucky gave enemy units attacking them and the (relatively inconsequential) +1 to defend. The extra resistance can really frustrate Death/Chaos/Sorcery wizards that have to deal with them, I found.
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Mar 15, 2014 10:15
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Regarding the Beastkin The beastkin are the remnants of three or four kindreds, that did in ancient days have their own kingdoms and lived not as one people but rather as sometime enemies and sometime allies- the goatkin, the centaurs, the minotaurs, and, it could be argued, the bestial manticores, who are only in the loosest sense a civilised people. Even their smallest and most numerous kindred, the shaggy goatkin, overtop any other race of Myrror by half a head or more, and the other kindreds are larger and stronger yet. The centaurs have a body much like a dwarf's or man's rising from the neck of a horse's frame, the hulking minotaurs are huge shaggy-headed with the head and lower legs of a cow or bull and a body again like that of a dwarf or man of massive frame, and the manticores may be recognized as great bat-winged lions with faces like men and tails like scorpions. All save the manticores, despite their bestial appearance, have the wits and reason of other civilised races, while the manticores are foolish beings that can barely master speech. Their kingdoms were largely subdued by the Dark Elven Empire in its coming, and they were enthralled and relocated to outlying districts in its day. They then came under High Elven rule in the days of the Confederation, released from bondage but still pressed under the heavy yoke of the Confederation. Today, the beastkin are known to survive as a single people bound by ties of history and culture in their kingdom of Bantanu. The goatkin, by far the most fertile and most numerous of the beastkin- indeed, the goatkin breed at a rate unseen amongst dwarf, elf, or dragonkin- perform most of their labors, while the centaurs hunt their forests and roam their fields, the manticores lurk in little dens at the outskirts of their land, and the few minotaurs hold power as nobles and leaders in the town of Bantanu itself- indeed, their King Arbax is a minotaur of a hereditary ruling line. The centaurs and manticores live at the fringes of their society, which is more ordered and settled as a whole than their roaming lifestyles might suggest. Their fields are worked by a serf class of the goatkin, which could be said to be like unto thralls granted some greater privileges than seen in the abject thralldom of the dark elves, while the goatkin of the town itself are free citizens of the kingdom. In the trades and crafts they show some skill, if not the excellence of the dwarves, and their trade and commerce remains shackled by widespread use of barter. Some priests and savants amongst them preserve knowledge of the arts of magic, at which the goatkin seem to have a fine aptitude. Their fixed settlements are largely of timber and thatching fitted by metal nails, in many ways like the newer and poorer homesteads of outlying dwarven districts. Though Bantanu lies on the sea, the beastkin turn their eyes from it, appearing to fear and hate the world beyond their known borders and seeking the dubious safety of isolation. The beastkin were in their day fierce and warlike, and their religion yet reflects this. All revere the Mighty-Thewed One, a god whom they depict as a great minotaur clad in mail and helmet and bearing a massive axe, who exhorts his followers to courage and unstinting strength against whomsoever proves themselves their enemy- I believe that this in fact is the Stalwart Warrior as they understand him. They revere also a number of Dark Gods, the four chiefest of which are taken as the patrons of their people. The Black Reveller governs appetite and abandon; he is viewed as patron of the goatkin and his depiction is obscene. The Bloody Destroyer is a grim and terrible god of war and wrath; he is patron of minotaurs and shown as one of their kin of most terrible aspect. The Huntress is a goddess of the kill; the rites to honor her require that some being (although it may be a witless beast) lose its life, which the centaurs attend to with devotion. And the Great Venomous One is, frankly, as witless as her chief followers, the manticores- they believe her excellence in stinging things makes her the finest of all gods. The beastkin are a fierce people who now have little reason whatsoever to trust any outsiders. Should dwarves encroach upon their kingdom, I can only expect that they will respond with the same resistance they would show to any other people, and I expect no friendship to come willingly from their quarter. nweismuller fucked around with this message at 14:25 on Mar 15, 2014 |
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Mar 15, 2014 13:38
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Adamantium Chat: I know they're not the best, but really like Adamantium Berserkers. With a starting like 6 thrown damage and a little enchantment support, they can really tear a swath through anything, including flying stuff.
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Mar 15, 2014 19:30
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Regarding Sss'ra, Mad King of Bloodrock The dragonkin Sss'ra is a wizard of might and skill, once a savant of Fangrock whose fine breeding and depth of learning afforded him a seat on the Council of Five up until the year 1386. He was restless and inquisitive of temperment, and he delved into deeper and more systematic experimentation than many other savants of the town. Indeed, his skills as a sorcerer and as a chaos magician were highly admired and feared- his fellows believed he may be able to achieve dominance for Fangrock in its rivalries with Blademarsh and with Bloodrock, but believed also his superiority of skill might overbalance the other members of the Council of Five and thwart their own ambitions. As years passed with Sss'ra on the Council of Five, it also became clear that his temperment was violent, vindicative, and easily stirred to anger. In 1386, Sss'ra publically used his magic to burn alive the captain of a company of the warriors of Fangrock, stirred to passionate anger by his failure to achieve victory on the Battle Hills. When Ressaal of the Council came to remonstrate with Sss'ra, Sss'ra slew him also. This was intolerable to the three remaining members of the Council of Five, who gathered their warriors to strike Sss'ra down. In fear for his life, Sss'ra flew north, across the Desert of Fangs. There, he came to rest in Bloodrock. The dark elves of the town came to seize him as an enemy, but he presented himself as a savant of skill come to offer his services to the Queen Elaissea of Bloodrock. She was tempted by the promise of his skills, and agreed to take him into service. There he began research into gathering creatures that might bring victory in war to Bloodrock, while also flattering the priests of the Great Lady of Beauty to teach him their lore. By 1390 he was initiated himself as a priest of the Lady, and bided his time, slowly enthralling the mind of Elaissea with his sorcery and entertaining himself with the suffering of thralls. In 1395, Queen Elaissea did willingly announce her abdication of the throne and her marriage to the new king Sss'ra, which was held simultaneously with his marriage to the High Priestess of the Great Lady of Beauty in Bloodrock, who did solemnise both weddings herself. With the full assets of Bloodrock behind him and with the enthusiastic support of the religious establishment of Bloodrock, Sss'ra was able to make great progress in his research, his powers reaching a new level of strength which allowed him to gather creatures to subdue monsters in the surrounding districts. With this greater security, Bloodrock enjoyed a resurgence of strength, and many of the noble houses of Bloodrock have grudgingly offered their support to this alien king. With all power behind him, his violent and cruel disposition has risen to the fore, and he is known to slay certain thralls with torments for his own delight. He nonetheless practises strict regimens of meditation and self-denial, ensuring sufficient moderation and balance in his own appetites to maintain his connection with the Lady. With his years to work and his skills in sorcery, it is impossible to tell how many nobles of Bloodrock support him of their own true will and how many have been decieved and ensnared by the powers of sorcery. He is, by this time, a wizard to match my own abilities, and a ruler of folk in his own right. May the Four support the Kingdom of Greater Dvergursheim and its people!
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Mar 17, 2014 02:00
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 My people, this Thirdmonth it proves that not all Osterland is under the sway of our own kingdom, and in its north there exists a realm that might challenge even us. Great packs of fiery summoned hounds of Chaos support the power of Bloodrock, a kingdom of Dark Elves under the rule of an exiled heretic dragonkin of Fangrock. In the first meeting of Vigny and her scouts with the edges of his domain, he did drive forth many settlers and families towards her scouts that he might call down a bolt of fire upon her, sending those families to scatter into the wilderness with this accomplished. My people, what course would you hold wisest in this hour? What shall be our policy as a kingdom in this matter? (Update delayed until tomorrow, to allow time for discussion and suggestions. I will quote the game manual on Maniacal: 'Maniacal wizards display an unabating hostility toward all others. Positive diplomatic actions toward them go almost unnoticed, while negative ones are noticed almost before they start!') nweismuller fucked around with this message at 16:27 on Mar 17, 2014 |
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Mar 17, 2014 02:06
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Your Majesty, The day we at the Royal College have been forewarning for so long has arrived. We have made ready. Have we done so as best we could have? The stars do not say. Fate is now in our hands. The time for war has come. Respectfully, Katarina Bjornsdottir, Astrologer of the Royal College
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Mar 17, 2014 02:30
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Here's your mechanics post for the day! Today's topic: wizard personalities and what they mean for diplomacy. As usual, all behind spoiler tags. In Master of Magic, there are six possible personality types that can be assigned to an AI wizard: Peaceful, Lawful, Chaotic, Aggressive, Ruthless, and Maniacal. Their effects are: Peaceful - Has a +20 Personality Modifier. Nothing else special. Lawful - Has a +10 Personality Modifier... but they double all penalties for breaking oaths and double all diplomacy point losses in interaction. Lawful AI players will never attack you with a standing treaty; they will always take a turn to formally break the treaty before doing so. Chaotic - Has a Personality Modifier between -40 and +40, at random, which is rerolled every single game turn. Additionally, there is a 2% chance each turn that a Chaotic AI player will declare war on another wizard with whom they have contact and are not currently at war with, chosen at random, with no provocation. Aggressive - Has a -10 Personality Modifier, and is twice as likely as any other personality to build Settlers. Ruthless - Has a -30 Personality Modifier. Nothing else special. Maniacal - Has a -50 Personality Modifier. Additionally, they halve all diplomacy point gains and double all diplomacy point losses in interaction. AI players randomly reevaluate their relations with each other player every 3 to 25 turns. (Each player is on a separate timer.) Based on this evaluation, it will determine how hostile it is against that player from one of four levels, which the official strategy guide refers to with the terms None, Annoyed, Warlike, and Jihad. The reevaluation always starts by setting hostility to None. The game then checks if there is an active state of war; if there is, hostility immediately is set to Warlike, and a further check is made to see if the status will, from there, increase to Jihad. The chance of this happening is 40% for Maniacal wizards, 20% for Ruthless wizards and 10% for Chaotic wizards. All of this gets overridden if the wizard is casting the Spell of Mastery; if he or she is, the chance of Jihad is 75% regardless of personality! If there is an active peace treaty, wizard pact or alliance, hostility is set to none and that's the end of the reevaluation. If there is no active agreement and no active war, then a Hostility Chance is calculated, based on the current level of diplomatic relations. If the total diplomacy points (DP) are currently negative, Hostility Chance is half of the absolute value of the negative DP plus 25 plus or minus the wizard's Personality Modifier (PM). If the total DP are currently positive, Hostility Chance is one-fourth of (100 minus the positive DP) plus or minus the Personality Modifier, minus 5 for every time the player has violated a treaty (10 if this is a Lawful wizard evaluating). The game rolls 1d100; if the roll is less than or equal to the Hostility Chance, the hostility rises to Annoyed, and the game rolls again. If it is less than or equal to the Hostility Chance again, it goes up to Warlike, and so on - it keeps rolling until either A) hostility is at Jihad or B) it rolls above Hostility Chance. AIs with no hostility will never (intentionally) attack your cities or units. They will, however, steal unguarded nodes or Towers of Wizardry from you. AIs who are Annoyed will attack your units if they think they have the advantage, and will attack your cities if their force is at least twice the strength of your garrison. They will also cast offensive spells against you. AIs who are Warlike will attack your units or cities if they think they have at least even odds of winning, and will cast offensive spells more frequently. AIs who are in Jihad will ignore all other wars they may have had (including Jihad states with other opponents) to relentlessly attack you (but never with less than equal odds). They will frequently mobilize portions of their garrisons to make attacks as well. That's half of the picture. Each AI wizard also has one of four objectives: Expansionists are twice as likely to build Settlers, and will settle every bit of ground they can, even if the sites are poorly suited. Militarists are twice as likely to build or summon new units. Perfectionists are twice as likely to cast enchantments that benefit their own cities than any other kind of enchantment. They are also twice as likely to build city improvements instead of units. Theurgists prioritize building city improvements which produce magic power and prioritize taking nodes over any other sort of offensive action. Every wizard's personality and objective are chosen at random every new game; the choice is weighted based on the wizard's spellbooks and retorts. The precise weighting is a bit too technical for me to delve into in this post, but suffice to say that Nature spellbooks tend highly towards lawful perfectionism, Sorcery towards aggressive theurgism, Chaos towards chaotic militarism or expansionism, Life towards peaceful perfectionism, and Death towards maniacal or ruthless militarism or expansionism. Maniacal is fairly uncommon for Sss'ra. As a final footnote and something of a cheat: pressing ALT-P on the main map screen will randomly scramble the personality and objective of all AI wizards. Reiska fucked around with this message at 10:08 on Mar 17, 2014 |
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Mar 17, 2014 03:11
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I have just added links to Reiska's mechanics posts to the index in the original post, for the benefit of those who want to quickly find them.
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Mar 17, 2014 03:44
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You most holy majesty, It seems we have wandered into the territory of a mad lone wolf. Let us not provoke it, but rather keep our distance and continue our expansion into the southern parts of Osterland. Perhaps it will become distracted again by its provincial concerns, as it clearly has been until now. In the long term, dwarven skill, pluck, and drive will win us the body of Myrror, while this two-bit, dabbling mage-lord will surely still be stuck in his cold, elf-infested corner of the world. My entire family agrees with this position, except for my father-in-law, who is just being contrary as always. Humbly yours, Friomar Onnuson (OOC: I just want to see what happens if we let him build up his power before crushing him with our superior player skills!)
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Mar 17, 2014 05:04
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To your most glorious Majesty, I have heard of this one, through my contacts among the dragonfolk. To be exiled from their lands is no small thing at all. Other then that, I don't know anything. But that alone is very, very suggestive, only slightly less so then the people he has chosen to lead. He is not a good person. He is not a nice person. He is not a person who will stop until he dominates this world and all within, including us. We have to stop him and we must do it now. If not now, when? When he has the arms to butcher the undeserving? When he has the magic to rend their very souls? When he has constructed an edifice to dominate all under his clawed reign? We must not let him expand any more then he already has. No, we must put an end to him. I, of course, would be glad to assist any way I can, especially insofar as seaborn campaigning goes. -Ragnar Ragnarsson, Trader, Philanthropist, Shipwright and Entrepreneur.
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Mar 17, 2014 06:55
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Kill dragons - receive treasure? What can be more dwarven than that. Well, besides Mining. And drinking.
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Mar 17, 2014 11:17
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Your Most Gracious Majesty, You describe this Dragonkin Elf-lord as 'as powerful as yourself'. This makes them an existential threat to begin with. Add to that their exceedingly hostile demeanour and dubious sanity, and we have the greatest threat yet faced by our resurgent nation. It is not a case of if we will be at war, but when, and under whose terms. Their presence forces us to increase our military preparedness in any case, but there is one key matter which in many ways necessitates our involvement: The Council of Five. The Draconian Viceregal council, your leading non-Dwarven subjects upon Osterland soil, have suffered murder at the hands of this being, and have pronounced the death sentence upon him. He is a fugitive from justice, still extant, from what is now your loyal city of Fangrock. Dealing with him swiftly and fairly, calling him to account for the crimes committed against what are now your people, can only help cement your affections in the hearts of our loyal Dragonkin brethren. Their laws and our laws would be upheld, and it will show that none, no matter how powerful, are above the rightful justice of Queen Dagmaer. In summary, we must of necessity increase our military preparedness and make ready for two eventualities: An unprovoked attack by Sss'ra upon Blademarsh or Fangrock, and a Judicial Action by your Majesty's command with all available force at our disposal to bring this fugitive to justice. Peace is not an option, the volatility and cruelty of this mad wizard will deny it to us either now or in the near future. May the Scholar and the Warrior guide your Will, may the Mother protect our brothers, sisters, sons and daughters. I remain your loyal subject and faithful servant, Hróðvaldur Bjarnþórsson, Sage, Librarian, Engraver, Scribe and Chronicler.
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Mar 17, 2014 11:49
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Finally, I was beginning to think you were unlucky (rather, too lucky) and had all the enemy wizards spawn on Arcanus.
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Mar 17, 2014 12:18
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Do Dwarves have the printing press? Is it possible for anyone to have the printing press?
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Mar 17, 2014 12:42
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They have steam engines so it's possible even if the game doesn't have them in it.
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Mar 17, 2014 12:43
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Can we see the AI personality types (e.g. on the diplomacy/intelligence screen, like in MoO2), or do we have to judge by their behavior or quotes (are those personality-specific?) VVV: READING IZ HARD, I R DUMM 
Pierzak fucked around with this message at 13:35 on Mar 17, 2014 |
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Mar 17, 2014 13:08
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Pierzak posted:Can we see the AI personality types (e.g. on the diplomacy/intelligence screen, like in MoO2), or do we have to judge by their behavior or quotes (are those personality-specific?) You can see them in the first post about SSs'ra above his spell books?
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Mar 17, 2014 13:12
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As a general rule, chaos wizards get eradicated by me. Before they start blighting my land with corruption or volcanoes
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Mar 17, 2014 13:17
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NewMars posted:Do Dwarves have the printing press? Is it possible for anyone to have the printing press? The printing press is one of those technologies that hasn't been invented yet in the worlds. Dwarves have invented paper as an alternative to parchment, however, allowing them to make things to write on more cheaply than would be otherwise possible by boiling up rags as raw materials for paper.
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Mar 17, 2014 15:53
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To Her most Serendipitous Majesty, Dagmaer Flodmarsdottir, rightful ruler of all Dwarfdom and most other -doms. Your Exalted Highness While I would normally welcome any chance to further the scientific knowledge of our people - preferably by introducing the faces of our foes to rock-shot at a parabolic trajectory and quite staggering ( to say nothing of rending, pulping, or maiming ) speeds - I fear that such lofty endeavors must, for the nonce, wait. The situation in Blademarsh is yet delicate, and drawing away troops at this time for an all-out war would open us to the possibility of unrest in the newly liberated territory. Give us a year, your most Salubrious Majesty, and we shall be ready to contribute. For now, however, unless this 'Mad King' tries to claim land that is dwarfish by right ( that is to say, any land at all ), I urge caution. I remain, as always Your ob'dt servant Skaði "Nolegs" Hættadottir PS: We need more cannons. PPS: Blademarsh is, I believe, growing on me. However, it's also growing on my prosthetics. I seem to have caught a mold. And woodworm. Please send, if at all possible, a jar of Þorkell Þorkellssons Extra-Strong Wood-polish and Lacquer. I have included coin for the purchase and return postage. (( Also, please let me know if I'm overdoing it with the slapstick and it's getting grating.)) TLM3101 fucked around with this message at 19:39 on Mar 17, 2014 |
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Mar 17, 2014 19:36
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A tiny exhausted sprite brings this scroll to Dagmaer's tower and promptly disperses, its magic depleted. To Her Royal Majesty, The Shining Light Across the Sea, Beloved Of The Lady, Dwarven Queen and Conqueror of Blademarsh, Dagmaer Flodmarsdottir, I, Idanaia of House Ivaldi, send wishes of further power and conquest, my sincere pledge of allegiance, and an advice one would be wise to heed. Knowledge of what happened to Bloodrock finally reached Blademarsh, and many are furious to know the reason we lost contact with our kin in the north. I, being a Priestess of Beauty and Joy, am angered even more to know of the perversion of Lady's trust that vile lizard inflicts upon the land, and this anger and lust for vengeance opens my eyes to the truth: my people, diminished as we are, needed to be conquered. Your arrival saved us from utter destruction, for were we conquered by any other, Blademarsh would be no more. Queen of the Dwarven people, listen to my words. Gather a host of dwarves and elves both and shatter Bloodrock defenses, bring down the skies upon its Mad King's head and erase his blasphemies off the surface of Myrror. Nothing brings people closer than a well deserved punishment wrought upon a common enemy. The Houses of Blademarsh will become much more willing to cooperate with your occupation, and all the unruly former thralls and vexed youths that plague our streets will spend themselves in the war and be a nuisance no longer. Be it so that your power grows endless and eternal, Our Queen. My hand guided by Our Great Lady, I sign this as Idanaia, Priestess of Beauty and Mother of House Ivaldi. P.S.: I would also suggest your dwarves stop interrupting and trying to outlaw our revels. The more energy and time are spent in revelling, the less could be devoted to plotting treason and uprising. Incidentally, continued revelry will stregthen our town's connection to the Lady, and wasn't that what you wanted, Your Majesty, when you forbade all other worship? Surprisingly, nothing about this missive appears to be poisoned or cursed.
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Mar 18, 2014 09:15
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My dear Idanaia, It pleases me greatly to hear the support of a loyal subject in Blademarsh. I write to assure you that I shall instruct my governor in place that your continued worship and veneration of the Lady is something that I indeed wish to continue without hindrance, and further to assure you that your kin to the north shall be liberated from Sss'ra's yoke as soon as the Royal Army may achieve such a feat. It is my hope eventually to ensure that you may be granted the resources to build holy places to the Lady suitable to her glory, although with all the various demands upon the resources of Blademarsh and upon the finances of the kingdom I cannot in honesty guarantee any specific time for such a grant. May you ever go in the grace of the Lady and of all the Bright Gods. This does raise the question- do you believe there are elves of Blademarsh who might be willing to take up the priesthood of the other Bright Gods? I rely on your deeper familiarity with the town and kingdom of your birth. With warmest regards, Dagmaer, by grace of the people Queen of Greater Dvergursheim P.S. Please accept the enclosed silver mirror as a more convenient means whereby two both trained in the magical arts might communicate with one another over a distance. I have already attuned it with a mate here in my palace in Goldwash, so that voice and image might be projected from one mirror to another with the proper activation. nweismuller fucked around with this message at 13:17 on Mar 18, 2014 |
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Mar 18, 2014 12:51
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My dear Skadi, I assure you that no reduction in the forces committed to Blademarsh shall occur, and that you may set your mind at ease in that regard. Your continued enthusiasm for ballistics research is also noted, and I believe I can offer you a posting back in Goldwash in the training of new artillery crews, if you so desire it. Your term as a governor in my name was not what you originally enlisted for, and for what you have given and continue to give for the sake of the kingdom you have my sincerest gratitude as your Queen. As for certain matters regarding the government of Blademarsh- I have been informed that there has been interference in the rites of the Great Lady of Beauty. I tell you with no uncertainty that we must make every effort to avoid even the appearance of suppression of the worship of the Lady. With their other gods suppressed, the elves of Blademarsh have cause to resent dwarven overlordship, and we must not give them any further cause than they already have. And, however strange her depiction to our eyes, the Great Lady remains a Bright Goddess, in truth the Serene Mother, and no Dark Goddess. If we can extend tolerance to the odd religion of the dragonkin, why then can we not rejoice in the elves following at least one of the Bright Gods? With sincerest gratitude, Dagmaer, by grace of the people Queen of Greater Dvergursheim Despite Blademarsh's name, there don't appear to be any *major* swamps in its region. I think we can assume there was some relatively minor marshland in the region that has been drained and cultivated by now, so I doubt Blademarsh is growing on you THAT badly. Hah. nweismuller fucked around with this message at 13:30 on Mar 18, 2014 |
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Mar 18, 2014 13:17
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I apologise for delays in the update. Still struggling a little bit with illness. Expect an update later today.
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Mar 18, 2014 13:21
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The Kingdom of Bloodrock The year of 1408 opened with settlers establishing homes and farms around Snowy Point, bringing dwarven civilisation to the southernmost reaches of Dvergursheim. Work began to cultivate those lands for themselves and their families.   Meanwhile, Vigny Rolfsdottir, whose scouts had been hardened by the battles to tame Dvergursheim and conquer the towns of southern Osterland, set forth to explore the yet undiscovered reaches of Osterland. In Thirdmonth, while exploring past the northern boundries of the Desert of Fangs, she met a convoy of dark elven settlers, who recieved commands by magic from a remote source to charge upon her team of scouts to permit the wizard who was their master to call down fire upon her scouts' heads. She survived the experience, there to see the settlers scatter lost into the wilderness and lose their way. Shortly after, Queen Dagmaer recieved a communication from Sss'ra, the mad dragonkin king of the elven kingdom of Bloodrock, sent by magical means- "I see that I am not the only wizard of true skill in the world. I suppose I shall offer you a deal. Should you surrender yourself and your kingdom and present yourself to me at my palace, I shall make it easy for you, and you'll not even miss your crown. If you choose to defy me, I shall have to bring you before me willing or no." The Queen, repulsed by this communication, did respond. "I shall not surrender my crown to you merely for the asking, nor shall I give myself up that I shall be any person's thrall." And with that she did sever her communications with Sss'ra for the time, and ensured that Vigny did scout out the lands near Bloodrock and note that great armies of fiery wolves or hounds brought forth by Sss'ra's power as a wizard of Chaos did defend these territories.    Queen Dagmaer's work as a wizard continued. Seeing the might of Sss'ra in the powers of Chaos, she did lay enchantments upon Vigny's scouts and upon the dwarves of the Royal Army gathered in Fangrock, calling upon the Righteous Queen to protect them against the fiery magics of Sss'ra, then sent the army forth once Vigny was returned unto them and all were defended by the power of the Righteous Queen. She did also succeed in Sixthmonth in reconstructing how the magics laid upon a region might be reversed and unravelled, that evil enchantments laid by other wizards might be put to naught.    In Seventhmonth, Sss'ra did inform Queen Dagmaer of his intent to lay all her works to waste, even as the Royal Army did reach the outlying districts of the town of Bloodrock. They advanced to the grim mountain Bloodrock upon which the town was built, seeing all about them in the district the marks of a people that groaned under Sss'ra's tyranny, haunted by bandits and rebels. Bloodrock has three units of rebel population, a garrison of nine companies of hellhounds, a shrine, and a population of nine units. Rebels eat one unit of food just like farmers and workers do, but produce no food, production, or taxes, being entirely a drain on the economy. Every two standard units garrisoning a town will suppress a single rebel, but hellhounds are not standard units. The shrine will also suppress one rebel. This means that Sss'ra's tax rates must make for four rebels in a population of 9, which is only consistent with the 45% unrest rate of 2 gold/population taxes. Sss'ra's taxes are four times heavier than ours, and despite racial tensions between dark elves and dwarves, our total unrest rate is still only 40% in dark elven towns- we'll actually reduce the base unrest rate by conquering Bloodrock, before even applying the effects of our Just Cause.    The Royal Army continued its march to the town itself, there to be met by hundreds of the fiery hounds of Sss'ra. Although fearsome in appearance, no mere wolf, however fiery, was a match to the hardened veterans of the Royal Army, who further were protected by the divine blessing of Righteous Queen. The white aura around our troops indicates that they are enchanted by a Life spell- in this case Bless.    The hounds of Chaos surged forward, crashing against the advancing dwarven infantry in great waves, while from a distance Vigny's scouts did carefully pick off the hounds with sure and accurate shots from their crossbows. The armor and the divine protection guarding the infantry did mostly preserve them from harm, and when one company of infantry was hard-pressed Queen Dagmaer did expend her power that their injuries were closed and their fallen returned to battle. When the battle ended, a mere two dwarves-at-arms had fallen, with nine more across the three companies having suffered various unhealed burns or bites. The damage to our troops was trivial. None of our units had lost a figure, by the time the battle was done.   The dwarves-at-arms advanced into the town, which was clutched by rioting and lawlessness in the wake of its defenders falling. There, they seized control of the royal palace, where Vigny shot the cornered Sss'ra before he could perform any act of magic that might threaten the troops in the palace. As Sss'ra perished, the former Queen of Bloodrock and the High Priestess of the Great Lady of Beauty in Bloodrock, who had been enthralled by Sss'ra's sorcery and made to marry him, returned to their senses as his death broke his spells. As the exits to the palace were blockaded by dwarves-at-arms, they were swiftly captured.    Vigny's scouts were sent forth, after this victory, to survey the rest of the kingdom of Bloodrock, which had grown in size as Sss'ra's magic helped to exterminate the monsters threatening Osterland. Two other major towns lay nestled about the mighty drainage valley of the Crimson River, which was dotted by farmsteads and farming villages tilling the soil about the great river. In the town of Darkhold to the north, Vigny noted two companies of militia, now under command of a local noble, and moved on, but in Leer to the west, all the defenses had been provided by Sss'ra's summoned creatures, and Vigny rode in in Ninthmonth and exacted pledges of loyalty from the local nobility.   The following month, she returned to Darkhold, ready to trust the valor and skill of her small band of scouts against twelve times as many militia elves. Although her scouts were peppered by magic, suffering many injuries, the marksmanship of Vigny's band was lethal, and the militia defending Darkhold were shattered. With the fall of Darkhold, the entire kingdom of Bloodrock was under the control of Queen Dagmaer and of Greater Dvergursheim.     The year had also seen great efforts by Dagmaer's puppet-spirit and by dwarven seafarers, pushing out the boundries of knowledge on the map of Myrror. The land that held the kingdom of Bantanu was entirely charted, while dwarven seafarers came to the shores of the fabled Great Southern Wasteland, a bitter frozen land written of in ancient lore, harsh and lethal. The northern and southern edges of the map are always fringed by a narrow strip of tundra. The Kingdom of Greater Dvergursheim as of Twelfthmonth 1408  In Goldwash, two new steam cannon and their crews have been commissioned, while Queen Dagmaer has had a small temple with statues of the Four Bright Gods commissioned at the crown's expense to honor them for their blessings to the kingdom. The bustling town serves as a great market for the riches of Dvergursheim and of southern Osterland, with great opportunity for those who come to seek their fortune there.  With Stonegate's continued growth, it has seen an increase in tax revenues, relieving the pressure it has placed on the crown's finances. Savants and alchemists have nearly completed the construction of great foundries and workshops, which will serve to enchant the steel forged in the town and supply the Queen with more materials to fuel her magical works.  Ironbridge, though it has sent forth settlers earlier in the year, is nonetheless slightly larger than it was a year ago. A new library helps collect lore and learning in the town, and provides easy access to books for the general population. The surrounding district is beginning to work to employ steam-driven pumps in its mines and steam-driven river barges, hoping to enjoy an expansion in mining outputs and ability to handle large freight loads. The red '1/2' on one of the squares around Ironbridge indicates that it is sharing that square's output with another town (in this case Snowy Point), and only half of that square's output is provided to Ironbridge.  With better development of the cultivation in the farming villages near Stony Peak and with the markets, slaughterhouses, and breweries to handle this bounty in the town, Stony Peak has seen a great boom in size, and now enjoys an important position as a trade stop and exporter of iron to the rest of Dvergursheim. A program of copying books to a new library in Stony Peak is under way, and the documents found in surrounding ruins are being carefully recopied to preserve the literature and lore that was in them.  The small village of Snowy Point is little more than the largest of several farming or timbering villages in the surrounding district, which is yet a thinly-peopled frontier area on the edges of Dvergursheim civilisation.  Mills, granaries, and improved cultivation in the district around Blademarsh have helped better secure bread for its people, and a militia formed of two companies of former thralls armed with simple spears and armored in heavy layers of quilted cloth patrols the town and its district to keep order. Ad hoc markets in the town are being expanded, and the use of coin in trade in the town and its district is slowly expanding. Queen Dagmaer has appointed the dark elven priestess Idanaia as the permanent governor of the town, with a small council of dwarven magistrates with the right to veto her actions to preserve dwarven law set as her advisors. Although there are resentments that simmer beneath the surface of the town, particularly amongst its nobility, order and justice is maintained here.  The Council of Five in Fangrock levied its own local militia in response to the threat from the kingdom of Bloodrock, before seeing to the completion of the improvements in cultivation that had been planned in the town. They now are further expanding the militia, and it is said they plan to establish a formal monastery for the meditative priests of the town before much time has passed, regardless of any dwarven desire for other projects.  The Royal Army is directly administering Bloodrock at this time, attempting to ensure order amongst the conquered elves. Although the people of Bloodrock find Dagmaer's yoke lighter than was Sss'ra's, there is still turmoil and uncertainty with many of their gods suppressed and the thralls freed. The old Queen, Elaissea, has been sent to Goldwash as a permanent guest of Queen Dagmaer, while the High Priestess of the Lady in Bloodrock, Aelaia, has remained in the town to continue her sacred duties. Bloodrock is the largest town of Osterland, enjoying well-cultivated farmland in the surrounding district and a small, if finely-appointed, shrine to the Lady as site for her sacred rites. Smiths and builders help supply the town and the district. Still, the pace of local commerce is sleepy, and much of the business of the district is still conducted in barter and in kind.  Leer nestles on the western coast of Osterland, south of the southern mouths of the Crimson River. Its surrounding farming villages have improved their cultivation less than have the farmlands about Bloodrock itself, but it too supports a fine shrine to the Lady with many priests. A strong armory was erected by local nobles in its brief independence, and smiths and builders ensure the town enjoys the basics of civilisation. A local militia is being mustered of former thralls in the name of Queen Dagmaer.  The town of Darkhold rests in a sheltered harbor in the frozen wastes north of the Crimson River valley. Despite its inhospitable location, it rests near enough to the fertile valley itself to be well-supplied by the produce of its outlying farming villages. Unlike in most dark elven towns, the dwellings are not built in trees in Darkhold, but rather are well-built structures of wood half-buried in sod for insulation against the bitter cold. Skilled builders attend to the construction of such houses and workshops, but beyond that the town enjoys few amenities. As in Leer, a local militia is being raised before any other task is attended to.   Despite the renown she has won with the conquest of Bloodrock and the defeat of Sss'ra, the kingdom of Bloodrock is actually a net drain on the crown's finances. Her growing fame secures the loyalty of the Royal Army and draws new recruits, but the commission of two new cannon has proved a great strain on the royal finances, and further expansion of the Royal Army is on hold. On the other hand, the many elves of the kingdom of Bloodrock and the efforts of the temples in Bloodrock and in Goldwash have provided a wealth of magical power for the use of the Queen. Her work as a wizard should proceed more swiftly with these new resources.  With the southern end of Dvergursheim now being settled, now only the western cape of that land and the furthest reaches of the Red Desert lie beyond the edges of dwarven society.  The Royal Engineers have relocated to Osterland, where they work steadily to extend the roads on that land. The hilly country in the southwest of Osterland enjoys rich deposits of mithril and of coal, which has drawn dwarven settlers seeking to exploit these riches.  The former kingdom of Bloodrock can be said to be a kingdom whose lifeblood is the mighty Crimson River. This huge, slow river branches and meanders with many tributaries, creating a vast fertile valley well-settled by the elves, who work the land for rich harvests. Beyond the land watered and nourished by the river, the northernmost stretches of Osterland are a frozen waste, unsuitable for dwarf or elf. Mount Bloodrock is the southeastern peak of the Frostwreath Mountains, from which the wellsprings of the Crimson River flow. 1408 has been a year of famous victory, one which has brought the whole of Osterland under the rule of Greater Dvergursheim's crown. Who knows what glories await in the year to come? nweismuller fucked around with this message at 06:16 on Nov 12, 2014 |
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Mar 18, 2014 21:03
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