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Voting for Mahala, I like the characterization you gave them.
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May 5, 2013 08:14
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I've recounted twice and the Doviello have 8 votes as do the Illians. I hate to be the one to shift the numbers but considering what V. Illych L. says about the length of the mission and the fact that the Illians will have to be played at least at some point then I'm going to change my vote to the Doviello bringing it to Doviello: 9 Illians 7, if I'm not mistaken (and I may very well be).
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May 5, 2013 20:00
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I'll throw a vote to the Doviello too
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May 5, 2013 20:12
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Mahala
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May 5, 2013 21:01
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 Alright, voting over! I'll trust that count above, and when the two additional votes are added to it, it's clear that Mahala it will be. For those who'd love to see something different I can offer the consolation that the tech tree pretty much starts at the point where we left it so at least we'll be getting some more advanced units to zoom on.
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May 6, 2013 22:08
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Chapter 5: The Age of Ice and the Origins of Auric Ulvin - Lore Update The Breach of the Compact  The longer the Age of Magic lasted, the more irritated and jealous Mulcarn grew. People thanked the Gods of Life, Earth and Nature for granting them food, they worshipped the Goddess of Fire who protected them from the sorcerers, who in turn turned to the God of Water for protection from Bhall. Every God that was revered, was revered out of hope, or joy, or respect. But not the God of Winter. Ordinary men and women certainly hadn't forgotten about him but when they offered him something, it was meant as a ward against Winter. Actual worshippers of Mulcarn were few and his priests even fewer in number. People in general feared him and yet not even fear could cause them to truly worship him. Some say that the fall of Bhall and the ensuing chaos was what gave Mulcarn his opportunity, some say it was the influence of the God of Despair that first planted the seed and the initial idea for what he did and yet others insist that Mulcarn's actions had their roots even further back in time, in his silent disapproval of the Creation's state as lively and ever-changing. Whatever his motives, his actions speak for themselves: intent on bringing Erebus under his rule, The God of Winter openly breached the Compact and stepped into Creation.  The Age of Ice lasted for over three and half centuries. The entire Age is remarkably void of important historical events, as is fitting for the era when Ice ruled everything. Ice is as unchanging as Nature is constantly evolving and the struggle of the two precepts can be seen yearly – every spring marks a victory for Nature while every autumn slowly freezes the world and brings about the reign of Ice. Considering that Mulcarn's actions had brought about a permanent winter on Erebus, the response of the other gods was hardly surprising. They were unwilling to restart the Godswar which would eventually doom the entire Erebus but they could not let Mulcarn go unopposed. The gods decided that one of them would be allowed to move into Creation to battle with him. The one who was sent was Sucellus, the God of Nature. He lost, and with the death of God of Nature the winter deepened, stagnating all growth. The human nations crumbled and reverted back into isolated and primitive tribes, the dwarves closed the gates into their underground halls and even the elven civil war, sparked by the unending winter in the first place, became impossible to wage when every little bit of strength had to be reserved for survival. ------------------ The Death of Mulcarn  The Age of Ice had already claimed the life of one god. Another would follow. A crucial part of the Compact had been the forging of a certain sword. That sword was probably neither better nor worse than any other well-made weapon. If used in a normal battle, mortal against mortal, it's uncertain if possessing that certain sword would give any special benefit to it's bearer. However, what was unique were the 21 runes etched on it's blade. quote:So they came, one by one, to a distant corner of Erebus, until all 21 were assembled. The agreement was made, spelled out to the letter. I was the manifest symbol of that coventant, and its enforcement. The Godslayer. It took hundreds of years but the pieces of the Godslayer slowly made their way towards the place of Sucellus' demise and the throne of Mulcarn, Letum Frigus. But who could reforge the shattered sword when all the knowledge of the previous age was lost? And how could anyone survive the journey to the God of Winter when the Doviello hunted in the wilds, Illians drove away anyone they found and frostlings, frost giants and even worse creatures from the Age of Dragons all served and guarded Mulcarn? Late in the Age of Ice a small tribe of humans got a visitor. He looked and talked like a man out of legends, from some forgotten world – which he indeed was. The stranger, none other than Kylorin himself, had once again successfully tracked down his wife, reborn into the unnamed tribe. They fell in love and Kylorin settled into the village. The Goddess of Faith, Nantosuelta, told Kylorin of Mulcarn and of Godslayer and he began the slow work of strengthening the tribe. Eventually his wife passed away but Kylorin stayed. He had gathered together several scattered tribes, named them Amurites, and throughout the years he slowly taught them wisdom and knowledge long forgotten: from simple preservation of food to warfare strategies and everything in between. A lull in the endless winter opened up an opportunity for the Amurites to settle into a surprisingly lush valley sheltered from the raging blizzards. The Amurites, led by Kylorin's children he'd fathered throughout the years, set out to gather the pieces of the Godslayer. They tamed the fierce Doviello, shoved away the unmoving Illians and fended off the dangers of the wilderness until, at last, they were one day able to reforge the legendary sword. The sword completed, Kylorin strapped it onto his back, rode into the glacier all alone and vanished from the known history forever. Soon after the Thaw began.  ------------------ Ice Finds the Way  During the 4th Age of the history of Erebus, a boy was born in a distant Illian village of Brigdarrow. Brigdarrow was supposedly remote enough so that it never gathered unwanted attention and as such it's citizens had a chance of living in a relative peace. The boy, named Auric, grew up as good natured as anyone and during his childhood he had made two good friends, Dain and Kirien. It's not known what kind of adventures the boys had together but apparently they tended to stray quite far from their homes sometimes, because one day, when they found an injured dog and stayed to take care of it, no-one was able to find them. Sometimes the most innocent of things can lead into the worst of the tragedies. The people of Brigdarrow became worried by the disappearance of the children and they blamed the strangers who happened to be visiting the village for it. Their belongings were searched and some of their items confiscated, including a fist-sized, jagged grey rock. Some time later the boys returned and the strangers were cleared of suspicions and their possessions were returned to them but the damage had already been done. The leader of the strangers was a powerful sorceress called Gosea the Dwindling. She and her guards had merely stopped in the village on their way out from a place called Shadowed Vale. The Shadowed Vale (sometimes referred to as Shadow Rift) is a strange place between Creation and the vault of Arawn, definitely not in the realm of the God of Death but not quite a part of Erebus either. Within the Vale live the Once-Elves, a group of elven refugees that had fled from the afterlife. The rock that had briefly been confiscated by the worried citizens of Brigdarrow was the most prized possession of the Once-Elves, which Gosea had stolen. She couldn't afford leaving witnesses. Luckily for Auric and his friends, once the dog had gotten better it had led the boys away from Brigdarrow in search of it's master. When they got back, all that was left of their home were smoking ruins. The goblins hired by Gosea had been very throughout. With their home gone, Auric, Dain and Kirien didn't really have choices. Brigdarrow was too far from any other Illian towns for them to survive the trip with what little supplies they had and all the nearby settlements were those of the Ljosalfar. The boys accompanied the dog's master in his search of a city called Barathrum. According to the map they had, it was just close enough for them to reach. Little did they know that Barathrum was in fact the name of the city of the Once-Elves, located within the Shadowed Vale. The Once-Elves didn't much care for visitors and they had warded the entrance to their realm against anyone foolish enough to try to find them. Had it not been for Auric, the travellers would likely have died of starvation, lost in the woods. He turned out to be, to everyone's surprise, a natural magic-user of very potent talent. Navigating by mana instead of his senses, Auric was able to guide his companions into the Vale. Whatever took place within the Vale is a story best told another day, for Auric was not the only visitor in the Shadowed Vale during that time, whose deeds would end up shaking the world. For our story so far, it is enough to know that during his stay in Barathrum he learned to control his magical abilities and, as was with the companions' arrival, he eventually was instrumental in their escape, too. As for what happened that made Auric direct his steps towards the heartlands of Illians after he made it back to Erebus, no one knows. The only certain thing is that little by little the kind boy grew more and more unresponsive, as if driven by something that fully occupied his mind. More and more he changed, until perhaps the only fitting words to describe him with were delusional and possessed. quote:Following visions and dreams, Auric stumbled across the frozen wastes, his companions left forgotten or dead behind him. He couldn't tell if he was going toward or away from the ivory dragon that haunted him, whose roar echoed in his head, whose wings stretched as far as the horizon. The dragon would kill him, he would be better off to lay down in the snow and die, but he kept going.  ------------------ Ways to circumvent the Compact: 4
Nothing to add to the list this time! It's refreshing that someone actually straight up breaks the Big Deal for once. ------------------  A unique landmark that may be found during a normal, randomly generated game. ------------------
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May 7, 2013 10:12
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That's a really interesting lore post, but I'm not sure how much of it has been amended or changed. If I remember correctly, on the civfanatics forums, someone made a post regarding Mulcarn's intentions behind the Age of Ice. While what you posted was certainly true, Mulcarn's breach of the compact may have been more benign than simple jealousy. He was always the least malicious of the Evil gods, and since his domain, Ice, represented stasis, when he fell, he changed the least out of his fellows. Ice, in addition to stasis, also represents nostalgia and an inclination towards reactionary beliefs, both of which characterized Mulcarn during the Age of Magic. When he saw Kylorin's empire succumb to magic because of the pact with Ceridwen and the corruption that followed, he longed for a time where men were pure and good-- you know, when they were too busy struggling to survive to be decadent. In addition, I think it was always Kylorin's intent to end the Age of Ice. In the lore compendium, there's an entry written from his perspective that takes place just shortly before the Age of Ice begins where he realizes that he says that he must 'prepare', though I guess it can be interpreted as him preparing to survive the start of the age, rather than end it. Finally, I haven't been able to dig up nearly anything on Brigdarrow or Auric's childhood. Everyone who knows about it seems very tight-lipped, but I think its stated that Auric spent some time held by the Svartalfar, not the Once-Elves, for an unjust crime, and was awaiting execution when he was saved by Varn Gosam before he became the herald of Lugus and the leader of the Malakim. Regardless of my nitpicking, it was a really interesting post and I'm impatiently waiting for the next update!
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May 7, 2013 13:27
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Sinner Sandwich posted:That's a really interesting lore post, but I'm not sure how much of it has been amended or changed. If I remember correctly, on the civfanatics forums, someone made a post regarding Mulcarn's intentions behind the Age of Ice. While what you posted was certainly true, Mulcarn's breach of the compact may have been more benign than simple jealousy. He was always the least malicious of the Evil gods, and since his domain, Ice, represented stasis, when he fell, he changed the least out of his fellows. Ice, in addition to stasis, also represents nostalgia and an inclination towards reactionary beliefs, both of which characterized Mulcarn during the Age of Magic. When he saw Kylorin's empire succumb to magic because of the pact with Ceridwen and the corruption that followed, he longed for a time where men were pure and good-- you know, when they were too busy struggling to survive to be decadent. Yeah, on Mulcarn's motives and Kylorin's motives the jury is certainly out. I used literally hours to ensure that I wouldn't write anything that's necessarily wrong but some of the source material is either really vague or even a bit contradictory - like a good myth should be.  On that Brigdarrow/Shadowed Vale thing... well, to be continued.
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May 7, 2013 15:16
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While there's a lull in the thread, I hope it's okay if it's used for general FFH discussion. This thread has rekindled my interest and I've played a few games. Do any of you use any modmods? I wouldn't mind changing things up a bit, but I remember that quite a few of the modmods were messy and horribly imbalanced.
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May 18, 2013 00:46
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Oh, that's interesting! The tech tree actually persists across connected missions? Is it actual persistence or do they just give you a big head start?
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May 18, 2013 07:43
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Glazius posted:Oh, that's interesting! The tech tree actually persists across connected missions? Is it actual persistence or do they just give you a big head start? It's not actual persistence but it's rather well done to imitate it. Generally, if you start "alone" or chronologically early, you start with a clean tech tree and if you start in already settled lands or just simply later on in the timeline, you have an advanced start. They've done good enough job that at least with my playstyle I usually either finish a scenario roughly where I'm going to start the next one, or a drastic change of scenery (or a gimmick scenario in between two more "normal" ones) justifies some repetition without breaking the story apart. By the way, I've played an update's worth of stuff already but work/ice hockey world championship tournament/family things keep delaying the actual writing process. As for the modmods, I'd love to hear some of that stuff too. Reading Octag's now completed/dead LP introduced me to Tholal's More Naval AI mod and I agree that it's practically essential. Other than that the last time I looked at the modmods was years ago when Orbis/Fall Further were hot stuff. How is it nowadays?
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May 18, 2013 12:08
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I've played a lot of FFH2 and many modmods with my friends over the years, and I think Master of Mana is the best hands down. It has completely revamped FFH2 and that's why the author no longer considers it a "modmod" but rather a full-fledged mod of it's own. It also has a magic tech tree and other fun stuff. On the flipside, it isn't as packed with features as to lack polish entirely, like Rise from Erebus. (I thought it was cluttered with all kinds of poo poo and was clunky to play.) The project is pretty much dead now, but it died only a while ago and still has a small hope the author will continue the project. As far as I know all the other modmods are 100% dead and died long before this one.
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May 18, 2013 12:33
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Edgar Death posted:While there's a lull in the thread, I hope it's okay if it's used for general FFH discussion. This thread has rekindled my interest and I've played a few games. Do any of you use any modmods? I wouldn't mind changing things up a bit, but I remember that quite a few of the modmods were messy and horribly imbalanced. Magister's modmod is easily one of the best. I'm downloading Master of Mana right now to compare, but Magister's has Better Naval AI, the inclusion of the White Hand as a state religion, and a lot of other neat stuff. Its also still updated fairly regularly, which is nice.
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May 18, 2013 17:19
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Sinner Sandwich posted:Magister's modmod is easily one of the best. I'm downloading Master of Mana right now to compare, but Magister's has Better Naval AI, the inclusion of the White Hand as a state religion, and a lot of other neat stuff. Its also still updated fairly regularly, which is nice. Thanks for this, it looks great and seems to be just a general improvement on everything without going overboard. I had an amazing game going as the Illians with it but unfortunately it's over early because something is causing it to consistently CtD  Still, it's probably what I'm going to play from now on.
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May 19, 2013 05:54
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Chapter 6: Go for the Throat - Blood of Angels, part 1 Auric Ulvin, the man of the Doviello prophecy, has taken the lead of Illians. Mahala, Lucian and their men join forces with them, wagering perhaps the very existence of their people on him.   ---------------------------------------  The Grigi Plains. Whoever named them so had never stepped out of his tent, ever. Steep mountains not worth of scaling and hills after hills. The altitude is so high that outside the river valleys the land barely thaws until summer. Of course, such conditions suit the Doviello just fine.  It's disturbing how easily the Illians are able to find the only snowy pass on the entire mountain range. Or maybe the snow finds them. You never know. They've always shown curious attachment – or attunement – to cold. Perhaps it works the other way round too.  Lucian stepped out of his tent. Auric doesn't have much knowledge of the lay of the land yet, and if he's to make any decicions, he must have all the information possible at hand. Who's better to provide it than the men of the wilds? Gripping his trusty axe, Lucian heads out.  Some sense of continuity between scenarios: Lucian, as well as some of the starting Sons of Asena are equipped with bronze weapons as well as a bunch of promotions/experience. Technologically we're roughly where we left last time: about a couple of tiers are fully researched. Also, some silly old wives' tales. I'm sure those rumours mean nothing.  Descending from the hills, Lucian finds an almost impenetrable jungle. Plains indeed. The mosquitos are big as a man's thumb and bloodthirsty to no end. It's unlikely that anyone would build an empire in such conditions. From the jungles returns a feverish and weakened man. Some of those insects must be carrying diseases. Before collapsing onto bed, Lucian tells his men to first scout from elsewhere and leave the damned rainforest to Illians if they desire to venture there. Yup, an illness is the reason you won't be seeing fancy images of Lucian in this scenario anymore. Indeed. Nothing to do with a random skeleton with a 3.5 % chance of winning a battle against our courageous commander. Nope.  Northwest does seem to be a much better direction. There are signs of old settlements as well as clearly visible deposits of quality copper. If only they'd brought more supplies, the Doviello could set up a mining camp and use the easily-gathered metal to forge more weapons. For now, they settle for searching the old ruins for anything useful. Finding the copper promptly made me open up the production queue, only to find that apparently this scenario is a no-settlers one. Oh well, I'll get the metal eventually, when my borders reach that tile. Might take a while, though. That scout is fast becoming a powerhouse.  Turns out Lucian was right. There are multiple patrols riding and marching along yet another mountain range to the north east. Your general you sent to stop us at Letum Frigus was respectably tough, Bannor-men. Do you have anyone other like her in reserve?  On their way southwest, the Doviello scout patrol comes across polar bears. How have such creatures gotten here? Out of sheer curiosity they are spared and captured instead of slain.   Scouts aren't the only ones making significant discoveries from old ruins and barrows. They, however, are clearly the best in "recruiting" help:   That's a giant spider, beastmen from a goody hut and a griffon, all within three turns. Spider is a great scout because of it's invisibility, the griffon is even greater because it can fly, a.k.a. move over impassable terrain where no one can reach it.  The new minions are immediately put to work to earn their rations. An entire village awakes in the morning, their houses encased in large, sticky webs and savage men a foot taller than any of the villagers grinning outside.  Some of the villagers manage to join their captors, others get their own personal cocoons. I'm imagining that the Doviello recruiting schemes are all basically variations of this.  The new recruits then valiantly sacrifice their lives as frontline troops when the Doviello push on to get a glimpse of the city that is blocking the only pass into the Bannor heartlands. Bedridden Lucian is delighted of the reports: the enemy has apparently not yet realised their situation. Fortifications are poor and as far as the scouts were able to tell, the garrison has not been strengthened in any unusual way. It's time for a swift action.  A strike force is sent out. Dragging the siege engines through the thick forests is slow and the men complain that valuable time is wasted but catapults will be necessary for breaching the city defenses.   While the strike force makes it's way towards the Bannor, more neighbors are discovered. Illians bring word of Lanun presence along the shores while the griffon scouts report that barbarians have founded a settlement on the border of the great jungle.  The scouts report that there are no reinforcements near the city that they can find. The catapults start immediately softening up the defenders, after which the shock attack goes in.    Scouting deeper into the enemy territory, the griffon patrol finds our target: the grand city of Torrolerial. It, too, is lacking in defenders. What is going on? Maybe the Bannor have trouble elsewhere and the majority of their mighty armies has been sent away? There are reports of three slightly goofy but extremely dangerous looking giants roaming the plains, however. For some reason they don't seem to mind the Bannor coming and going but a lone Doviello scout trying to approach one of them almost gets killed by a boulder aimed at him.  Pact of Nilhorn used to be a Wonder when the manual was written but it has since been changed to a ritual, providing just the giants.  The Doviello attacks have reduced the number of defenders in Vallus greatly, but at a cost. The best and strongest Sons have been killed in brave charges and the remaining backline troops are not nearly as effective. If the attackers pressed on, they would likely be able to take the city. Judging by the scout reports they would not be able to hold on to it against the inevitable counterattack, however.  More troops are on the way but it takes time for them to reach Vallus. The enemy will certainly reinforce meanwhile.  Luckily Auric has not been sitting idle either. While the Doviello retreat to regroup, an army of Illian javelin throwers passes them by. This rallies the retreating pack: while tactical retreats are not shameful in itself, no one – not a soul – should be able to say that the Doviello let others fight their battles.   The Illian charge could have gone better, but now the remaining defenders are exhausted. Vallus should be easy pickings for the Sons tomorrow.  The morning sun finds the banner of the White Hand flowing in the breeze on top of the highest building in Vallus. A surprise attack after the nightfall, apprently. The shamed Doviello have no other option but to grit their teeth and silently enter the city to recuperate and tend their wounded. At least the Sons can feel a bit better for the fact that while Auric's men took the city, most of them are in no condition to fight anymore and the main responsibility for the defenses rests on Doviello shoulders for now.  A Lanun ambassador approaches Mahala's command post. He proposes an exchange: the Lanun have heard rumours about the battles along the Bannor borders but because the relations between them and the Bannor are strained at best, they have to turn to us for information. If Mahala shares the current situation on the war front with the Lanun, the ambassador in turn promises to share some sea charts and other maps of theirs. She agrees.   There seems to be a large bay in the middle of the map which is connected to the off-map ocean at least by a narrow strait to the east. Lanun have three coastal cities on this side of the bay while the nation of Grigori is apparently located on the other side. Not pictured are several barbarian cities in the wilderness east of the Illians. Bonus trivial pursuit points for recognising the Lanun and Grigori city-naming schemes. ---------------------------------------- The combined Illian/Doviello forces have been able to take the crucial bottleneck mountain pass from the Bannor and the way to Torrolerial lies seemingly open ahead of them. Will the Bannor be able to summon their armies back from wherever they are or will they have to submit to the ferocious might of the men of the wilderness? And what role will the deadly hill giants play in all this? 
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May 24, 2013 07:32
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Never a giantslayer around when you need one.
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May 24, 2013 08:54
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Valiantman posted:Bonus trivial pursuit points for recognising the Lanun and Grigori city-naming schemes. Lanun names are from Cthulhu mythos and Grigori names are from Final Fantasy series. 
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May 24, 2013 10:34
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Lord Hypnostache posted:Lanun names are from Cthulhu mythos and Grigori names are from Final Fantasy series. I get the former, considering their religion but what's the logic behind the naming of the Grigori cities? Or is it just fan-boy stuff?
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May 24, 2013 10:53
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100YrsofAttitude posted:I get the former, considering their religion but what's the logic behind the naming of the Grigori cities? Or is it just fan-boy stuff? I suppose The FFVII names are there just for fun.
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May 27, 2013 22:30
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Chapter 6: Law and Chaos - Blood of Angels, part 2 Predatory wolves rarely cause wanton destruction. First they see a need, be it filling their stomaches, protecting their territory, producing offspring or whatever. Then they act according to their instincts: hunt down a deer, drive away the trespassers, mate and so on. Unlike animals, men are in control of many of their instincts – to variable degrees. One of the cornerstones of building an advanced civilization is the ability of putting greater good ahead of individuals. The Bannor are one of the ultimate examples of this devotion – dedicated to their laws and fight against the evil and injustice. It's no wonder they've built one of the greatest military mights on Erebus. Unfortunately for the Bannor, despite their behaviour and appearance, Doviello are also not beasts but men. They, too, are able to control their urges and instincts. They, too, put the good of the pack ahead of the individuals. They've just chosen a different path. Men control their instincts and are thus able to accomplish things that no animal is ever capable of. The Bannor build empires. The Doviello tear them down. ----------------------------------  The failed defense of Vallus has drained the strength of the capital garrison of the Bannor, too.  There are hill giants on the way, however. They wield their clubs, which are less clubs and more uprooted trees, with superhuman strength. One swing can take out an entire group of beastmen. It's only through the strength in numbers and clever use of terrain that these mighty creatures can be felled.     While the regular army is bleeding for each mile they take, the spider scouts are able to move throughout the land unhindered.    Most of the ambushed Bannorites are killed on the spot but as the army marches closer, some are deliberately left alive as baits.     I captured something like 5-6 workers altogether. Most I deleted because they had no move and there was no tactical advance in upgrading them. The AI, at least in this patch and at this difficulty level, is too eager to go after vulnerable single units, however. 10 gold is a good price to pay if you can lure two units out of the city. The spider is able to finish off any weak units alone – the enemy has no recon units for spotting it. The main army (to the left in the image above) is perfecly capable of separating a small force to bag any stronger units on their way. This doesn't even slow down the attack because the clean-up force can catch the main army using the enemy roads.   The skirmishes with the giants continue. One of the remaining is felled with surprising ease but the other causes a lot of harm.    The Doviello strength has been drained enough that the result of the assault is no longer as certain as before. To get rid of the last giant, the commander decides that the army should detach and head north towards the easily defended hillside forests. This may not be sufficient cover against every enemy, however. Only one near dead catapult left and of the five remaining Sons, three are basically just cannon fodder. I need to get the two highly promoted ones fighting fit and resting in enemy lands is slower than in neutral territory.  There's still no sign of the greater Bannor army, but out of the gates of Torrolerial rides a full company of their elite Oathtakers.  The invaders reach the treeline in time. The Oathtakers follow suit:    The remaining Doviello retreat into the unknown wilderness beyond the Bannor lands, but not before inflicting at least some casualties of their own.    The scouts are not doing so well either. One acolyte of Order proved to be more than the spider could bite and while the griffon rider lazily circles above the coastline, out of the fog sails a ship with tattered sails, despite the weather being completely windless and calm.  A hooked chain is fired from aboard the vessel. The scout is dragged down, never to be heard of again.   Back at the camp, Mahala has not been idle. Her men have conquered the goblin settlement north of Fijrgard.   Lucian is also better. He's been tended by the Priest of Leaves he freed from the dungeons of the Grigori and while he's not yet able to actually fight, at least he can walk. The priest's actions have gathered a lot of interest and after the healing of Lucian, Mahala permits him to take a few select voluntary disciples, on the condition that they serve the invasion armies the same way the priest did earlier.  Lucian is sent to take over the command over at the front and finish the invasion. The shamans do their part by attuning to some rare mana crystals in order to bless the weapons of the warriors before they head out. I can't think of a single example where you should forgo enchantment mana. It's just that good.  Another great army marches out of Vallus.  They get the expected welcome. This time, however, the Doviello are neither tired nor lacking in numbers. The bloodthirsty Sons of Asena practically run over the Bannor battalion.   The Oathtaker company takes heavy casualties and it's remains retreat to lick their wounds. The backbone of the enemy defense broken, Lucian and his men march outside Torrolerial without significant resistance from the remaining Bannor. For narrative purposes, Valin Phanuel was with those who retreated.  Down south, work begins to make use of the deposit of copper found earlier. It probably won't be needed for this war but many of the Doviello weapons are falling apart and they will need to be repaired anyway.  Lucian's catapults have inflicted horrible casualties at Torrolerial. There are several gaping holes in the fortifications of the city as well as in the formations of their defenders. The Doviello charge.      Eventually, the howling berserkers break through the lines and into the city proper.     ------------------------------------------
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May 27, 2013 22:44
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I'm surprised you didn't wait to hook up the bronze before that last assault, you would've had better odds and fewer casualties. Also, Sabathiel leaving makes no sense, I thought the previous scenario showed him permanently parked there.
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May 27, 2013 23:30
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Wait does this scenario just continue with new objectives? That's awesome! Give them hell!
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May 28, 2013 00:22
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Valiantman posted:I suppose The FFVII names are there just for fun. Screw coming up with fantasy names.
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May 28, 2013 01:04
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SeaTard posted:I'm surprised you didn't wait to hook up the bronze before that last assault, you would've had better odds and fewer casualties. Sabathiel didn't leave, he was never on Erebus at all - he's the archangel of Junil, god of law, and he hews to a relatively stringent interpretation of the Compact that prevents him from setting foot on the mortal world.
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May 28, 2013 02:52
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Glidergun posted:Sabathiel didn't leave, he was never on Erebus at all - he's the archangel of Junil, god of law, and he hews to a relatively stringent interpretation of the Compact that prevents him from setting foot on the mortal world. Well, Sabathiel did leave his demi-plane or whatever those halls were connected to. He definitely was guiding the Bannor from there at some point of history. Apparently some high priest eventually figured out that they didn't, strictly speaking, have to ask him anything and that they could just claim that the orders came from him, and that there's nothing he could do about it. Or perhaps it wasn't that blantant, perhaps ruling the Bannor in behalf of Sabathiel just became so busy that they thought they shouldn't bother him with everything and eventually bothered him with nothing.
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May 28, 2013 08:00
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Or maybe the inscription on the door wasn't a bluff, and when the high priest enters he goes to a different room than anyone else.
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May 28, 2013 17:35
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Oooh, not sure if you managed to do this quickly enough to avoid the map getting completely bullshit. I *think* you did, but I suspect that you're cutting it close here.
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May 28, 2013 19:20
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Nevets posted:Or maybe the inscription on the door wasn't a bluff, and when the high priest enters he goes to a different room than anyone else. I think it could be read from some of Kael's (the author) posts over at civfanatics that Sabathiel really left but screw that noise. This is my favourite interpretation now.
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May 29, 2013 13:51
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Chapter 6: The Divine on Erebus – Lore Update Let's take a short break from bringing Creation under the freezing heel of the precept of Ice and list some options for Auric's assault at Bannor and, soon, Grigori. The Compact marked a turning point in the history of Erebus, arguably the greatest ever. During the Age of Dragons the divine walked/flew/crawled/teleported on Erebus without restriction, but by signing the Compact they agreed to retreat to their respective vaults. So, who of them are still left on Erebus in the Age of Rebirth? The following list may not be complete and may not be accurate for the point of history we're at in the campaign. It's just arbitrarily categorised collection of characters from the actual game that should not, according to the spirit if not the word of the Compact, have any business on Erebus at all. ---------------------------------------- Archangels  Odio, the archangel of Rage, not exactly in the shape of his life The first of the archangels to break the Compact did so before it was even signed. When the gods agreed to ceasefire and gathered together to end their all-destroying war, Odio didn't listen. The archangel of Aeron continued his assault against Kilmorph's forces. As result, the God of Rage and Murder withdrew his protection from his archangel and Kilmorph pulled Odio into ground up to his chest and petrified him on the spot.  Cassiel, the archangel of Balance quote:My name is Elizabeth, and I was murdered on the first day of winter. My father was at the market. In the instant I died, he was buying ribbons for my hair. Later, he would put them on my corpse. Cassiel, the first of Dagda's angels is actually the person who came up with the Compact in the first place. What he wanted, however, was a complete and unconditional withdrawal of all gods and their influence from Erebus. When that didn't come to pass, he rebelled, cast away his divinity and stepped down into Creation to teach humans to ignore the gods. Over time, many men and women, tired or disappointed of their gods, came to Cassiel and he gave them a place to live. Thus was born the nation of Grigori. Everyone is welcome to be a part of the nation, no religion is forbidden but none of the religions are supported either. Cassiel wants the mankind to do without gods, so he won't use his powers nor does he actually rule the Grigori but instead is more like (in Kael's words) Queen of England to the parliament – little to none real power but enough influence to make things happen, should he want to use it. One curiosity among the religions begs mentioning when talking about Grigori: Luonnotar. The Luonnotar are a sect or cult that is quite universally persecuted by everyone so the only place they find solace in is among the Grigori. That is because the Luonnotar worship the One instead of any of the gods. Somehow they have come into right conclusions without any of the gods revealing them anything. This has made the gods extremely uneasy and they've refused to harm the Luonnotar in any way so far – a notion not shared by their followers, unfortunately. Cassiel doesn't approve of their worship of One (thinking One doesn't want to be worshipped) but at least among Grigori they have the right to exist and preach.  Brigit the Shining, the archangel of Fire We've gone over Brigit's fate before. She was Bhall's archangel before she fell. During her fall, Bhall killed all of her angels who didn't fall with her or who hadn't defected before, with the exception of Brigit. For some reason, she instead threw her away and sealed her inside a Ring of Carcer, somewhere in the eternally frozen wastelands of Erebus. Since Brigit never fell, it could be argued that she's still the archangel of fire, the greatest avatar of the uncorrupted precept of Fire and a truly divine being on Erebus. Normally the angels, even though capable of coming and going between Erebus and their vaults, must leave behind much of their strength when crossing over. Brigit has actually ended up in Creation against her will. To be fair, it's more likely that by throwing her away, Bhall stripped Brigit of her divine essence but the former option is a lot more intriguing, if some personal bias is allowed.  Basium, the archangel of Life If Cassiel rebelled because the Compact didn't go far enough, Basium rebelled because it's too binding. Arawn, who held two precepts until the beginning of the Age of Rebirth, those of Life and Death, created twin archangels. Basium's sister Gyra still serves Arawn but Basium himself has forsaken his duties and instead fully embraces the battle against the demons. He views the current God of Life with outright contempt. Basium's not a nice fellow and is willing to ally with anyone as long as they fight the demons alongside him. quote:There is a word in the Angelic tongue for "love". Three, in fact. There are words for "mercy", for "compassion", for "tender kindness". The closest word to be used on this particular medium is carved upon his left forearm: "prudence." Like the word he just finished upon his chest, "justice", this is prayer in his native tongue written in blood and pain upon his now mortal flesh. "Holiness", across his cheeks. "Wrath", along his right forearm. "Judgment", his brow. "Courage", down his torso. Each a prayer to gods he turned his back on. Attributes of divine judgment he seeks to cultivate within his soul. He also secretly represented Lithuania in the Eurovision Song Contest this year.  Hyborem, the archangel of Despair After his fall, Agares destroyed practically everything he had created. Now almost nothing that he made exists. Not even his archangel is his own creation but merely a perverted image of another. For an image, Hyborem is decidedly active, however. It is likely Bhall's fiery presence that has sparked the demon lords of the lowest hell into action again and Hyborem is the leader of those forces. Through the Fane of Lessers (sometimes called the Throne of Hell, a place comparable to the Shadowed Vale except that it exists in between Erebus and Hell instead of Erebus and Arawn's Underworld), the Infernals wage war on the Creation. Hyborem is as bound by the Compact as any other archangel and cannot enter Creation in full power. However, if the Hell itself were to expand into Erebus...  Taranis the Unchanging, the archangel of Winter Mulcarn created his first angel to be the embodiment of stasis. Taranis is always exactly as he was when first created. Ultimate examples of this are his inability to learn anything (he can only adapt to whatever situation he is in) and his complete invulnerability (because being wounded would be changing). He confronted Sucellus as he came to challenge Mulcarn during the Age of Ice. Neither was able to win and the God of Nature was only able to pass Taranis by trapping him on an island. There he will stay until someone lets him out one day. (Taranis doesn't appear in FFH2, only in FFH: the Age of Ice)  Avatar of Wrath, the archangel of War As the Age of Rebirth goes on, many things that bring about an early destruction of Creation may or may not happen. If the matters on Erebus do go badly enough (represented in-game by the armageddon counter, which is disabled in the majority of the scenarios), Camulos' archangel is unable to hold himself back anymore. He stops his continuous attempts at usurping his master's precept, breaks the Compact and joins the fray. That is a future hardly anyone hopes for. Other notable angelic or demonic beings on Erebus (There's quite a number of lesser angels and demons sometimes. Let's not count them.)  Sphener, formerly an angel of Junil Sphener voluntarily gave up his divinity in order to protect the Seven Pines – the birthplace of humanity and later the site at which the Compact was signed – from defilers.  Cambions, unholy half-human, half-demon creatures Cambions are luckily very, very few and far between but at least one demon has been able to father children with a woman. Cambions are both human and divine (or rather demonic) at the same time – abominations unbound by Compact that no one is quite sure what they are capable of. Other notable creatures which aren't quite divine but close to it (Again discounting basic elementals and such, which, while uncommon, are not especially notable on their own.)  Dragons. (Pictured above is Eurabatres, the most powerful being ever created, except those 21 created directly by the One.) Dragons walk (or fly) just below the fine line between "people" and "creature". They don't have souls and were created by their respective gods as weapons. That's not to say they aren't sentient and intelligent, however. When the gods and their angels retreated into their vaults, their weapons were left behind. Without the power of their masters, those few that were still alive became dormant and were forgotten. None have been seen since Mulcarn's own appeared for a while during the Age of Ice. If, somehow, one of them would become aware on it's own, however... well, it already is in the Creation so obviously no contract would be broken.  Giants. (Pictured is a frost giant fortress during the reign of Mulcarn.) Weapons of the gods, much like the dragons. If the dragons were the ultimate megaweapon and final boss, giants would be the minibosses before it. Bonus entry: Former Gods The original God of Life and father of the humanity, Nemed, is immortal much like her first wife. He's still bound to be around there somewhere. ------------------ Ways to circumvent the Compact: 5
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Jun 1, 2013 01:51
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The angels' power was always a thing of contention for me. I know that they were trying to focus on balancing game mechanics more than they were accurately displaying the lore but I'm never really sure just how strong the divine are. I vividly remember some lore where Cerrunuos goes straight to hell to fight Agares and even though he's the strongest of the archangels he barely puts a dent on Agares, who dominates the fight until Secculus shows up. This seems kind of odd considering that Taranis manages to fight Secculus to a standstill. Maybe I'm just underestimating the power of stasis but compared to how Odio, Brigit and Cerrenuous are clearly no match against a God, I'm surprised that Secculus really had that much trouble with a mere archangel. Then, of course, there's Sphener, who can easily beat Brigit in a fight. That said, I'm keen on Eurabates. Cardith Lorda is one of my favorite leaders and its a really interesting idea for a literal war machine to end up as a benevolent leader. Shame about how he'll fare in the coming scenarios. Speaking of the coming scenarios, when are we going to deal with Falamar? I'm certain that Grand Managerie is happening at roughly this point in time.
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Jun 1, 2013 07:55
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Sinner Sandwich posted:Speaking of the coming scenarios, when are we going to deal with Falamar? I'm certain that Grand Managerie is happening at roughly this point in time. Yeah, it is but the one after that is later on in the timeline and I'd like to avoid hopping between the main questlines as much as possible. Which reminds me, I'd love some feedback on the amount of battle images. There are some scenarios coming up, which are mainly tactical battles or resource management and there's very little story content in the middle of the scenario. I'll of course be trimming them the best I can but for reference: have I been showing enough, too much or too little of the battles?
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Jun 1, 2013 08:57
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I think the battle images have been fine. If it were me, I'd cut out battle images entirely unless a hero was in it or an important city was being defended or captured. That said they haven't been too intrusive or anything and the LP is a lot of fun to read. I especially like the narrative, it helps build the atmosphere and keep the tension of a scenario that really lasts a good hour. Or three.
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Jun 1, 2013 10:44
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As far as I'm concerned I think you've done a good job balancing images. While not necessary if you are looking for ways to make your posts less image heavy, you could possibly cut back on battle images, only showing one per city, unless it was a particularly huge field battle or important scripted battle, like in the case of the giants. I like the way it has been though so no worries.
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Jun 1, 2013 11:32
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Yeah, I'd say it's been just fine.
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Jun 1, 2013 18:04
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It looks good to me too, but I'm also one of those people that want even more pictures.
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Jun 1, 2013 19:41
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Chapter 6: I Am Sailing - Blood of Angels, part 3 In the previous episode on "Who Wants To Become A God?", the joint forces of Auric and Mahala crushed the Bannor defenders and sacked their capital city. It was easier than expected, considering the Bannor reputation, but they didn't meet their objective. The Halls of Sabathiel were empty. The only option now is to go after some other divine being, and conviniently there's one practically in the neighbourhood: Cassiel of the Grigori. Will our ------------------------------  Immediately following the discovery of the absense of Sabathiel, Auric declares war on both the Grigori and Lanun. Why Lanun?   Neither the Doviello nor the Illians are any good at seafaring, not to mention shipbuilding. The lands between the Bannor and the Grigori have not been fully scouted yet, but the complete absence of any Grigori scouts suggests that there is no easy land connection between the two. This means taking someone else's ships, or at the very least their shipbuilders. Conviniently, some of the very best have taken up residence close enough.  First things first, however. Lucian realises that while they certainly haven't come as conquerors, they will have to hold on to their conquests for a considerable while until Auric has gotten when he wants. This means keeping the local populace in check. Martial law only goes so far, especially with warrior-people like Bannor. Perhaps there are other ways. I didn't bring in a disciple who'd get the city out of revolt in an instant. I do want it to become as productive as possible as fast as possible, however. Here, have some dancing polar bears. Don't mind the splashes of dried up blood of your relatives on their fur, see how funnily they dance!  The Lanun have clearly anticipated this turn of events. Pictured is the best named Great Bard ever  Too bad the seafarers don't yet realise just how serious we are about our business.  The last of the Bannor cities east of their capital falls. Neither Mahala nor Lucian has any interest for going after the rest of their empire. The men have had their battle here and the enemy has submitted.  A truce is agreed on. It's good to get the confirmation that the main army of the Bannor is indeed too far to be of any threat. It's another matter entirely to get to know where exactly they're headed. These people are crazy even by Doviello standards. Fane of Lessers? Really?  Scouting beyond the Bannor lands seems to confirm that across the bay is the only way to reach the Grigori.     Some of the men preparing for the assault on Lanun show signs of mutation. They fight better than ever so no one really cares about their odd looks. Heavy AND light.  Well, at least they negate each other's handicaps. In total those mutations net the unit +1 vision range, +10% withdrawal chance and +20% strength. Not bad at all.  According to scouts, capturing a port should become a problem.  Of course, if the enemy is allowed to reinforce, the battle will become quite drawn out.  Invigorated by their shamans, Sons of Asena catch the reinforcements off guard outside the city walls. So much for that help.   After some softening up by the catapults, the enemy defenses look even more anemic compared to the horde outside the walls.  The result is self-evident. Unfortunately all the ships that were anchored in the port were able to flee. Captured Lanun are put into work as soon as possible but it might require more workforce than this to assemble enough ships for bringing the army across one wave.  That's better. Now, while Mahala and Lucian were off conquering the second port, two things of note happened.  First, the Lanun shipbuilders started building the transport fleet. These ships aren't big or powerful but their main engineer assured that for our purposes they were completely sufficient, given that we had enough strong men to man the oars. After getting a long hard stare from Mahala, the engineer quit his babbling and got to work. The second thing is of much more importance.  During the assault on Torrolerial, some of the hunters reported seeing goblin-like creatures of frost. This went largely unnoticed, since none of these "frostlings" caused any harm for Doviello, although there are reports of some Illians being harassed by them. Some shaman considered them a good omen, but no one else thought much more of them. Until now.   Many of the Illians had been, with Auric's guidance, working on a grand ritual in their main camp. The ritual had finished without any visible effect but Auric had seemed content of it. Less than a week later, three pale men, naked to the waist despite the freezing cold of the mountains and surrounded by an unnatural chill, appeared from the wilderness. What clothing they wore was marked by an emblem familiar to anyone with even slightest knowledge of the Age of Ice: the White Hand. The men were priests of Winter, and they wielded demonstrable power. Hope was ignited anew among the Illians and the Doviello. How could the priests wield such a power unless it came from their god? And how could creations of the God of Winter skulk the woods if not for his power?  The first trireme is ready! Several more are needed but that's only a matter of time. You can choose the guidelines for how to crew each of your ships. There are three options:
The choice isn't permanent and can be changed in any port city. We're going to choose Skeleton Crew for all our transport triremes.  Earlier reconnaissance by the hunters' hawks had revealed the Grigori coastal defenses to be very light.  Unfortunately, the newer reports indicate that the enemy has access to iron, something that Auric and Mahala both lack. For the longest time, working iron was a skill long lost for both Illians and the Doviello. There are skilled smiths among the Lanun, however, who are willing to teach the secrets to the invaders. The problem is that neither Lanun nor the Bannor know of any ore veins or deposits this side of the bay. The possibility to get access for the precious metal makes the coastal city of Costa del Sol a target of high importance. There's just a tiny problem... Stop! Rant time. Do you know why the basic Erebus mapscript for the normal games is considered dull by many? It's because it creates a map divided into sections much like this map: slices of world separated by mountain ranges and waters. It's beautiful and thematically appropriate but... well... Do you know why we haven't seen a single Grigori unit attacking us or even scouting our lands? Can you guess why the one player-made modmod largely considered essential today is called Tholal's More Naval AI? Without the mod (which incidentally breaks scenarios) the AI is absolutely incapable of warfare across water! Not only does it use it's ships in a dumb way, the AI doesn't know how to load units onto ships or how to make an amphibious landing. Now consider the fact that the AI Grigori prepares for war as normal, only it doesn't suffer casualties because it just cannot actually wage the war. Go ahead, check the next image.  That tiny problem is that the Grigori know the strategic importance of Costa del Sol, and that they've had time to prepare accordingly. Yeah, Since the screen is not enough for that stack, I have no idea how many units there actually are there. In addition, the strongest ones are listed first so we're only seeing the weaker end of the list.  There's no way a landing on Costa del Sol wouldn't be a disaster. Mahala and Lucian both agree to make Corel the bridgehead objective instead.  Some pirates are hired to protect the transport fleet from Grigori vessels. Trusting your invasion fleet's security in the hands of pirates may seem dangerous but it's certainly less so than counting on the goodwill of the Lanun seamen, what with having been invaded and all. As insurance, the pirates agree to clearly sail under Doviello banner while theit contract lasts. Unless you want to harass opponents that you have peace with, removing hidden nationality promotions should pretty much be an automatic action. Nothing's more annoying than getting your fleet sunk by your allies because they don't know the pirates work for you.  While the fleet is assembling, Mahala receives word from Auric that a powerful ritual has been enacted, which will greatly hinder if not completely stop the Grigori from... doing anything productive? The wording is pretty cryptical and much of the explanation of the Priest of Winter that acts as the messenger goes above and beyond Mahala's understanding but one thing is clear: there's no better time than this coming up any time soon.  The invasion army boards the ships and sets sail towards Corel. The core of the army consists of the most cunning and experienced of the beastmen, dubbed Battlemasters. They are supported by elite Sons of Asena, some shamans, some rangers and few of the Disciples of Leaves. Three of the ships carry nothing but siege engines.    Landfall is made under the cover provided by the triremes.  The attackers do not go as unnoticed as they'd like to, however. Time is running out. The window of opportunity provided by Auric's stasis and the surprise element of the landfall is closing fast. Mahala, Lucian and the representative of Auric accompanying them have to decide the best course of action right now. ---------------------------------------- Tactical considerations I suppose this is a good time to cut the action and have a longer chat about my options here. Facts:
 2) I want this attack to succeed, since otherwise this turns into a long, boring slog. The thread would win in either case, since at least I'd get the chance to demonstrate most of the Doviello endgame units if achieveing victory took a lot of time. 3) To make this attack succeed, I cannot afford to lose my most decorated Battlemasters or my catapults because I have no reserves. Building reserves takes time. My options:
2) Capturing Corel and holding on to it while whittling away the enemy forces, assaulting Midgar after the enemy is no longer a threat. 3) Ignoring Corel and going straight for Midgar. 4) Challenges to overcome:
2) Assassins. The stack in Costa del Sol has many. They always attack the weakest units in the stack, unless someone in the stack has the "Guardsman" promotion. I don't have guardsmen. Attacking or bombarding uses up the catapult's movement. Attacking reduces the catapult's strength under 1. Catapults can't use enemy roads. 3) Stasis will end soon. Right now Cassiel cannot replenish his beastmasters or assassins because of it but if I take too much time killing them, he can just build new ones. ----------------------------------------
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Jun 2, 2013 08:10
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Take Corel. Station some archers or other good defensive units there to lure away the bulk of the Grigori forces then send the main force into Midgar and torch it. All you'd probably need are a couple of good units and your catapults for the invasion, and those catapults would be wasted sitting in Corel.
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Jun 2, 2013 08:41
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Barring Sandwich's advice I'd say gun it to Midgar. Edit: Would like to say that Yes, the King of Squirrels is an amazing name, a great username, and I really hope Kael has built a story solely around him. 100YrsofAttitude fucked around with this message at 23:41 on Jun 2, 2013 |
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Jun 2, 2013 11:07
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Ahahaha, I have a new second favourite mana type. (Chaos is still the best.) Enchantment was so old-school anyway. It's tiny, miniscule random chances that the big money is in, mark my words. Five imaginary internet points for you if you guess what passive effect finally become useful in such a way it's like winning in lottery.
Valiantman fucked around with this message at 20:30 on Jun 4, 2013 |
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Jun 4, 2013 20:28
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I'm going to make a wild guess and say it's earth mana, with it's random chance to spawn new resources giving you access to iron.
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Jun 4, 2013 20:44
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